Um, I'm pretty sure that, at least in terms of ethics, saving a life would be worth inconveniencing the other passengers. I certainly would never want someone to die because I was too cold-hearted and uncaring to privilege my convenience over the existence of someone else's child/parent/sibling/partner/friend.

@Mythandros:
It's okay you don't have a soul, at least you're in the right job...

@YOXIM: I'm not big into downloading movies in the first place, but this story has pretty much guaranteed that not only will I be seeing every movie Pixar releases in the theater at least once, i'll be getting the DVD as well.

I believe in rewarding this kind of behavior. This is two or three steps above and beyond "Above and Beyond."

@johnmc: I almost started crying when I first read this article this morning, it was so bittersweet.

But I gotta admit, I laughed at that.

@savdavid: I think the Curtin family or their friend told the media. Pixar declined to comment on the story.

@Joshua Willis: Is it wrong that I felt almost nothing after reading that story?

I do work in a call centre where sob stories are the norm, however.

Nonetheless, I have to respect and admire anyone willing to do something this compassionate and give of themselves as this wonderfull person did.

If they are ever in Vancouver, B.C I would also happily buy them a few rounds of drinks and say "thank you".

@Duke_Newcombe: +1. Think about the companies that have awesome customer service, Zappos, Nordstoms, etc. They don't cry from the rooftops, "We've got awesome customer service!" No, they do it because its good for business and its the right thing to do. Eventually people notice and they get rewarded for doing what's right. In the old days (before the era of every good action being advertised), we called it "Character" or "Class." It's a rare commodity in people and an even rarer commodity in companies.

I want my mom!

That was very nice, and I approve. Good one someone.

I know the whole "well if you give this person special treatment all these other people will demand special treatment too" but I'd like to think that employees would be able to know the difference between someone who genuinely needs your help and someone who just wants to be treated special for no reason. That line is hard to see sometimes, though, and often it is just easier to say "no" to everybody and not have to worry about it.

Bonuses in their paychecks, especially the courier that came with the pre-release DVD for viewing.

I've always admired Pixar for seeming like a company run by genuinely nice people, and this just makes me like them more.

I am so touched by the idea that this little girl & her family had at least two hours of life being fair.

Wow...That's just...wow.
A company with a heart...

God, I didn't think something could make me cry this soon after seeing Up. I think the 3-D made it sadder.

Now before you jump on me for this, take a good look at Pixar. Watch an interview with John Lasseter. Look at the passion they put in their stories. Look at the emotion they put into everything, even if it's a glorified trash compactor. They understand people. They understand love, sadness, despair, joy, setbacks, triumphs, life, and even death. They celebrate the birth of all the children born during the production of a movie in their credits. They poke fun at themselves.

For Pixar, they couldn't have done anything else. They didn't do this because they've become a big successful movie studio. They became a big successful movie studio because this is the kind of people they are. And that makes them amazong.

Where I disagree a bit is the case of airlines and other businesses who do have to serve a lot of people. Most "transactions" go smoothly and require no extra attention but when someone does need something extra that steps outside the norm, that should trigger a "what can we do here" response, not "the rule is" response. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money to operate that way, and the buzz it creates about your business is priceless.

Believe it or not, there are still some people who don't know how to download a movie.

@Preyfar:

Up was one of the happiest and most emotionally riveting movies I have ever seen. This story is only a fitting tribute.

this not unlike Pixar, they have some terrific people working for them. Last year when teh trailer for Wall-e was released. A girl posted a video of herself watching it. The trailer lacks any talkinge xcept for wall-e slowly uttering his name over the title card. Her rweaction video showed her breaking into tears. I myself was touched by the trailer alone but it was a warcry for the wall-e crew who upon seeing her reaction video distrubuted trhoughout the companya nd pledged to make the movie that her reaction deserved. Anyways they invited her to the premire and teh pixar family and friends after party.

@henwy: the problem is she couldn't even see it, her pain spasms kept her eyes closed most of the time and her mother provided a visual narration. I'm sure this was something Pixar was honored to do.

Jobs was not an animation person, he loved it and loved the storytelling, but thats not his thing. Thus he let Lasseter make the decisions, which in the end basically allowed Pixar to reverse takeover Disney (while Disney bought them, Pixar took over everything related to Disney animation)

Apple on the otherhand is his thing, he knows it, he basically created it Woz being content to tinker and not make a business out of it. So in that situation his micromanagement isnt out of place, since thats his baby.

