"UP" DVD Release May Traumatize Kids Whose Grandfathers Were Carried Away By Balloons

Story by Logan Thompson 

| Published Sep 8, 2009

Most Americans watch movies to escape real life and forget about stress. Child-friendly films can be especially refreshing.

"Until you remember your grandfather hovering 50 feet above you at the state fair," said University of Nebraska-Lincoln psychology professor Jacob Lawrence. "You stood there gaping, heart full of fear and pants full of pee."

Shielding children from potentially scarring sights is simple when a movie is playing in the theatre -- you simply don't take them. But when a movie goes to DVD, the child can easily see it at a friend's house or any electronics store.

Experts say nearly one in every 6 billion people has had a grandfather carried away by a gargantuan cluster of helium-filled balloons. That's enough people to fill the depth of an entire apartment closet.

Lawrence recently began a campaign to stop the release of the Disney-Pixar film. "This minority group needs our help," he said. "Sometimes everybody has to give up something for the greater good."