UP

DISNEY•PIXAR

RELEASED 16 October 2009

Within the first ten minutes of the new Pixar movie, one of the major characters has died. I don’t think any film studio in the world other than Pixar would have the balls to do this. As if that wasn’t enough for the accounts department to worry about, Pixar have also made the star of ‘Up’ a 78-year old white-haired retiree called Carl who refuses to move from his house as the city developers build tower blocks around him. Death and old age - wow, this new Disney film sounds like a great kids film! But as Walt Disney always said, ‘For every laugh, there should be a tear.’ And of course, this is Pixar we’re talking about here. Creators of the finest animated films of the last ten years such as ‘The Incredibles’, ‘Monsters Inc’, ‘Finding Nemo’, and ‘Wall•E’. It isn’t long before a huge cloud of rainbow-coloured balloons sprout from the top of Carl’s chimney (he used to be a balloon salesman), and the house breaks free from it’s foundations, rising high on the thermals towards the magical ‘Paradise Falls’ in South America, the place Carl has always dreamed of going to. A knock on the door reveals a terrified boyscout Russell stowed away on the porch, trying to earn his final merit badge (‘Assisting the Elderly’). Carl reluctantly lets the windswept boy in, and on their journey to Paradise Falls, they befriend a colourful tropical bird (whom they name Kevin) and a talking dog (voicebox attached) called ‘Dug’. They also run into the presumed-dead explorer Charles F. Muntz, who is virtually the same age as Carl but kind of looks like Kirk Douglas. Muntz lives on his huge airship, with only a pack of talking dogs for company, led by the voicebox-failing Alpha, making him sound like one of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Muntz wants something our heroes aren’t prepared to give him, cue some thrilling action and chase scenes.

It seems churlish to say, but with every Pixar movie, I’ve always been a little bit disappointed. Each release has been sprinkled with moments of greatness, but has never been wholly great like the ‘Toy Story’ movies. Until now. I believe ‘Up’ is as good as the exalted ‘Toy Story’ movies, and therefore I believe it’s a bona fide classic.

Carl, Russell, Kevin and Dug are the ultimate Pixar dream team, comical, curmudgeonly, and cuddly. Ed Asner (who has one of the longest IMDB listings I’ve ever seen) voices Carl, and the superb Christopher Plummer gives a cackling performance as the voice of Muntz. The bad dogs are just as cute as Dug (in their dumb way), and it’s only really Muntz who doesn’t have a good bone in his body.

The jokes and sight gags are as good as you’ll see in a kids movie (the best of which sees both oldies put their backs out as they fight), and visually Pixar outdo themselves once again. You can never get tired of looking at Paradise Falls. Promising composer Michael Giacchino (Star Trek, Lost) has finally scored his first film work that actually plays a vital part in telling the story, and cements his huge potential.

Director and screenwriter Pete Docter has been at the top of Pixar since the beginning, and it’s telling that he was involved with the writing of both ‘Toy Story’ movies, as well as ‘Wall•E’. These are the best Pixar movies, and now ‘Up’ joins them. I can’t recommend this funny, original, sad, and joyous movie enough.

FIVE OUT OF FIVE