OK, I almost cried....

[flere-imsaho]

Since becoming a father, this kind of thing makes me tear up (a bit, a manly bit) in a way I never did before:

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.”

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

THE PREVIEWS

Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.

Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum said.

On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."

“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.

Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.

Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.

At that point, Orum, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.

Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.

Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum recalled.

She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.

“Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.

THE MOVIE

At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.

He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.

Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.

At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”

After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.

Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.

Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.

“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.

Big kudos to her friend Orum.

[johnnyshaka]

Thanks for posting this...I'm choking them back now.

[CamEdwards]

not even bothering to hold them back.

[cubboyroy1826]

Good story in an otherwise crazy world. Not....going.....to....cry....must....resist.

[JAG]

Tears are flowing. Good story. And yeah, I've been way more emotional than I used to be since the birth of my daughter.

[path12]

Pussies.

Just kidding, Great story. God, her stomach was 94 inches around? That poor girl.

[DataKing]

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

Good on Pixar as well, for not using this as a publicity stunt.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'm taking my daughter to see this next week. Kudos to them for making that happen.

And yes, having kids paints an extremely different perspective on life.

[Schmidty]

Yeah, I saw this last night. I don't know how anyone could even remotely hold back the waterworks when hearing stuff like that. Maybe I'm over-emotional, but it just seems foreign to me.

Nice job by Pixar.

[I. J. Reilly]

Oh, ffs, why do I always read stuff I know I shouldn’t?

This would have definitely affected me before my son was born, but having his little face popping into my head while reading … I’ll be in my office on a “conference call” with the door closed for the next half hour if anyone needs me.

[MacroGuru]

Sitting in the Tampa airport waiting for the rest of my team to arrive and I am fighting back the tears on this one...

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by DataKing

Good on Pixar as well, for not using this as a publicity stunt.

I don't think it was a publicity stunt--that would be amazingly tasteless. But with that being said, don't be so sure that their PR agency didn't have a hand in publicizing the story, either, post-hoc.

Regardless, good for Pixar for doing it in the first place. Good story.

[Maple Leafs]

Or, as Daily Kos will headline it, "Billion dollar corporation's product causes little girl to die".

[Schmidty]

For the first time, the funniest guy on FOFC failed to make me smile.

[gstelmack]

Great story. And the movie is fantastic, it's a really good story.

[gkb]

Having kids have made me much more emotional with stories like this. The movie was excellent by the way.

[JeffNights]

Was just about to post this too, Pretty much gaurantees I'm buying every single DVD Pixar comes out with.