Update: If you drove by Edith Macefield’s old home just after 9 this morning, you saw a big bundle of balloons soaring above it.
Turns out, it was a publicity stunt for the Disney movie “Up,” which is about an elderly man who flees the encroaching city by soaring away — inside his house — under thousands of helium balloons.
But today’s promotion didn’t last long. The balloons were pulled down a couple hours later after they started popping in the wind, Disney tells us. By the way, the fact that Edith’s story mirrors the movie isn’t a new idea: My Ballard reader Josh made the connection in August of last year, and we posted a blurb about it. (Thanks Jonathan for today’s photo!)
Short-lived Disney PR stunt at Edith’s home
Bummer, I wanted to take the kids by to see the balloons! My 9 year old is fascinated by Edith's story (it reminds him of his favorite book “The Little House”), and he's also looking forward to seeing “Up”. Would have been neat to get some pictures.
how cool! i bet that made Edith smile…..
I hate just about everything that Disney stands for, but, man, when a tie-in is that perfect, let it happen. Neat image!
That's all the balloons there were? I was hoping the whole space would have been filled.
Gosh. I hope the dude that inherited that house got a nice chunk of $ to let them do this to “his house”…I am being sarcastic…
Yeah, I'm more of a Warner Brothers girl, but this was a cool little stunt. Kudos, Disney.
I hope he makes more money keeping the house standing than he will knocking it down.
It was a DISNEY stunt and they could only afford a handful of balloons? Underwhelming. Marketing team = fail
I think the main character in the movie “Up” is a resident of Ballard and has been posting here in MyBallard for some time now.
If you know anything about the way Disney is run, you would know it is the cheapest (and by that I mean “stingiest”) entertainment company there is. Friends who one worked there have no regrets whatsoever about leaving and finding real-paying jobs.
I love this! Ever since I started seeing teaser trailers for the movie quite a while ago it always made me think of Edith's house!
I thought the second picture was a picture of edith's house too and was sad that I missed seeing so many baloons all in one place – need to get my bifocals adjusted.
What a bummer that it didn't work out – it looked so cool!!
Disney may be cheap, but Pixar sure isn't. Have you seen the free standing ads they have for this movie in theater lobys accross the country? They have a fabricated telescope thingy you look in to with a little full color LCD screen running a looped trailer for the film. Money.
Unlike the Disney movie character, Edith stayed put and the house is a testament to that.