Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) is an elderly man whose life had been filled with dreams of adventure alongside his childhood sweetheart Ellie. When Ellie passes away and their biggest dream – living atop Paradise Falls – is never realized, Carl is left clinging to the house he shared with Ellie as it quickly becomes surrounded by large urban developments.

Carl soon feels like everybody is pestering him, including a young Wilderness Scout named Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai ) who is seeking his “Assisting the Elderly” merit badge. When Carl is faced with a court order to leave his home for a retirement community, he decides to fill thousands of balloons with helium and escape to Paradise Falls  — taking his house, and incidentally Russell, with him.

Carl and Russell soon embark on an exciting, and sometimes scary, adventure as they encounter a talking dog named Dug, a rare bird they dub “Kevin,” and the once-great explorer Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer), who is still searching for the species that single-handedly ruined his career.

Prior to seeing the film, it had not crossed my mind that the back story would be the real gem of the movie, despite somewhat obvious signs: an older, grumpy man as the protagonist (he has a whole life story to tell!) and an unlikely sidekick in an awkward, young boy seeking out his final merit badge (where are his parents?). The two seemed to be an odd pairing at first, but they would later complement one another as their journey took them from Carl’s over-developed neighborhood to the vast jungles of South America. “It’s just like America,” chirps Russell, “Only south!”

It’s no secret that Pixar is an industry leader in animation, and their large team (as honored in the lengthy credits) solidified its position as a leader not only with this feature, but also with the customary short film shown before the feature. “Partly Cloudy,” an amusing short portraying the weary relationship between a storm cloud that creates dangerous packages and his dedicated delivery stork, is heartwarming and funny — but it also displays the incredible talent of Pixar’s animators, giving clouds more dimension (literally and figuratively) than ever before.

The film is strikingly beautiful in that it seems designed with digital 3D animation in mind — taking advantage of the best action sequences and highlighting the most physical of scenes — setting a standard that will impress viewers. The appearance of clouds, balloons, and mist are all very intricately and realistically animated, making the film a visual odyssey of great proportions.

One of the best qualities of the movie, unbeknownst to the vast majority of its young viewers, is that the voice actors representing many of the characters are quite similar to what the audience sees on-screen. Antagonist Muntz is strikingly similar to the real life appearance of Plummer, as is Carl to his voice actor Asner; whether this was intentional or not, it is an amusing side note for older, more knowledgable viewers who will remember Plummer and Asner for their long careers in entertainment. Even “Cheers” alum John Ratzenberger gets in on the action in a minor role as a construction worker (again, quite fitting considering his acting experience).

Subtle humor is one of the standout qualities of this film. Made up of mostly small, easily-forgettable gags and tiny humorous mentions, the numerous jokes combine for a composite picture of a writing team with a good-natured and clean sense of humor.

If I had to pick anything I didn’t like about the film, it would be that the talking dogs got a bit old. I like movies to keep pretty clear boundaries; it makes me slightly biased against most sci-fi films and certainly gives unfavorable reviews to many comedies, but I feel like boundaries help keep the tolerability of a film intact. The talking dogs maintained a lot of the slapstick humor, however, and were probably kept in so prominently for the youngest viewers — that, I can understand.

Overall, the movie hit its highest note with the poignant and heartwarming portrayals of Carl. This film certainly achieved a high mark in character development; I find this very surprising, considering it’s an animated feature and will be judged mostly on its aesthetic quality. Personally, I’ve never cried so much at a movie before this. And it was no standard, this-is-a-tear-jerker sort of cry session, it was a full-on, unstoppable flow of tears — not because the story was particularly sad, but because I could relate to the situations that were so delicately and artfully presented in this film. It was definitely difficult to watch the elderly Carl struggle against the changing times, the loss of his wife, and a court order to take him away from his home. More than anything, it reminded me of my grandfather, who beneficially but unhappily spent his last months in a nursing home. This common occurrence in American life, as well as the beautiful love story of Carl and Ellie, undoubtedly struck a chord with audiences — I know it did with me.

Disney’s Official Site for “Up”
Pixar’s Official Site for “Up”
Up on the Internet Movie Database
DaveOnFilm.com’s review of Up
A good article about the origins of Up‘s fictional Paradise Falls