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Villain Overview

Adventure is out there!
~ Muntz's catchphrase before going insane.
They called me a fraud, those... (exhales). But once I bring back this creature, my name will be cleared. Beautiful, isn't it? I've spent a lifetime tracking it. Sometimes years go by between sightings. I've tried to smoke it out of that deathly labyrinth where it lives. You can't go in after it. Once in, there's no way out. I've lost so many dogs. And here they come these bandits and think the bird is theirs to take. But they soon find that this mountain, is a very dangerous place.
~ Muntz revealing his obsession to Carl and Russell right before turning against them - also his most famous quote.

Charles F. Muntz, also simply known as Charles Muntz or sometimes known by his surname Muntz, is the main antagonist of Pixar's 10th full-length animated feature film Up.

He was an adventurous explorer who went looking for a legendary bird known as a snipe named "Kevin" in order to clear his name when he fell under scrutiny by naysayers in the scientific community. He has many loyal dogs (Alpha, Beta and Gamma) at his command, which wear collars invented by Muntz that allow them to speak. However, his obsession with finding Kevin over decades to no success eventually drove him insane, killing anybody who he believes will try to find the legendary bird and take credit before he does. He is also the former master of Dug and the former idol turned arch nemesis of Carl Fredricksen and Russell.

He was voiced by the late Christopher Plummer, who also portrayed The Grand Duke of Owls in Rock-A-Doodle, General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Ralph Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby, Commodus in The Fall of the Roman Empire, Barnaby Crookedman in Babes in Toyland, Mr. Caruthers in The Clown at Midnight, 1 in 9, King Herod in The Star, and Arthur Case in Inside Man.

Personality[]

You know, Carl, these people who pass through here, they all tell pretty good stories. A surveyor making a map...a botanist cataloging plants...an old man taking his house to Paradise Falls. Now that's the best one yet. I can't wait to hear how it ends.
~ Muntz revealing his true nature.

Before becoming demented, Muntz was a kind, brave, honest, thoughtful, sympathetic, and persuasive explorer with a genuine passion for discovering new things. When Carl Fredricksen and Russell meet him for the first time, he seems like a benign and charming gentleman as he welcomes them into his company and cares for a group of dogs imbued with speech technology, and he appears to be courteous. However, when the matter of Kevin the bird comes up, they soon discover that his mission with capturing the bird of Paradise Falls has turned into an obsession, unhinged his mind and drove him insane, flushing away his benevolent personality as a ghost, causing him to lash out against other adventurers.

Being an extremely proud man, Muntz is consumed with bitterness, rage and violent paranoia over being expelled from the National Explorer's Society when he was viewed as a phony and will stop at nothing to restore his reputation, even if it means murder. He has no qualms trying to kill the young child Russell for reaching Kevin. Nevertheless, he is completely polite and affable as long as people do not interfere with his plans. He is also very nice and patient with his dogs, taking decent care of them. Muntz's pride and obsession give him a striking similarity to Captain Ahab from the late Herman Melville's 1851 classic novel Moby Dick. He also evidences a genius level of intellect, able to program dogs to talk and build his airship.

Biography[]

Up[]

Muntz was an acclaimed adventurous explorer who was obsessed with finding the "Beast of Paradise Falls" ever since he was accused of fabricating its skeleton by the National Explorer's Society, thus makes him exposed as a fraud because he couldn't be able to prove the monster's existence by faking it and stripped of his membership and his followers overshadows his truth by this. He was disgraced then he vows to never return from Paradise Falls until he has found the bird as promised and caught it to prove it's existence. He traveled in a dirigible called the Spirit of Adventure and had many canine minions who wore collars that allowed them to speak. He leaves human civilization and goes to South America for his entire lifetime to clear his name of finding this monster so he can receive his glorious fame and reputation again as his massive fortunate reward for capturing this creature.

Same along during the entire lifetime of Carl and Ellie, Muntz has been gone from public until he grew elderly where he is trying to hunt for the paradise falls monster (Kevin) so he can relive his fame and reputation again. But this drove him into villainy since he spent years and decades looking for Kevin. Then whenever those innocent explorers that also came to South America and that ever witnessed Kevin, this makes Muntz fearfully paranoid know that anyone tries to take his glory so he killed those explorers so he can smuggle Kevin as his target for himself. Until the present, Muntz still never gives up until he captured Kevin and clear his name therefore reliving his glory again.

After Muntz's dogs capture Carl and Russell, he greets them and cordially invites them onto the Spirit of Adventure, showing off several exhibits. After they settle down to dinner, Muntz tells them about the Paradise Falls monster and recalls "bandits" attempting to find it before him. When Russell foolishly tells Muntz that they saw Kevin. Muntz instantly suspects him and Carl of being said bandits. Enraged but keeping a jovial demeanour, he recalls meeting a surveyor and a botanist, who he presumably suspected of being rival poachers and murdered. Frightened, Carl attempts to leave. Muntz's suspicions are confirmed to him when he sees Kevin on Carl's house and orders his dogs to maul Carl and Russell.

