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TechnoratiSo tightly does Muntz cling to his bruised pride that he has been reduced to living with dogs. In his desire for adulation, Muntz equips the dogs with collars that allow them to speak, and they, of course, tell anyone who will listen of Muntz’s virtue and genius. In the intervening years, Muntz has also become grasping, cunning, and bitter. Paranoid that someone else will find the bird first and steal his glory, it is intimated that he has killed rivals who have set down in “his” jungle.
In his initial contact with Carl, Muntz appears friendly, soaking in the adulation from this long-time fan. But when he discovers that where he has failed Russell has succeeded– not only finding, but taming the bird he has named Kevin – Muntz becomes murderous. Rather than share the discovery, Muntz sees this as his moment of triumph and redemption. He will return to the States, prove he was right, and regain all that has been unduly denied him. He will get his life back. In his mind, only one minor difficulty stands in his way: He just has to get rid of an old man and a little boy.
Jesus said, “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it” (Luke 17:33). The harder we try to hold on to things the more surely they slip through our fingers. Muntz wastes the best years of his life alone in a jungle trying to disprove a false allegation. He has had a good life and wants it back. To regain his status, he allows his morality to erode. And, in the end, in order to perpetuate a lie – that he rather than Russell found the bird – he tries to kill Carl and the boy. In his attempt to win back his fame, however, Muntz is the one who loses: his pride, his ethics, and his life.
Whoever Loses His Life Will Preserve It
For most of the film, Carl is literally tied to his house. Carl’s house represents all that is good about his past. In it he has the mementos that remind him of his wonderful life with his late wife: the his-and-hers chairs, their bed, her painting of Paradise Falls. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the events of our lives, but the house had become an idol to Carl. Like Muntz, Carl put the dead past before living people (and an endangered Kevin).
Carl’s defining moment comes when he is forced by Muntz to choose between keeping his promise to Russell to safeguard Kevin and see her safely home to her babies (Kevin, we later discover, is a she) or saving the house, which Muntz is trying to burn down. Initially, Carl chooses the house. But when Russell decides, at great personal risk, to fly after Muntz’s air ship to rescue Kevin, Carl has an epiphany.
With his balloons partially deflated, Carl cannot get his house off the ground to pursue Russell. Carl is literally weighed down by his past. In a moving scene, Carl goes into the house and pushes out all of the furniture, all the emblems of his past, and all of his personal comfort. The house, and Carl, are liberated – free to rescue Russell and Kevin, and to engage in a new adventure. Continue »
