MOVIE REVIEW
UP
Created by: Disney Pixar Animation
Release Date: May 29, 2009
CAST:
Voice - Overs:
Edward Asner ... Carl Fredricksen
Christopher Plummer ... Charles Muntz
Jordan Nagai ... Russell
Bob Peterson ... Dug / Alpha
Delroy Lindo ... Beta
Jerome Ranft ... Gamma
John Ratzenberger ... Construction Foreman Tom
David Kaye ... Newsreel Announcer
Elie Docter ... Young Ellie
Jeremy Leary ... Young Carl
Mickie McGowan ... Police Officer Edith
Danny Mann ... Construction Worker Steve
Donald Fullilove ... Nurse George
Jess Harnell ... Nurse AJ
Josh Cooley ... Omega
PLOT:
From the revolutionary minds of Pixar Animation Studios and the acclaimed director of Monsters, Inc. comes a hilariously uplifting adventure where the sky is no longer the limit.
Carl Fredricksen, a retired balloon salesman, is part rascal, part dreamer who is ready for his last chance at high-flying excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets off to the lost world of his childhood dreams. Unbeknownst to Carl, Russell, an overeager 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer who has never ventured beyond his backyard, is in the wrong place at the wrong time - Carl's front porch! The world's most unlikely duo reach new heights and meet fantastic friends like Dug, a dog with a special collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin, the rare 13-foot tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the jungle, Carl realizes that sometimes life's biggest adventures aren't the ones you set out looking for.
Movie Review:
Up is cute, funny, sad, exciting, odd, sweet, and heartwarming!
From the start, I adored Carl, the retired balloon salesman and Russell, the adorable 8 year old Wilderness Explorer.
The movie begins with Carl, as a little boy, excited with adventure! He's at the movies watching his hero Charles Muntz on the big screen.
Then he meets Ellie, another dreamer and great adventurer, who has an adventure book of all the things she wants to do in the future. This is very sweet... They grow up together as children and when they get older, they marry. They dream of having children together, but they learn from the doctor that it just won't be. This is a sad moment. Carl and Ellie go on with their lives and grow older. Eventually, Ellie is not well, and she soon passes away - leaving Carl, all alone in their little house. This was realistic, yet sad, for an animation.
Russell, the adorable 8 year old Wilderness Explorer, shows up at Carl's door on the day that Carl is supposed to be taken off to an 'old people home', however Carl has schemed to attach thousands of helium balloons to his home- enough that his home is lifted off it's foundation and flies through the air making it past tall buildings and enduring through storms. Russell is on the porch as the house flies through the air - so Carl has no choice but to welcome Russell in and let him join him on his adventure.
Carl and Russell become close along their journey. Russell reveals that his father isn't there for him much and perhaps, he didn't rightfully earn all the wilderness badges on his uniform. Carl feels for the boy and is protective of him. Along the way, they meet a friendly bird, who likes chocolate. Russell names the bird Kevin and they meet a sweet dog, who has this collar that talks for him. This, I felt, was a bit odd, however, it is a cartoon. Kevin and the sweet talking dog, care for and protect Carl and Russell.
What is really strange, was yet to come... Carl and Russell reach Paradise Falls, only to come face to face with Carl's childhood hero, the explorer Charles Muntz. They soon learn he is an evil man - consumed with capturing and killing Kevin, to prove that he discovered this new species.
Carl and Russell work together to protect Kevin and save each other- amongst the evil Charles Muntz and his pack of mean dogs, who also fly airplanes and shoot weapons at them.
There are such sweet moments between Carl and Russell and heartwarming moments where Carl remembers his life with Ellie and their dream of making it to South America to Paradise Falls. The main characters are truly likable and I enjoyed the flying house with the thousand ballons attached. What great imaginations they have at Disney. UP is sweet and sad... I laughed, I almost cried. Sad moments were quickly picked up by lighthearted scenes.
One of the best moments, is when Carl shows up at Russell's Wilderness Caremony, at the end of the movie, to pin on his "helping the elderly" badge. Only, he doesn't give him a regular wilderness badge, instead he gives him a bottle cap pin that Ellie had given Carl, when they were children. It's a precious, sentimental scene to end the movie.
See or Skip:
All in all, I say See this one. It's a sweet and sentimental Disney Animation - it's entertaining to Children and Adults. There are great lessons to learn about loving and caring for others.
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