Soon after a brief struggle, Muntz finally succeeds in capturing Kevin and puts Carl's house in arson. Carl then proceeds to fight Muntz, with the two elderly men using a cane and a sword respectively into battling each other.

The blimp is eventually turned sideways, saving Carl and preventing Muntz from finishing him. Carl and Russell trick Muntz into following them into the house floating next to the blimp. Before Carl and Russell can escape in the house with Kevin, Muntz retrieves his lever-action rifle and begins firing at the two. Muntz breaks into the house, but Carl lures Kevin back onto the Spirit of Adventure with Russell's chocolate bar. Russell and Dug riding on her back. Muntz leaps out of the window after them. However, he is caught midair by the string of some of the balloons that were attached to Carl's house, causing his momentum to stop. The balloons snap due to his weight because they were no match for it, Muntz plunges out of sight and then he finally faces his comeuppance when he falls to his doom.

By Muntz's defeat, his glory has been cancelled due to his death that he deserves; mainly for putting Carl's house in fire and killing innocent explorers thus avenges the deaths of innocent adventurous explorers that he has selfishly killed for witnessing Kevin. Although even if Muntz did succeed of bring Kevin to USA, the public will be forgotten of him due to being gone for decades at south america and that he has been spending lifetime of hunting Kevin for nothing.

Dug's Special Mission[]

After Alpha, Beta and Gamma's numerous attempts to capture Kevin end in failure due to Dug's interference, Alpha contacts Muntz and reports that Dug has constantly thwarted them, while also calling him a "bad dog". When Dug spots Muntz's blimp, he runs off in dismay, leading a bridge for him to eventually meet Carl and Russell.

Enemies[]

  • Carl Fredricksen - Former Guest, Former Fan, Attempted Victim and Arch-nemesis
  • Russell - Former Guest and Attempted Victim
  • Kevin - Target
  • Dug - Former Subordinate
  • Innocent explorers - Victims
  • The National Explorer's Society - The organization he was formerly part of that disgraced him

Age[]

If Carl was 78 years old by the time of him meeting him, and Muntz was at least 20 years old when Carl was 8 years old, then Muntz could be over 90 years old.

When talking to Carl, Muntz talks about being on Safari with Roosevelt. It is hard to tell if he means Theodore Roosevelt, one of Roosevelt's sons or Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as Theodore Roosevelt passed away from a pulmonary embolism on January 6, 1919, at the age of 60, when Charles was only 3 years old, meaning that Muntz was probably born in either 1915 or 1916.

An explanation for Muntz's advanced age is in a deleted subplot from Up. It explains that Kevin's eggs act as a sort of fountain of youth that prevents Muntz from aging.

Quotes[]

I promise to capture the beast alive! And I will not come back until I do.
~ Muntz vows to find the bird
You came here in that?
~ Muntz looking at Carl's house
Now attention, everyone! These people are no longer intruders! They are our guests!
~ Muntz to his dogs
You know, Carl, these people who pass through here, they all tell pretty good stories. A surveyor making a map...a botanist cataloging plants...an old man taking his house to Paradise Falls...now that's the best one yet. I can't wait to hear how it ends.
~ Muntz revealing his true nature to Carl and Russell
You really must stay. I insist. We have so much more to talk about.
~ Muntz trying to stop Carl and Russell from leaving
It's here.
~ Muntz seeing Kevin on top of Carl's house
Get them!
~ Muntz ordering his dogs to stop Carl and Russell after seeing them run off
Get away from my bird!
~ Muntz stopping Carl and Russel from taking Kevin to her babies
Careful. We'll want her in good shape for my return.
~ Muntz seeing the dogs taking Kevin away
And they wouldn't believe me. Just wait till they get a look at you.
~ Muntz talking to Kevin
Muntz: Where's your elderly friend? (*Russell blows the leaf blower in his face*)
Russell: He's not MY friend anymore.
Muntz: Well, if you're here, Fredricksen can't be far behind.
~ Muntz to Russell
Russell: Where are you keeping Kevin? Let me go!
Beta: Scream all you want, small mailman.
Gamma: None of your mailman friends can hear you.
Russell: I'll unleash all my wilderness explorer training!
Muntz: Alpha! Fredricksen is coming back! Guard that bird. You see the old man, you know what to do. (pulls lever)
Russell: Hey! Where are you going? I'm not finished with you!
Muntz: Nice talking with you.
~ Muntz realizing Carl is coming back and also preparing to kill Russell
Where are you, Fredricksen?
~ Muntz looking for Carl while piloting his airship
Muntz: Any last words, Fredricksen? Come on, spit it out!
Carl: Come on!
Muntz: ENOUGH! I'm taking that bird back with me, ALIVE...or DEAD!
~ Muntz's last words before trying to pursue to kill Frederickson, Russell, Dug, and Kevin, which would make him fall to his death far below.

