Up

I'm embarrassed -- nay, ashamed -- to admit this, but I had absolutely no desire to see Up when it was in theaters earlier this year. I can't put my finger on why; maybe it was because Up is the first Pixar film to revolve around normal ol' human beings. It had no talking fishies, no toys that come to life, no superheroes, no rats who can whip up delicious meals, no robots with a soft spot for Hello, Dolly!... nope, just a grumpy old man and what looked like a possibly annoying kid who float away in a house hitched to a ton of hot-air balloons. (Insert Balloon Boy joke here, because I can't bring myself to do it.)

I didn't see how there could be anything in Up that I would find entertaining -- even its trailers failed to pique my interest. 

But I still watched it, anyway, and came out of the theater singing its praises to anyone who would listen. Up has remained one of my top five movies of 2009, and is also my favorite Pixar film, by far.  It moved me to tears and had me laughing out loud. (Yes, "I laughed... I cried," OK?)  For me, the biggest surprise was how truly funny this movie was. 

What exactly did co-writers and directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson get so incredibly right with Up? Let's start with the overall look of the film. It's just gorgeous. Eye-popping colors and dreamy landscapes abound. While you won't get all of the depth that the big-screen 3D effects brought to Up's animation when you watch this one on DVD, there's no reason to fear that you'll be missing out on any "gotcha!" scenes -- moments in which it looks like someone or something is jumping out of the screen at you. None of those tricks were used in this movie because the story was strong enough without them.

That's not to say there aren't any exciting, action-packed sequences, however. Once we learn why it is that Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) wants to take off on his joy ride, and how the young Wilderness Explorer Russell (voiced by newcomer Jordan Nagai) ends up tagging along on the adventure, the house lifts from its trusty foundation and soars, soars, soars across the sky, until it lands not too far from where Carl wanted to end up: the breathtaking Paradise Falls in South America (a fictional location inspired by the tepui mountains in Venezuela). There, Carl and Russell find that they are not alone. A wacked-out, rainbow-colored, ostrichy-looking bird, which Russell inexplicably names "Kevin," starts following them around.  As does an exuberant golden retriever named Dug, who can talk by way of an interpretation device on his collar (and is guaranteed to have dog-owners howling).  Our unlikely duo eventually discovers that the person who fitted Dug with the collar is none other than Carl's childhood hero, the world-renowned explorer Charles F. Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer).  

As it turns out, Muntz has been on the hunt for a rare bird (you guessed it, it's Kevin) for decades, and when he (wrongly) senses that he's got some competition from his new visitors, things get ugly. Muntz will do anything and everything to get Kevin, even if that means sending his army of attack dogs after Carl and Russell, or battling it out with his senior-citizen enemy in, atop or outside of an unstable aircraft.  Those climactic scenes are why Up was rated PG rather than G: human characters (not toys, fish, robots, cuddly monsters or talking cars) are shown "in peril."  So while there are definitely some sequences that might be a tad intense for really young children, I did not find anything in Up to be demonstrably scarier than "bad guy scenes" shown in other animated films. It's just that this time around, the story deals with humans. So, you know, I guess that means the events depicted in Up could actually happen. (Once again, insert Balloon Boy joke here.)

If I was unclear in my "favorite Pixar movie" or "top five of '09" statements earlier, let me remove all doubt now: I strongly recommend that everyone -- you, you, and yes, even you -- check out Up. From its dazzling visuals to its heartwarming story and morals, there's literally nothing that isn't wonderful about this film.  

James agreed in his theatrical review; if you need to read more raving, you can do so here.

Comments

[Matthew S.]

I never saw it in 3D, but I loved that movie!!!

[millar74]

Squirrel!

that's all i have to say about that :)

[Matt]

I'm more than a little torqued off that Disney chose NOT to include the cartoon "Parly Cloudy" on the single-disc & rental releases....it diminishes the experience of this film...and it is ridiculous to do so...

[Matthew S.]

ROFL to millar74!

Thank you, I needed that!

And yes, that short was brilliant! Poor cloud...

[Kristin]

It seems all the cartoon companies are getting greedy. We also had to purchase the 2 disc set for Monsters vs Aliens in order to get the short Bob's Big Break. Whatever happened to putting it all on one disc?