He is learning to step away though, and Apple has been doing well since he went on leave from the company.

Of course, if they'd said no, I imagine the parents would have had the kid down the street burn them an A:7 V:5 off TPB. DVD releases not being simultaneous with theater releases is just propping up an outdated business model. If you could buy a copy as soon as you could go see it, piracy would be cut in half or better.

@ Pixar, Good on ya guys, I already liked your movies, now I like you personally too.
Thanks.

Just like how I would die happy seven hours after watching Avatar.

@thereij: Actually if you were arguing that Pixar did a bad thing, then you'd be a Devil's advocate. The terms stems from when a priest/bishop was appointed to argue against a person being sainted in the Catholic Church. To impress your hipster, friends use the term "advocatus diaboli"

BOT- The cynical side of me thinks that people will hear about this and take advantage of a kind hearted company. Let's hope not.

It's not the fact that it would have been easier to download it. As 20 to 30 somethings (maybe even some of you 40 somethings) we know how to download and maybe even de-code movies from torrents. However, i have friends that wouldn't even know how to get it done.

The point is that Pixar went OUT of their way to make this poor little girl's dream come true. They didn't have to do this. They didn't even have to care. However, they understand that the movies they create can play a very positive role in someone's life for a few hours. For this little girl it played a very positive roll in letting her pass happily.

This story (and next time... please read the story link) has not only helped a family with the hardest possible situation of losing a child but help that child be happy just one last time before passing.

So yeah, mom could have downloaded it and maybe it would have still made the little girl happy but having a huge company and almost a hero show up to your house with stuffed animals, books and toys like she wasn't about to die helped that little girl feel at peace one last time.

This story (not only made me tear up... damn you Consumerist...) has given me faith in mankind and made me even more of a rabid fan of Pixar's movies. What they did for this little girl... even this small gesture... was give her one of the happiest days of this child's life. And really... that's what matters.

Playing devils advocate here, I wonder if they're going to start getting more requests like this. It's a nice gesture but they may be underestimating the demand for service like this.

Still, it's a wonderful thing they did.

i was working in one of the retail locations one day, everybody else had called out so it was just me for a few hours covering a gap until the next shift came in. it was a saturday afternoon and a complete madhouse - it was all i could do to ring people up and bag items so the store was wrecked and messy.
i looked out the side of the store [giant windows of course] and realized that the vice president of the division [at the time, Art Levitt] was sitting on a bench watching the store. in khaki shorts and a hawaiian shirt, obviously on his day off.
the first thought in my head was that the store was a mess and i was going to catch hell later when he mentioned it to my boss.
imagine my surprise when he came in the store and started straightening up the plush and t shirts. then he went and got my boss out of the back and told him what a good job i was doing. and made my boss stay out there with me until the next shift showed up.

the corporate types there aren't all evil. and the letter he wrote to me saying what a good job i was doing is one of the reasons i currently make 4 times what i was making then with my current employer.

Good for pixar. And I am happy for Colby, it must have been a great comfort to see the movie.

As for the quality of the download, yes, cam recordings suck, but a lot of movies can be downloaded in DVD quality while they're still in theaters. A lot of studios send out screner DVDs, which are in turn ripped and shared.

But that's all besides the point. I was simply surprised they didn't give downloading a shot seeing as time was of the essence. I'm just glad they managed to get ahold of Pixar and get the movie to the kid. What did she die from anyway?

@AlexDitto: Im not trolling at all. The airline in the story did a terrible job, I agreed with that, there isnt even a question about it. Even if the whole thing was a lie (which I dont think it is) being bumped from first class for no given reason, that would be enough for it to be bad service.

My point is, that speaking as someone who has worked in customer service in many roles since I was 14, and still works with clients on a daily basis (as a systems administrator now and doing IT consulting), most complaints are caused by customers having the wrong expectations, (this could be the fault of the company or the customer and varies) or thinking they are special when they are not. The easiest way to prevent this is to set proper expectations, and be consistant. When you break procedure and allow small things, it changes the customers expectations, and I can tell you that one of the most irritating things I hear is "but employeeX let me do this last time". Now the customer is mad becasue their expectations are higher than what they should be, becasue an exception was made last time. Now, there are times that people can just help each other out, absolutely, but when it comes to large scale businesses, you have to be very careful, since those exceptions can come back to bite you in the form of stories where companies are awful becasue they arent "human" and didnt make that simple exception for a customer in need.

