2009 | Dir. Pete Docter | 96 Minutes
"That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most."
Elderly widower Carl Fredrickson is about to lose the house that he and his late wife shared for decades to a faceless corporation. Taking matters into his own hands, Carl turns the house into a makeshift dirigible and sets off on the adventure of a lifetime. Carl is joined by an overenthusiastic Wilderness Explorer scout named Russell and together they learn that the "Beast of Paradise Falls" and Carl's childhood hero are not what they seem.
Up opens with quite possibly one of the most affecting and heartbreaking montages in all of cinema history, lovingly walking through decades of a long and happy marriage through its ups and downs until one of the spouses is slowly taken by the ravages of time. The film proper spends its time lifting the hearts of its audience with humor and wit, as Carl learns that it's never too late to set off on the journey he was always meant to take, and that one must let go in order to move on.
Seasoned film and television star Ed Asner and child actor Jordan Nagai are an unlikely hilarious comedic duo lending their voices to Carl and Russell, with much of the film's humor stemming from their conflicting personalities. Christopher Plummer is delightfully mean as the diabolical recluse Charles F. Muntz. With impeccable comedic timing, Pixar animator and occasional voice actor Bob Peterson steals the show as the voice of the affable Dug, one of Muntz's hunting dogs fashioned with a speech collar, who quickly befriends Carl and Russell.
Up ranks among the one of the most heartwarming films in the Pixar Animation Studios library. Once again, Pixar sets an astoundingly high bar for the animation medium.
JOHN RATZENBEGER AS...
- Construction Foreman Tom
A113
- Carl sits outside Courtroom A113 after he is sued for hitting a construction worker with his walker
FRAGMENTS
- Russell was designed to look like Pixar staff member and director of The Good Dinosaur Peter Sohn
PIXAR INTERCONNECTIVITY
- The ball from 1986 Pixar animated short Luxo, Jr. and Lots-o-Huggin' Bear from Toy Story 3 (in development at the time of the film's release) are seen in a child's room as Carl's house appears through a window flying through the city at the start of his adventure
- The logo of the Buy n Large Corporation from WALL-E is printed on the construction equipment surrounding Carl's house
- Carl's house flies by the Pizza Planet delivery truck from Toy Story, is seen again when Carl fantasizes about lowering Russell from the house tied-together sheets, and in the parking lot of an ice cream parlor at the end of the film
