Social Movement In The Movie: Transcendentalism In Disney Film

Transcendentalism is social movement that was developed in New England around 1836 in reaction to rationalism. The transcendentalist movement is based on an idea that, in order to understand the nature of reality, one must first examine and analyze the reasoning process that governs the nature of experience. It may have started in 1836, but it still continues into our society today. This can be found in music, art, and movies, particularly, Disney movies. The movie Up is about a man named Carl who travels to the South African rain forest, a spot his wife and him had always wanted to go. There, the movie encounters twists and turns that many kids and adults find entertaining. What they don’t see is the transcendentalism and belief planted inside …show more content…
First, we see this when Carl and Russell fight off Charles Muntz to save the last living member of the Snipe species. The snipe, or Kevin, is a beautiful, colorful, flightless bird who trusts Russell and Carl to protect him from the hunter. In this scene, Russell and Carl are working to make the world a better place by saving the last snipe and fighting off the poacher. In today’s society, poaching and killing endangered species is illegal, but people still do it. If this does not change, many animals will go extinct. Another scene of intuition/idealism is when we see Carl and Ellie’s special connection. An example of this was their passion for adventure and travel. They had always wanted to travel to the South African rain forest but never got to go because Ellie got sick and died. It's not until years later when Carl finally gains his courage and passion back to take the trip. Carl is following his feelings from within, when he finally pushes himself to go. People in this age always find ways to prevent themselves from doing what they actually want and feel. The last example of Idealism/Intuition is when Carl and Ellie meet, grow up together, and get married. They build their house together. It is a very simple house, everything they need but nothing more. The two of them lived in simplicity, with not much but each other, and they were happy. Many people surround themselves with objects that are …show more content…
The first example of this is when Carl decides to pack up and fly his house to South America to escape from the people who want to tear down his home. When Carl does this, he is removing himself from a corrupt society. Today, people don’t care about others, they only do things to benefit themselves, making it a corrupt society. Another example of the transcendentalist belief of Nature is when Carl stands up to his childhood hero, Charles Muntz. Within meeting him, Carl finds out that he is not what T.V had made him out to be and he is not a good person. Carl is removing himself from the corruption of his society. In society today if people are not following trends or doing what others are, they are outcasts. Even if they think it is not right, they still participate, so they can fit in. Lastly, nature presents itself when Doug, the dog, is presented with a choice to be loyal to his owner and dog pack, or do what is right and join Carl and Russell. After being mistreated and an outcast, he chooses to stand up for himself and makes the right decision. This scene represents getting rid of distractions. In today's society people want to change but always put it off and create distractions, so they don’t have to deal with their problems. These problems in society are what the transcendentalist movement is trying to change by displaying their beliefs in a way everyone