Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'

[CNYCacher]

Sorry if you think this is a drive-by post.  I couldn't help but to share this story.  I defy you to read it all the way through without shedding a tear.

Thursday, June 18, 2009
Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'
Company sent DVD so Huntington Beach girl, 10, could watch it.
By ANNIE BURRIS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Comments 45 | Recommend 57

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.

The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.

Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.

With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and "Up" – were a part of her only child’s last day.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

THE PREVIEWS

Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.

Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum said.

On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."

“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.

Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.

Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.

At that point, Orum, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.

Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.

Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum recalled.

She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.

“Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.

THE MOVIE

At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.

He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.

Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.

At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”

After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.

Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.

Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.

“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.

Contact the writer: aburris@ocregister.com or 949-553-2905

[MechAg94]

Sad story.  Seems like a good kid though. 

[AmbulanceDriver]

Just one more reason to like Pixar....

[SADShooter]

So, yes, I did tear up a bit, but it was the jalapenos in my breakfast tacos. Really...

[Sawdust]

Damn blurry monitor...

Sawdust

[Balog]

I was prepared to be all cynical about this, but

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

kinda changed my mind. Good for Pixar; I really do like that company.

[SADShooter]

I had the corporate PR reflex thought also, but then realized, who gives a crap? An innocent 10 year old's premature departure from this life was eased by an act of kindness and decency. I'm glad of that.

[Racehorse]

I think this helps to explain why Pixar's movies are always so good. They seem to be in it for more than just money. Their craft is important to them in ways beyond how much they'll make off the next film. At least, it seems that way.

[Brad Johnson]

Just one more reason to like Pixar....

Damn straight, Skippy.  Kinda nice to see that there are folks like that in the entertainment biz.

Brad

[LadySmith]

I couldn't help but to share this story.  I defy you to read it all the way through without shedding a tear.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful bittersweet story.

And no, I couldn't make it all the way through without shedding a tear.

[S. Williamson]

Bloody hell.  I had my music on shuffle and Judy Collins' "Send in the Clowns" came on just as I started reading.

 

Onions.  Someone's slicing onions.  The whole damn neighborhood, I think.

[Cromlech]

wonderful bittersweet story.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Hawkmoon]

It's nice to see that some of that spirit still exists somewhere in the entertainment industry.

A great many years ago, in our early teens, my brother and I dated twin sisters. The sister my brother dated was diagnosed with a rare and particularly virulent form of cancer (the name of which escapes me at the moment). She was a huge fan of the Kingston Trio (and we're talking about the era when they were at their peak of popularity). The Trio was coming to our city to play a concert and my brother's GF wanted desperately to see them -- but she was in the hospital, dying of cancer, just like the little girl in the article above.

Someone got word to the concert promoter, who got word to the Trio's manager, who got word to the Trio. Nobody ever said anything, but early in the afternoon of the concert date these three guys with guitar cases showed up at the hospital and asked if they could visit "Sally." When asked if they were family, they said something like, "Well, we're more like friends of the family."

They were allowed up to her floor. Once the staff realized who they were and what was happening, they rolled all the kids in the cancer ward into the solarium and the Trio gave them a concert. And then left. By a back door. At the time they were possibly THE most popular musical act in the country, yet they just showed up, played for the kids, and left. No entourage, no press secretary, no photographers, no security detail. Just three guys with crew cuts and guitars.

[RevDisk]

Just one more reason to like Pixar....

Yea, they really do sound like very decent folks.  It was very nice of them. 

[grampster]

...... .....

[MillCreek]

I am now working for a hospice.  The pediatric cases are the hardest.   I am sure that I am sniffling from all the grass pollen I inhaled during my pre-dinner bicycle ride.