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Pixar breaks the internet's heart with Up storyboard for Valentine's

The real Monsters Inc.

Jackson Ryan Former Science Editor
Jackson Ryan was CNET's science editor, and a multiple award-winning one at that. Earlier, he'd been a scientist, but he realized he wasn't very happy sitting at a lab bench all day. Science writing, he realized, was the best job in the world -- it let him tell stories about space, the planet, climate change and the people working at the frontiers of human knowledge. He also owns a lot of ugly Christmas sweaters.
Jackson Ryan
2 min read
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Walt Disney Pictures

Pixar , you absolute monsters. 

On the Hallmark holiday, Pixar, the world-renowned animation studio famous for classic kids films like Toy Story, The Incredibles, Coco and that one with the Scottish warrior woman, wanted to celebrate L-O-V-E. It wanted to show the world how great love could be.

And so, it posted this tweet, complete with the Up opening sequence where the protagonist Carl falls in love with a young lady named Ellie.

Remember the scene? This 10 minutes of pure, heart-wrenching piece of perfect animation? "Married Life", as it's known, is one of the most famous Pixar scenes ever created -- detailing the trials and tribulations of falling in love and growing old together. As you will know if you've seen the clip, it takes the "till death do us part" part very seriously.

And for that reason it stays fresh in our minds. It sticks its hand through your rib cage and absolutely pummels your heart. The only people that don't cry during the Up scene either have no heart or fall prey to a livestream that starts buffering right before all the sadness crashes over them like an emotional tsunami.

Pixar, what have you done?

What. Have. You. DONE?

Of course, it also posted the clip to YouTube, because why not make the entire world cry, all at once?

The comments there were very similar: "Why you gotta do this to me on Valentine's day" read one. Another said "Pixar wants us to cry in San Valentín, this company is evil, but I still love them." And then there was shouting:

"Why must you upload on VALENTINES DAY I DONT HAVE A VALENTINE LET ALONE A LOVE STORY TO TELL"

Still, this is perhaps the best scene in Pixar history. I invite you to name another that comes close. Toy Story 2's "When She Loved Me"? WALL-E toiling through a desolate planet? I'm broken again. Please don't do this next year, Pixar.