Celebrity How Céline Dion Used Disney's 'Up' to Tell Her 5-Year-Old Twins That Husband René Angélil Had Died René Angélil died after a long battle with cancer in January 2016 By Janine Rubenstein Janine Rubenstein Instagram Twitter Janine Rubenstein is Editor-at-Large at PEOPLE and host of PEOPLE Every Day podcast, a daily dose of breaking news, pop culture and heartwarming human interest stories. Formerly Senior Editor of music content, she's also covered crime, human interest and television news throughout her many years with the brand. Prior to PEOPLE she's written for Essence, The Cape Times newspaper and Los Angeles Magazine among others. On-screen Rubenstein can be found featured on shows like Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight and she routinely hosts PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly's star-studded Red Carpet Live specials. Follow the San Francisco native, Black Barbie collector and proud mom of two on Instagram and Twitter @janinerube People Editorial Guidelines and Lindsay Kimble Lindsay Kimble Lindsay Kimble is a Senior Digital News Editor and the Sports Editor for PEOPLE Digital. She's worked at PEOPLE for over seven years as a writer, reporter and editor across our Entertainment, Lifestyle and News teams, covering everything from the Super Bowl to the Met Gala. She's been nominated for the ASME NEXT Awards for Journalists Under 30, and previously wrote for Us Weekly while on staff at Wenner Media. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 17, 2016 10:00 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Courtesy Celine Dion Céline Dion opens up for the first time since losing both her husband, René Angélil, and brother Daniel Dion. Subscribe now to read how she and her family have found strength and peace, only in PEOPLE. When it came to sharing the hardest news of her life, Céline Dion turned to Disney. Dion tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story that she told her youngest children about their father René Angélil‘s January death with help from the beloved children’s movie Up. Dion says she waited a few days after twins Nelson and Eddy Angélil, 5½, lost their father to his long battle with cancer then threw them a glitter and balloon-filled party. For much more on Céline Dion’s heartbreaking loss, how she told her children, and how they are all finding the strength to go on, pick up the upcoming issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday It was then – ahead of Angélil’s funeral – that she revealed that “Papa” had “gone up” – floating away on balloons, never to return. “I did not want to relate the passing to doctors and have them be afraid,” she says, adding of easing them into the concept of death, “It’s the thing I’m most proud of.” The Story Behind the Story: Celine Dion’s Life After Loss Dion, who also has 15-year-old son René-Charles Angelil with her late husband, says, “I see René in all three of them. Not one moment do I feel like they’re looking for him and questioning.” Angélil, Dion’s longtime manager and mentor, was 73 when he died. He had gone through three separate bouts of cancer after first being diagnosed in 1999. His throat cancer returned, for a final time, in 2014.