Pixar grants dying girl her last wish

[sir clinksalot]

10 year old Colby Curtin of Huntington Beach had a wish. She wanted to see Pixar's latest movie Up. The problem was, she was unable to go to the movies to see it because she was dying of cancer.

Pixar to the rescue. They arranged for a home viewing for Colby. She died seven hours later.

A very sad and touching story.

Pixar grants girl’s dying wish with home viewing of 'Up' | pixar, up, movie, home, show, girl, cancer, die, huntington, beach - News - OCRegister.com

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.”

[h2opolodad]

God bless Pixar that they were able to be such a special part of this girl's last day.

Great kudos should go to whomever at Pixar made this possible.

And my prayers go to the family of this poor young girl, but it is nice to know that she is in a better place today...

[MickeyMousePal]

At least this story had a happy ending.

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by MickeyMousePal

At least this story had a happy ending.

Care to rephrase that? The girl died. How is that happy?

[MarkTwain]

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

Care to rephrase that? The girl died. How is that happy?

...I think they were referring to the mom feeling her daughter would be in heaven based on the message of the movie.

A very bittersweet story.

[aracuanbird]

This would mean a lot more if the PR people at PIXAR/Disney had chosen NOT to reveal this act of kindness. Not everything a corporation does needs to be motivated by a press release.

Contrast this with the story in Bob Thomas's book about Walt escorting that sick kid around Disneyland before the park opened. If he'd wanted, Walt could have run clips of that tour on his TV show--he certainly wasn't afraid of promoting every angle.

But that never happened. As far as I understand, that story about Walt didn't emerge until 1976 when Thomas released his book.

It would have been nice if we hadn't heard about this until 2019.

[sir clinksalot]

^ Uhm, Pixar is NOT the one who released this, and hasn't said anything about the story, including the name of the employee who came to the house.

Even if they had released it, it doesn't change the fact it meant the world to a dying little girl.

From the other thread discussing the story:

http://micechat.com/forums/micechat-...ying-wish.html

Originally Posted by almandot

As is usually the case, good for Pixar. They won't even comment on the story it appears this is just a human interest piece generated by the family reporting it out of gratitude towards Pixar.

[sediment]

Eisner would have charged her $11.


I kid! I kid!

Regardless, it's a cool story in an otherwise cold world.

[mechurchlady]

I love this story and it shows there is hopr for the world.

Bless Pixar for doing the right thing. In this world there is so much unhappiness and sad news that a story like this is savored like a rare morsel.

I have other thread and board to bash management so here I will instead pray for the kid's family and thank God for there being some angels left in the world.

[joanna71985]

Oh my goodness, how sad! But that is great that Pixar was able to grant her last wish.

[Scrooge McDuck]

This story is probably not as unusual as it sounds. In fact, the story’s appearance in the media is likely the uncommon event.

More than ten years ago, the granddaughter of some good friends was terminally ill. Pocahontas had just been released and our friend’s granddaughter wanted nothing more for her upcoming eighth birthday than to see the movie with her friends. However, she couldn't be moved from the house. The Make a Wish Foundation organized a birthday party and an executive from Walt Disney Pictures flew into town for the afternoon with a pre-video release version of the movie. Even though she was unable to move from the sofa, watching this movie with her school friends seemed to mean everything to her. So much so, that she constantly talked about it over the next few weeks…until she died.

Its likely that there are many similar stories which never make the newspaper, but take place nonetheless. Yes, Disney is a huge corporation and self-serving by it’s nature. But the people that work there are not always the same. I’m not sure who orchestrated the showing of Pocahontas for our friend’s granddaughter, but that person did so without recognition. And it meant the world to a very sick little girl.

Who and why are not important. That we take the time make a difference does matter. Even if it is just a little time.

Thanks for reading… I’ll get off my soapbox now.

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by Scrooge McDuck

This story is probably not as unusual as it sounds. In fact, the story’s appearance in the media is likely the uncommon event.

More than ten years ago, the granddaughter of some good friends was terminally ill. Pocahontas had just been released and our friend’s granddaughter wanted nothing more for her upcoming eighth birthday than to see the movie with her friends. However, she couldn't be moved from the house. The Make a Wish Foundation organized a birthday party and an executive from Walt Disney Pictures flew into town for the afternoon with a pre-video release version of the movie. Even though she was unable to move from the sofa, watching this movie with her school friends seemed to mean everything to her. So much so, that she constantly talked about it over the next few weeks…until she died.

Its likely that there are many similar stories which never make the newspaper, but take place nonetheless. Yes, Disney is a huge corporation and self-serving by it’s nature. But the people that work there are not always the same. I’m not sure who orchestrated the showing of Pocahontas for our friend’s granddaughter, but that person did so without recognition. And it meant the world to a very sick little girl.

Who and why are not important. That we take the time make a difference does matter. Even if it is just a little time.

Thanks for reading… I’ll get off my soapbox now.

That's a great story!

But I think the difference here is that there was no Make-a-Wish to serve as a facilitator. This was just some cold call and someone at Pixar caring enough to make it happen.

[sir clinksalot]

Originally Posted by Scrooge McDuck

This story is probably not as unusual as it sounds. In fact, the story’s appearance in the media is likely the uncommon event.

More than ten years ago, the granddaughter of some good friends was terminally ill. Pocahontas had just been released and our friend’s granddaughter wanted nothing more for her upcoming eighth birthday than to see the movie with her friends. However, she couldn't be moved from the house. The Make a Wish Foundation organized a birthday party and an executive from Walt Disney Pictures flew into town for the afternoon with a pre-video release version of the movie. Even though she was unable to move from the sofa, watching this movie with her school friends seemed to mean everything to her. So much so, that she constantly talked about it over the next few weeks…until she died.

Its likely that there are many similar stories which never make the newspaper, but take place nonetheless. Yes, Disney is a huge corporation and self-serving by it’s nature. But the people that work there are not always the same. I’m not sure who orchestrated the showing of Pocahontas for our friend’s granddaughter, but that person did so without recognition. And it meant the world to a very sick little girl.

Who and why are not important. That we take the time make a difference does matter. Even if it is just a little time.

Thanks for reading… I’ll get off my soapbox now.

Thanks for the post, and I agree. This is not as un-common as it may sound. It's just nice for once they get some recognition for something like this, whether it's wanted or not.

[piratepixy]

Originally Posted by Scrooge McDuck

Who and why are not important. That we take the time make a difference does matter. Even if it is just a little time.

So, eloquently put. It took that one person to wait ... and just listen. Kudos to whomever they may be, and all those involved in making this little girl, Colby's, final day so special.

My deepest condolences to the Curtain family ... and anyone who has ever lost a child.

[Wotan]

I think it all boils down to what must be one of Pixar's founding philosophy's, which is "What Would Walt Do".

There are far too many companies who would pass on this sort of thing even with the interaction of a group like Make-A-Wish. Thank you, John Lasseter, et al, for reminding the world that every business is, at heart, a people business.