Corona | Coming Attractions

When 10-year-old Colby Curtin saw the trailer for Pixar's new movie Up she had just one final thing to accomplish before her time ended on this world: she had to see that movie. Thanks to the efforts of a family friend that cold called Pixar as well as the employees at the company, last week Colby got her wish and watched Up. She passed away only seven hours later, succumbing to the cancer that was destroying her body.

The only reason this incredibly heartbreaking story is getting heard is due to The Orange County Register and writer Annie Burris. The Register heard about the act and contacted Colby's mother Lisa Curtin to confirm, which she did. Nobody at Pixar wished to comment on the event, leaving it up to Colby's family to decide if they wanted the public to know about their daughter's passing and how she wanted so badly to see Up before it was too late for her.

Within a day after the friend of the Curtin family had contacted Pixar a representative from the studio had spoken with Colby's mom and arrangements made for a Pixar employee to come visit the Curtin home with a copy of Up on DVD. The next day the Pixar representative knocked on Colby's door and brought with them not just a copy of the movie to watch but also a gift basket of Up related collectibles. The Pixar employee talked a bit about the making of the movie and then stayed to watch it with Colby. When it was too hard for Colby to open her eyes Colby's mom described what was on the screen to her daughter.

There's more to the story than that and I think it's better told if you read it for yourself. Colby's simple but incredibly important request should remind us that away from the hype and business of making movies, films can have an incredible impact on a person's life. A lot of people like to dream about the fame and fortune that accompanies success in Hollywood. The people at Pixar certainly deserve all of the kudos and rewards that their movies have brought them but when you hear about a story like Colby's and realize that the people working for that company made this screening happen for that little girl in such short order, and without any desire whatsoever for anyone to ever know that it happened, I think that's incredible. There are plenty of headlines to read these days about the corporate culture of greed and its lack of empathy for the human condition, so when a company like Pixar does something so human and just for one family, I think that they should be commended -- and that you might remember the story of Colby the next time you see Up.