DVD Review: UP

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Disney and Pixar’s animated feature UP proves that a great quest can turn even the most unusual set of characters into intensely engaging heroes. 

UP starts by tugging hard at the heartstrings by revealing the bittersweet life story of 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredericksen (voiced by Ed Asner). Carl is introduced as a gruff little old man grieving over his wife’s death while dealing with the threat of being sent away to a senior’s home and losing his beloved old house.

Carl soon surprises everyone by escaping to South America and taking his whole house with him with the help of tens of thousands of balloons. Things become more unhinged when he realizes that Russell (Jordan Nagai), a well meaning but clueless Boy Scout, has unwittingly come along for the ride, and what a thrill ride it is.

The unlikely pair endures everything from freak-thunderstorms, a pack of trained hunter dogs and the movie’s manic villain Muntz (Christopher Plummer). UP is a chock-full of humorous moments and endearing situations most of which are hinged on the power of human relationships. The bond that keeps the ragtag team of underdogs together is what gets them through most of the insane situations. There are plenty of emotional moments but still more than enough tomfoolery to keep things light as the story progresses.

UP is as good an adventure story as we’ve seen in recent memory and part of what makes it fun is that the protagonists are such quirky misfits. Carl Fredricksen getting his adventure mojo going is even more fun to watch than Clint Eastwood’s Walt Kowalski in 2008’s Gran Torino. Could grumpy geezers be Hollywood’s new anti-hero trend?

Visually, UP is Pixar at its stunning best. Each frame is a smorgasbord of accurate detail, colour and movement. Every strand of hair, every fabric and object on the screen is rendered to perfection even if it is stylized to the movie’s vintage look and feel.

There are clever touches everywhere, such as using the opening and ending credits as a way to deliver a prologue and epilogue of the story through a neat montage of stills. Its so refreshing to see a movie that has a definite ending to it that doesn’t leave you wondering what happened to the character’s lives after the adventure. In fact, it is shown in the credits that they do get to have many more adventures together.

The DVD includes two extra bits of animation from Pixar. The first is Partly Cloudy, the theatrical short that was shown in theatres before UP and the second is Dug’s Special Mission which ties in directly with UP and features the movie’s talking dog and what his life was like shortly before he met with Carl and Russell.

Other DVD features include Adventure is Out There, a documentary focusing on the film crew’s trek to the Tepuis mountains of South America to research the design and story of the film.

The DVD also features commentary by director Pete Docter and co-director Bob Peterson as well as a digital copy that can be loaded on computers or personal media players.

UP is a modern masterpiece, a fun yet heartwarming film that proves how a great story and amazing animation can move and entertain people of all ages.

Score 4.5 out of 5

Directed By: Directed By Pete Docter; Co-Directed By Bob Peterson
Original Release Date: 11/10/09
Written By: Story By Pete Docter, Bob Peterson And Tom McCarthy; Screenplay By Bob Peterson And Pete Docter
Studio: Disney-Pixar
Approximate Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA: PG. For Some Peril And Action. Bonus material not rated.

Reference:  http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/up/