Oh man . . . . "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. " . . .

This is a story of going above and beyond. What makes it truly remarkable is that it's NOT just a story about a company being "mediocre" and getting applauded for not being insulting, indecent, difficult, and rude.

Kudos, a thousand times, to Pixar. This is why their movies are filled with soul; because the people there care about the things they do.

I am confused, there is too much love on this post. This CAN'T be Consumerist can it? Where are the comments like "Why didn't Pixar com in with a projector and 8'screen and surround sound system?"

Seriously though, great story, props to Pixar, and it is quite ironic that this story mirrors the underlying theme of the movie.

@catastrophegirl - brand new homeowner:
Alas, my last shred of hope that corporate human decency may exist is shattered.

@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: 4. It would have taken 7 hours to download and the child would have died before the end of the movie.

@YOXIM: 1. Its illegal 2. not every knows how to. 3. why not try a legal method first?

@dialing_wand: not always. Many employees are punished for doing things outside of procedure, and in many case their job is worth more than your happiness to them, so I dont blame them for doing what they are told.

@Duke_Newcombe: Im not blaming the OP at all, the post earlier about the knee sucked, the CSR did a poor job, but just becasue a company doesnt go above and beyond doesnt make them bad, it makes them standard. My point was that for the most part, people scream about terrible service when the reality is they expected too much and didnt get their way. That was not the case with the previously posted story (for the most part).

This story brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Pixar for making a dying girls last wish come true.

A big thumbs up to the company and the employee for their efforts.

@Preyfar: It's these kind of stories that sort give a glimmer of hope for humanity, both on the individual level and the collective. I may go see this movie now, despite having no interest to actually see it.

@Charlotte Rae's Web:

Got that right.

Good on Pixar.

It's the little things in life, not the "big" things, that matter.

#1 i was encouraged to treat people well and do the right thing

#2 it looks marvelous on a resume

And in this case almost everyone wins, but in the saddest of ways.

Our hearts reach out to her family. From a bunch of Pixar fans to another.

And while you're right to point that the Airlines (in particular) themselves can't do much, the individual employees can.

Keepin' it classy, Pixar. You rule!!

Apple has excellent customer service and was started by Steve Jobs

and so was pixar.....

@wvFrugan:
Funny, I didn't know that Pixar was part of Disney when I wrote the above, but while writing that I was thinking of how I don't mind Disney's high prices (IMO) quite as much since they seem to be fairly good to their employees (same sex benefits, etc.). Interesting how corporate culture is just like a person's voice or personality, people know & can tell.

@hillsrovey: Presumably somebody recorded it in theaters. However, the child's wish was not "I want to see 'Up' as filmed by the creators of 'The Blair Witch Project', so that wouldn't work too well. As stated by others, kudos to Pixar.

When it came down it this was about granting a dying girl's wish... not getting publicity. The fact Pixar declined to comment amplifies the beauty of the story tenfold.

@kepler11: I agree. Most businesses cannot flex they way companies like this can, especially for non-extraordinary circumstances.

Being on a later flight IS NOT going to kill you, it sucks, and a hassel, but not death. And even if it were life and death, your emergencies are not always going to be more important then the combined convience of the 200 other people you might effect. Most people are just really selfish.

Oh, come on.

(come on, I know at least one of your guys out there was thinking of that!)

That's one of the happiest, saddest stories I think I've ever read.

Pass the tissues.

1. Pixar makes money like crazy, and has creatively-tasked employees for whom personal acts of kindness in one-time-situations are also easy to materialize because it costs them essentially no money.
2. all that's required is for one employee to bring a DVD to a sick child's room
3. Pixar does not have to serve 10,000 people per day
4. Pixar doesn't get affected by weather, flight cancellations, people yelling at them with unreasonable expectations.

An airline can't bring a dying child a DVD like Pixar can. The most it can do consistently is arrive on-time, safely, and for even that they will get complained about.

People will always love Pixar, because it's their job to make people happy. And they will hate airlines, because the best airlines can do nowadays is not make you unhappy.

Damn.

You know it's funny, when a business behaves as a human being, you really don't mind giving them a little business & can overlook the occasional mistake or defect that occurs. It works both ways, so props to them for being a person.