Why That Weepy Up Scene Almost Got Cut From The Movie

Anyone who’s sniffled their way through Toy Story 3 knows that Pixar movies have a way of wringing tears out of even the most cynical moviegoers. But perhaps the most sob-inducing scene in the studio’s canon is the wordless opening montage from 2009′s Up, which shows the sweet, poignant — and ultimately heartbreaking — marriage of Carl and Ellie. Among the weepier moments is the wrenching scene in a doctor’s office when the couple learn they won’t be able to have the child they so desperately want.

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When Yahoo Movies had Up director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera in the studio recently to talk about their new movie Inside Out, Docter talked about that indelible moment that — incredibly — almost didn’t happen. See the video above.

“I always feel like you go to movies to be emotionally connected to them — to be moved in some way,” Docter said. “On Up, for example, some people felt like we were going a little too far…. We got some notes from people in the studio that thought that the moment where they couldn’t have kids was going too far.” Docter and Co. played along and tried a version without that scene and immediately discovered how crucial it had been. “You didn’t feel as deeply [without the scene] — not only just [with] that sequence, but through the whole film,” he said. “Most of the emotional stuff is not just to push on people and make them cry, but it’s for some greater reason to really make you care about the story.”

Related: Cannes Report: Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ Is a Delightful Movie to Have on Your Mind

Speaking of pushing people and making them cry, Docter and Rivera also talked about the genesis of their new tearjerker Inside Out (in theaters Friday), which chronicles the chaotic personified emotions inside the head of an 11-year old girl. “What if we told the story about a little girl, but she’s not the protagonist?” said Rivers in the video below. “There’s a lot of complexity to the concept, so we had to simplify it,” said Docter. “Not so much for the kids…. It’s more for us, for the adults.”