I built this set for a scene in one of my Doctor What If...? stories. So did LEGO do this iconic house and it's balloons justice? Let's go up, up, up and away with a review of LEGO set 43217 - the house from the magical movie Up.
First things first, it is priced at £49.99, although a lot of retailers have been selling it around £35.00 or so. For that reason I should have some perspective - this is not an expensive set and therefore I shouldn't be upset with a couple of things I think are missing.
LEGO has a good knack of making some beloved stories/films/TV shows into brick masterpieces, I am not sure this would join the list though.
It looks quite cool, and there were some fun things included, but I think this is more a set for younger LEGO/Disney fans than for the older lot like myself. My reason for this is mainly down to the lack of balloons, they look a bit disappointing bundled above the house. In the film there are balloons everywhere - it looks magical, and I don't think that is captured in the set.
The other thing missing that disappointed me was the mailbox. It was there, but only a couple of bricks, I would of loved to have seen a sticker with the handprints. The balloons and the mailbox are probably the two things you think of about Up - part from the ridiculously fucking cruel beginning that is one of the very few things that get me blubbing!!!
Apart from that though it is a nice little set. The house itself is pretty, and the colours are cool. The colours really bring the design to life - and the second you look at it, you know which house you are viewing - even without the balloons.
I loved the little money savings pot - this was a nice little nod to the film, as was the Paradise Falls sticker.
There are 3 minifigures, Carl, Russell and Dug. Carl's one is spot on, the grumpy yet loveable look, the square glasses, but Russell doesn't really look anything like him. Well the face doesn't anyway, the torso is very well done though, and I did enjoy building his bag full of little tools which help him to be a Wilderness Explorer
This set is probably caught between the two - it is more of a display piece than having any playability to it - but it probably needs to be a slightly bigger build to really capture the magic of one of the best films Pixar have ever made.
As I mentioned, I built this set for bit of a Doctor Who and Disney crossover FanFic, please feel free to check it out below and try not to laugh at my terrible attempts at writing:
What do you think of the Up House LEGO set? Would it float to the top of your wish list? Let me know in the comments below.
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