Up (2009)

Directors:

Pete Docter
Bob Peterson (co-director)

Writers:

Pete Docter (story) and
Bob Peterson (story) ...

Release Date:

29 May 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Plot:

By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.

Plot Keywords:

South America | Stowaway | Talking Dog | Badge | Explorer

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Edward Asner	...	Carl Fredricksen (voice) (as Ed Asner)
Christopher Plummer	...	Charles Muntz (voice)
Jordan Nagai	...	Russell (voice)
Bob Peterson	...	Dug / Alpha (voice)
Delroy Lindo	...	Beta (voice)
Jerome Ranft	...	Gamma (voice)
John Ratzenberger	...	Construction Foreman Tom (voice)
David Kaye	...	Newsreel Announcer (voice)
Elie Docter	...	Young Ellie (voice)
Jeremy Leary	...	Young Carl (voice)
Mickie McGowan	...	Police Officer Edith (voice)
Danny Mann	...	Construction Worker Steve (voice)
Donald Fullilove	...	Nurse George (voice)
Jess Harnell	...	Nurse AJ (voice)
Josh Cooley	...	Omega (voice)

Also Known As:

Helium (Philippines: English title) (review title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some peril and action.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital EX | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG (certificate #45254) | South Korea:All | UK:U | Canada:G (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:PG | Ireland:G | Mexico:AA | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Finland:K-7 | Hong Kong:I | South Africa:PG | Japan:G | Switzerland:0 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Portugal:M/4 (dubbed version) | Portugal:M/6 (subtitled version) | Norway:7 | Australia:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Taiwan:GP | Germany:o.Al. | Brazil:Livre | Sweden:7

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Russell's Wilderness Explorer sash has several in-jokes and tributes. The most obvious is a Luxo ball. One badge has a hamburger with a candle in it. This is a nod to Merritt Bakery in Oakland - which creates cakes in that shape - a favorite hangout of director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera. Another badge is a tribute to 2-D animation, showing a perforated paper that is used by 2D animators to line up their drawings correctly. He also has badges for First Aid and Second Aid, which may be a reference to a short on the Up website where Russell struggles to apply bandages to Carl. Yet another badge depicts a multicolored pinwheel - the "hang" icon of Apple's Mac OS X operating system, equivalent to the Windows hourglass icon. Several of these badges are shown in the credits. An additional tribute to Apple and Steve Jobs (former CEO of Pixar and still a primary shareholder) shows Russell trying to teach Carl how to use a computer.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When the house first rises, breaking free of its foundation, the front porch is clearly empty. Yet Russell appears later in the far right corner. This is explained by Russell later when he says he crawled under the porch chasing a "snipe". Apparently he hung on to something underneath the porch and crawled up later. In the short film "George & A.J." it is revealed that Russell braced himself underneath Carl's house when it took off in the same way that Woody held onto Sid's milk crate when Sid picked it up in Toy Story (1995).

Quotes:

Russell: [points to Kevin] I found the snipe!
Carl Fredricksen: [amused] Oh, did you now?
[chuckles]
Russell: Are they tall?
Carl Fredricksen: Oh, yes. They're very tall.
Russell: Do they have a lot of colors?
Carl Fredricksen: They do, indeed!
Russell: Do they like chocolate?
Carl Fredricksen: Ye... chocolate?
[he turns around and sees Kevin]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Spirit of Adventure

Pixar launches their funniest film out of their tank to date.

What can I say about Pixar? Amazing?? Perfect?? Got to see this at the Cannes Film Festival in France (went on a trip with my family) and Pixar gives us another instant classic: Up.

The movie focuses on 78-year old man Carl Fredrickson's (voiced by Edward Asner) life who always had a dream of going on a journey to South American to see the wilds of it. He buys thousands of balloons just to attach it to his house to float up in the sky. So, he starts with his journey up in the sky in his house with balloons attached to it. Suddenly, he's not alone and somebody's at the door while flying, it's a boy scout kid named Russell. He invites the boy with him on his journey to South America.

Just brilliant and simple story-telling, beautiful visuals as usual with Pixar, awesome voice work, funny and smart dialogue, beautiful score once again by Michael Giacchino & very, very enjoyable characters. Speaking of characters, the highlight of the film: Dug the Dog. A sort of "robot" dog that will have you have you in a lot of stitches each scene that dog is in and that was the case with me. Simply, one of the funniest characters Pixar ever made. Pete Doctor, one of the four Pixar directors (John Lassester, Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird) who directed Monster's Inc (2001) needs and should get nominated for his clever, genius and smart directing of this but if Stanton didn't get the nods for (Finding Nemo and WALL-E) and Bird for (The Incredibles & Ratatouille) which they should of been, then the Oscars are making another HUGE mistake for not nominating this guy for this movie.

Up is the funniest Pixar movie, funnier than the Toy Story movies, A Bug's Life & Finding Nemo which were the funniest, in my opinion. The movie is not just hilarious, it's emotional and sad at times. Like WALL-E, it focuses on the character feelings but not as magical as WALL-E. Still, Up is full of emotional, fun and hilarious proportions. Your in for a BIG ride in this!! 10/10.