An old abandoned house in the middle of Calgary is attracting a lot of attention for its instantly recognizable likeness to a certain Pixar movie home.
The historic Enoch Sales Residence, located near the East Village and Stampede grounds, has been transformed into a doppelganger for the house in the 2009 film “Up.”
To jog your memory, “Up” opens with childhood friends Carl and Ellie who enjoy playing together in an old, boarded-up yellow house.
As they grow up, the pair fall in love, get married, and fix up the house. Ellie dreams of moving it to a waterfall, but the couple repeatedly has to spend the money on more pressing needs.
What comes next is a major spoiler that we won’t reveal (but is probably the hardest you will ever cry watching an animated film.) A few more events happen after that, before the house is eventually lifted high into the sky by thousands of helium-filled balloons.
And while the Calgary art installation isn’t at risk of flying away, people are positively giddy about seeing a home that so closely resembles the film’s.
Created by Maria Galura, and called “Dreams Never Die,” the project uses more than 3,500 biodegradable balloons, as a piece of artwork for Beakerhead festival.
Garula told HuffPost Canada the installation is 100 per cent a passion project, based on her love for the film.
“It’s one of my most favourite movies. In fact, my business cards are even styled after the movie. I just love it so much,” she said in a phone interview.
It’s a whimsical project that appears pretty simple, but Galura, an engineer by trade, said there were months of careful planning and approvals needed.
“We had to make sure we got permission from the City of Calgary, had to apply for a land use agreement, had to make sure the building was structurally sound.”
Galura had to make sure every detail was perfect, right down to the balloon colours — she selected seven colours to represent the seven years she’s lived in Canada since moving from the Philippines.