Up Review

Director: Pete Doctor (Monster's Inc.) and Bob Peterson
Screenplay: Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson (Finding Nemo)
Starring: Ed Asner, (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant), Jordan Nagai and Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music, The Insider)
Gross Revenue: $731,342,744 worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter: 98%
IMDB Rating: 8.4
Awards: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and Best Original Score   

     By now, anyone who goes to the movies knows of the Pixar legend.  Every single movie released by Pixar has been critically and commercially successful.  No other company in Hollywood history has had such a perfect record, which leaves other film companies scrambling to copy Pixar’s “business plan”.  As much as the public loves heroes, they love even more to see heroes fall, so it seems that as Pixar releases information about their newest film, there are detractors crying for the “Fall of Pixar.”  It certainly seemed that way with up.  “No one is going to see an animated film about an old man”.  Well, Pixar certainly proved them wrong, and Up is one of Pixar’s best films, not to mention one of the best animated films ever released.
   Up, Pixar's first film to star an elderly character is about Carl Fredrickson, a 78 year old balloon salesman.  In mourning for the loss of his beloved childhood sweetheart and wife Ellie, his life seems to have lost purpose.  Vowing to fulfill Ellie’s wish of visiting Paradise Falls in South America, and in order to escape living out the remainder of his years in a retirement home, he attaches thousands of balloons to his house, in order to fly to Paradise Falls.  Unbeknownst to him, an 8 year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell stows aboard his house, and the two’s destinies become intertwined as they embark on an adventure filled with talking dogs, 13 foot birds, aerial dogfights, and vengeful villain bent on destroying everything Carl holds dear.

    This is probably the saddest of the Pixar films, and the one most guaranteed to start the waterworks.  The first 15 minutes, which showcases Carl and Ellie’s romance and life through a series of dialogue-less montages, alone will require the use of several tissues, and the movie doesn’t let up until the end.  What is so wonderful about Pixar is that they are able to warrant such heartfelt empathy about animated characters, which shows how seriously they take their craft.  I remember being in the theater and seeing people across all demographics just bawling and I admit to being one of those people.  But let me just state that there is absolutely nothing wrong with crying during a Pixar movie, especially one as heart-wrenching as Up.

    The main reason Pixar's films are so good is that they place their emphasis on what is most important to make a successful film: characters and story.  Up is no different.  Pixar continues to be bold in their choices of main characters, for creating a film for “children” whose main character was elderly was certainly a bold choice.  Of course, Pixar is uncomfortable unless they are blazing new ground, so each character in the film is a 3-dimensional layered creation that is absolutely essential to the story, as well as providing numerous laughs along the way.  Carl finds a great partner in little Russell, who in addition to providing an endless array of laughs with his “Wilderness Explorer Knowledge”, is actually a deep and layered character, that brings out a side of Carl he didn’t know he had.  Along the way they meet up with a host or fresh and original characters, including Kevin, an exotic 13 ft. tall flightless and multi-colored bird, and Dug, a “talking” dog who communicates through a translation collar.  Both add a great amount of fun to the story, especially Dug, who may be the funniest Pixar character of all time.

    The story is also masterful and representative of the “Pixar touch”.  Though the main point of the film, it’s “McGuffin”, is Carl’s quest to plant his house at Paradise Falls, the film takes numerous detours, which serve as lessons to the main character of Carl.  He spent so much of life longing for “adventure”, that he didn’t realize that life itself was an adventure, which is a lesson that Russell, Dug, and a whole assortment of characters teach him.  Up deals with surprisingly mature themes for a family film: death, love, neglect, and obsession. Despite being quite heady and dark, they are displayed in such a way that children and adults alike can appreciate and fully comprehend them.

     I've spent much time on the seriousness and drama associated with Up, but none of its lighter aspects.  Up is the funniest Pixar film since Finding Nemo, and will leave your sides splitting.  Dug and his crew of “talking dogs” are some of the funniest characters ever seen on celluloid, and are among Pixar’s funniest characters.  The interaction between Carl and Russell is also noteworthy, and they rank among some of the greater “buddy” film duos of this decade.

     The animation is also spectacular.  The Pixar motto among their animators is that it should be so good that “nobody notices”.  Well, we certainly notice here.  The South American landscape is simply breathtaking, and almost looks photo-realistic.  Though the characters are stylized models of humans, the world they interact in believable enough to remind us of our world, but not too realistic as to creep us out and give an “uncanny valley” feeling. 
     Seriously, what more do I need to say?  Though Up is not perfect, it is pretty darn close.  Great characters, compelling and involving story, technical mastery, high laughs, drama and suspense, and heartache all combine to make one of the best animated films of recent memory.  Pixar continues to blur the line between adult film and children’s film, as well as between animated and live action.  Up ranks among Pixar’s best films, and is one of its funniest, as well as its saddest, and ranks among the best animated films of the decade.  4.5/5.

 "I was hiding under your porch because I love you"- Dug