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UP
UP, like seemingly half of the Pixar films released since 1995, would at first glance seem like it would be a tough sell for kids, let alone adults. But the geniuses at Pixar know not only how to make an adventure story about a 78-year-old balloon salesman that flies to South America in his house work – they know how to make me cry doing it. The first ten minutes of UP take you through such an emotional journey that it is difficult not to be swept along for the entire ride of the movie. We meet Carl Fredrickson (voiced by Ed Asner) as a young boy, idolizing the great adventurer Charles Muntz, and dreaming of a faraway spot in South America called Paradise Falls; Carl finds a kindred spirit in Ellie, and the two fall in love and grow old. But they never made it to the fabled Paradise Falls together. So Carl takes it upon himself to go there on his own, carrying with him the spirit of Ellie, and traveling in his homemade (or rather made-from-home) dirigible, hoisted aloft by what looks like a thousand helium-filled balloons. But Carl, whose facial features form a nearly permanent scowl, has a stowaway on board. That's Russell, an 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer that has a lot of enthusiasm, but obviously very little experience in actual wilderness exploration. Carl merely tolerates the boy at first. He tows his massive home everywhere they go, carrying his emotional burden alone. But when Russell and Carl discover the reclusive Muntz hiding in the South American jungle with less-than-noble motives, they're forced to team up, rather than simply travel together.
UP is also being packaged in several different versions for home video; you can find it on standard DVD, but for a few dollars more, it's available as a four-disc set that includes the movie on DVD, Blu-ray, and as a digital copy that you can take with you on your iPod. Including all these permutations is smart marketing; it gives consumers extra choice, and if mom buys the movie for the kids, dad may just want to buy that Blu-ray player to experience all the multiple special features included on the high-capacity discs. There are several short documentaries included on the Blu-ray of UP, but the one I enjoyed most is also included on the standard DVD, and that's a documentary called "Adventure is Out There." This 20-minute documentary follows the filmmakers as they travel to Venezuela to experience the tepui mountains that feature so prominently in the final film. The feature illustrates the lengths Pixar's team will go to ensure the on-screen experience is one that will transport you to another place. RAWR!
Pete Docter, the director of UP, was also one of the guiding forces behind another Pixar movie that's finding its way onto Blu-ray this season. Back in 2001, Monsters, Inc. took the childhood fear of a monster hiding in your closet and turned it on its head. In the fanciful world of Monstropolis, it's the monsters that are afraid of being contaminated by a human child; they only scare kids to harvest their screams for power (an idea for CPS?) Featuring the voice talents of John Goodman (Sulley) and Billy Crystal (Mike), Monsters, Inc. is not as emotionally powerful as UP, but it is a good buddy movie, maybe the best of the one-eyed and furry protagonist genre. There are a lot of cute moments when a little human girl gets loose in the world of the monsters, and it's up to Mike and Sulley to get her back home. Also like UP, Monsters, Inc. is available as a four-disc special edition with the same DVD/Blu-ray/Digital Copy combo, and oodles of bonus features, including a peek at the Monsters, Inc. ride at Tokyo Disneyland. Parents, watch that one only if you're okay with your kids begging you to take them to Japan. 11/09/09 Back to the main Cinema Tuesdays Reviews page More about the Cinema Tuesdays series  |
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By the end of the picture, Carl has regained some of his youthful spirit, Muntz gets what's coming to him, the talking dog (oh yes, there's a talking dog) gets a new home, and Russell gets probably the most deserved merit badge in the history of Wilderness Exploration. UP is a triumph.