Trivia[]

  • Charles F. Muntz is currently the first and so far the only main Pixar movie antagonist to use a firearm, the weapon being an 1865 Spencer carbine. He uses the gun when storming Carl's house when the latter makes his getaway with Kevin.
  • The sword that Muntz uses during his fight with Carl is a medieval Claymore, the same sword that William Wallace famously owned.
  • The ultimate fate of Muntz was a work in progress for Pixar as they tried several versions to get him out of the way so the film could get back to Carl and his connection to Ellie. This is all discussed on the DVD extra "The Many Endings of Muntz":
    • First, they tried giving Muntz a chance to redeem himself to the point where it resorted to just him talking with Carl.
    • Then they tried an ending that was reminiscent of Jack Torrance's fate in Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining where Muntz goes after Kevin in the labyrinth and is lost forever, but it felt more like Muntz's ending than Carl's ending, distracting from the focus of the main character.
    • At another point, Pixar decided to place the climax on the Spirit of Adventure and one version had Muntz deluded into chasing an inflatable animal balloon mistaking it for Kevin, and locked in the house with his dogs as it crashes off the dirigible. The filmmakers ruled this out, justifying that it felt wrong due to the house being a representation of Ellie.
    • Another version had Muntz caught in a bunch of balloons and floating upwards, but it is left uncertain as to whether he was killed or not. It was at this point that Pixar decided the best comeuppance for Muntz was for him to get caught in the balloons and, in classic tried-and-true fashion, plummet 10,000 feet to his death.
  • His name "Charles Muntz" is based on "Charles Mintz", whom Walt Disney worked for while making the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons, and who took the cartoon from Walt Disney since Universal Studios owned the copyrights.
  • Muntz is based on aviator Howard Hughes who was known for his intelligence, eccentricity, ego, and obsession. He also has traits of real-life adventurers, Charles Lindbergh and Percy Fawcett.
  • Muntz is a dark reflection to Carl: both elderly men who both suffered terrible tragedies in their lives and became bitter (Carl losing his wife and Muntz being disgraced). When Carl came across Russell, Kevin, and Doug, he first viewed them as a nuisance. Later, Carl viewed them as the family he never had and later reforms himself, as well as learning to accept the loss thus makes him keep in touch with Ellie. On the other hand, Muntz refused to accept the loss and lived obsessed with his past which is none other than his glorious fame and was trying to relive it in any way possible by hunting Kevin. Muntz serves as an example of what Carl would become if he never learn to accept the loss and move on with life.
    • Another similarity is that should they succeed in their goals, it would be for nothing because Muntz appears to have been forgotten so it would be likely that he would have cleared his name for nothing if he successfully brings Kevin and her kind. If Carl would succeed in bringing his house to the exact spot in Paradise Falls, he would be living all alone without basic necessities such as food, water, and electricity in a remote harsh wilderness far from civilization. His old age would also make it extremely difficult if not impossible for him to survive in the wilderness.
  • While he's the film's main villain, others have seen a more rational side to the character, as he was cast out from the National Explorer's Society when scientists believed that the skeleton was forged due to the unlikelihood of such a creature existing. Spike.com ranks him #4 in their list "The Top 10 Hollywood "Villains Who Got Screwed". Under the section titled "What People Forget", it says "He never actually did anything altogether evil until the main characters boarded his zeppelin by force and attempted to steal his bird, at which point he tried to throw them overboard".
  • Muntz's voice actor Christopher Plummer died the same year as Carl's voice actor Ed Asner, only six months apart from each other.
  • In the Nintendo DS video game adaption of the film, Muntz himself serves as the final boss while in all the other platforms of the video game, his blimp serves as the final boss, prompting players to destroy the blimp's engines.
  • Even if Charles did succeed in capturing Kevin and taking her to USA, no one would have even known who he is, as it is hinted that he was quickly and completely forgotten about due to the passage of time. Even Russell does not know who he is upon meeting him, showing that Muntz's achievements and adventures are not common knowledge in the present day or even taught in schools or a notable historical subject. Thus Muntz's alleged fabrication of the bird's skeleton was likely forgotten too and therefore he wasted nearly 70 years of his life trying to clear his name for nothing. However, he might have risen to fame again as he ever had discovered a new species.
    • The fact that he appears to have been forgotten suggests that he made no further contact with the mainland after setting off to capture the bird, which may possibly even have led to him eventually having been declared dead in absentia.
    • Additionally, the very methods that disapproved his finding of the bird would end up being discredited a few years later, meaning that his whole search ended up being in vain.
  • In Dug Days, the episode "Science" features Russell manufacturing several of Muntz's translation collars and using them on numerous animals in Carl's neighborhood, including the squirrel that Dug feuds with and the blue jay until Russell releases them once Dug's disputes with the squirrel and the blue jay are resolved.
  • Muntz is the first Pixar villain to have been a protagonist's idol, followed by Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco.

External Links[]

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