But yes, back to Up - I agree, it is pure awesomeness!

[ERIK]

I loved that movie!!! Does anybody know if this dvd has a principal menu_I try to change the audio for spanish....i just didn't work__I'll rent it again tomorrow!!

[codeman38]

I'm extremely disappointed that the rental DVD includes no closed captioning. Apparently Disney doesn't realize deaf and hard-of-hearing people actually rent DVDs.

[Fiirvoen]

Yeah, Disney really screwed up on this DVD. I guess they were trying to make it kid-friendly by having no menu, but I found that incredibly irritating. Why should I have to pay extra for a menu and basic DVD options? What ever happened to getting a whole lot of extra content for free? Stupid special edition marketing crap...

The movie is excellent, though. I cried, but I have to admit, I laughed harder at my two-year-old's reaction to the movie than the movie itself. She would scream and holler and talk to the screen every time something exciting happened. She sounded scared, but when we'd pause it to see if she was okay, she'd gesture and make noises like she was saying, "What are you doing!? It was just getting good!"

[Marc]

I blew $1.07 for nothing. This movie is NOT CLOSED CAPTIONED, Let this is a warning to all deaf and hard of hearing!

[ERIK]

RedBox has to let us know the details about movies like they are renting--like no captions, or audio etc. Otherways I have to go back to the bbuster club.

[Kenny]

It is ridiculous that Pixar chose not to include closed captioning. My wife is from another country and having the words on the screen make it much easier for her to understand the movie. By not having closed captioining Pixar has eliminated deaf/hard of hearing people and anyone that speaks Spanish from their audience. The lack of closed captioning on the rental doesn't urge me to want to purchase the movie, however it does give me the urge to stop renting movies altogether.

[CM]

I also was disappointed that there were no closed captions or SDH subtitles, I called RedBox and got my $1.08 back!
(I understand it's not the fault of redbox that I could not enjoy the movie, but if we all demand a refund some one might pay attention.)

[codeman38]

@Erik: As I discovered a couple days ago, that chain of stores also has the un-captioned version... and it's mislabeled on the box as being subtitled as well.

[Charlotte]

I was really disappointed that Redbox's decision chose to supply the version of the film without closed captions or subtitles rather than the regular retail film that has them. As a deaf consumer, I need my close captions or subtitles just to watch it. For them to ignore this need is a huge disservice, and I will not be using the 7 redboxes in my area anymore, as well as encouraging my friends to do the same, as Redbox refused to offer me a refund when I called to complain.

[Sonny]

I called Disney Movie Studios about UP rental disc at 800-723-4763 then press 4 then press 4 to get a live person. This person immediately apologized to me at least five times. She said they are already aware of this accessibility issue and they are working to resolve it asap. She then asked me for my full name, email address and home address. She said I'd hear back from them either by email or letter when this has been resolved. I encourage you to call them too. The more calls, the better. The whole call took me 5-7 minutes.

[moviegoer123]

Getting some bad reviews on this movie, I wanted to see this movie and I'm waiting for the disc to come back to the location at the Redbox where my family lives so I need to know is this a good movie or not?

I'm not wasting exactly $1.05 + maybe additional night rental if the movie is a turkey, my family would probably agree.

I love Disney because they don't have all the adult material in it, I watched Bedtime Stories at least ten times already since I bought it on DVD with my family member and I did rent it at the Redbox first, and that was insanely great movie!!

I'm not calling that number, just let me see the darn movie first and get a chance to run at the Redbox a few more times to see if they have it. I hoping the Redbox have this film Up next weekend or Thanksgiving weekend so I can at least watch it with my family.

It looks like a good movie! I will rent it with my family in a few weeks when it comes available at the Redbox in the location where I live! LOL! :)

[Jennifer]

The movie is excellent. My kids and I love it. But I am hard of hearing and depend on Closed Captioning. I'm also ticked that we can't use a menu, we have to fast forward and rewind like it is a VHS tape! Thanks Charlotte, I will be calling them tomorrow!

[Nena]

i wont buy the movie until it have CC.....