He recalls: From the minute our screening of UP in storyboard fashion nearly two years before the films release ended, the film team was talking to us about gameplay ideas, games they had played previously that could be inspirational, and ways we could explore the UP universe using angles that perhaps wouldnt make it into the film.
Wiklem adds: The film team are avid gamers, and theyve been vocal about what weve created for the UP videogame. On average we were talking to members of the film team bi-weekly. Oftentimes they were blown away that we could prototype full game sequences before they had even blocked them out in the film version.
The Essence of the Tale
The movies storyline features the unlikely pairing of elderly widower Carl Fredericksen and eight-year-old Wilderness Explorer Russell. With the threat of being moved into an assisted living facility over his head, Carl decides to fulfill his late wifes dream of seeing South America by tying thousands of balloons to his home and taking to the skies. Russell, who had visited Carl to earn his Assisting the Elderly merit badge, becomes an accidental companion on the voyage.
We tried to capture the essence of UPs most exciting film moments and offer an experience that happens between those big moments in the film.
- Brian Wiklem, senior producer
After Carl and Russell arrive at the majestic table-top tepuis of South America, however, their journey takes a sharp turn when they encounter famous adventurer Charles F. Muntz, his airship, and his pack of talking dogs, including one named Dug. A prehistoric flightless bird called Kevin adds to the intrigue as Carl and Russell try to keep him from being captured. Soon the pair find themselves embroiled in an adventure worthy of Indiana Jones.
Wiklem explains: We tried to capture the essence of UPs most exciting film moments and offer an experience that happens between those big moments in the film. The Pixar team was very detailed about what they saw and witnessed in South America on those tepuis, and we tried to be as faithful as possible to the reality of not just that area of South America, but also what was visually expressed in the film.
He adds: For example, we have a couple boss levels that you wont see in the film, but all of the animals and vegetation in the game were thoroughly researched and taken directly from the geographic region.
Rounding Out the Characters
As gruff Carl slowly warms to energetic Russell, the two work together to navigate the harsh environment, fend off enemies, and keep each other safe from danger. That dynamic encompasses the movie and the game, as Wiklem explains: The entire game is based on cooperation, rather than individual challenges that require only one character. Even in single-player mode, the player will have to switch characters so they can work together and achieve their goals.
Game Hardware
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- Site: UP: The Video Game
- Publisher: THQ
- Developer: Heavy Iron Studios
- Genre: Action
The entire game is based on cooperation. Even in single-player mode, the player will have to switch characters so they can work together and achieve their goals.
- Brian Wiklem, senior producer
The Heavy Iron team also made sure the pairs relationship came through whenever possible: The characters need each other, says Wiklem, not just in the physical challenges, but emotionally as well. They have a ton of bantering back and forth in the game, some of it just in the nature of their personalities, with other bits in the same tone but disguised as hints and tips for players.
Tools of the Trade
Carl and Russells backgrounds also enabled Wiklems team to introduce tasks and challenges geared specifically toward the characters: Carl smashes spiders and collects his late wifes mementos, which fell out of the house as it descended from the sky, while Russell catches rare bugs and completes the tasks that earn him more Wilderness Explorer badges. As both characters accomplish their goals, youll unlock cheat codes, bonus content, and video clips.
Our heroes possessions also play vital roles: Carls cane serves as a weapon and a tool, and he can use his hearing aid to stun enemies, while Russells mirror blinds opponents. In addition, they rely on other objects found along the way, including a magnifying glass and a pick axe, with Dug and Kevin providing specialized support at opportune moments. Dug and Kevin appear just when players think they cannot go further, or a challenge seems impossible, Wiklem says.
Capturing the Top of a Tepui
The tepuis fill the games primary underlying function, as they do in the movie, Wiklem explains: After we saw the first cut of UP, one of the aspects continually hammered on by the film team was how high up a tepui is. The film team thought we captured that sense of height and vertigo perfectly.
He concludes: Our goal was to make the player feel they were not only part of the Pixar UP movie world, but that they could really be in a South American jungle. The joy of Pixars films is that they create these worlds so full of color and life that the audience is taken in and wants to be part of that world, even for just a short period of time. Its a formula that has consistently worked, and were proud to have been part of the UP process.