Walt Disney Studios | 2009 | Rated PG | 96 minutes | List price: $45.99 | Get it for less at Amazon

Continuing their unparalleled ability to produce hit film after hit film, Pixar has once again demonstrated that at the heart of any great story remains first and foremost the characters. With such varied leads in their movies as the talking toys of the TOY STORY movies, the inquisitive clownfish of FINDING NEMO, or the rat who wants nothing more than to cook in RATATOUILLE, Pixar has chosen perhaps their most unusual subject for their newest film UP, the 78 year-old curmudgeonly Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner). UP follows Carl’s quest to leave behind the modernization of the expanding city that is constantly being built around him and to go on the adventure he and his late wife Ellie always dreamed of taking together, visiting the remote jungles of South America. Always the adventurer and dreamer at heart, and not wanting to leave behind the home that he and Ellie shared for so many decades, Carl ties thousands of balloons to the small house, freeing it from its foundation and setting him forth on his personal journey of discovery. Carl soon learns though that an eight year-old Wilderness Explorer, Russell, has stowed away on the floating house, thus upsetting the solitude that he was hoping to find as he flies south.

While a seventy-eight year old retired balloon salesman may seem an odd choice to have at the center of an adventure set in the middle of a South American jungle, Carl has such a depth of character that his story will instantly win over the hearts of viewers. Co-writers and directors Pete Docter (WALL-E) and Bob Peterson (FINDING NEMO) take a chance in starting their movie when Carl and Ellie are young kids and first meet, and then to tell the entirety of their marriage and Ellie’s death later in life in a music montage of photos from their life together. While normally the concept of a music montage can seem very gimmicky or even intrusive by the filmmakers, here it is used to absolute perfection and introduces such dynamic emotionality to Carl’s character that an audience immediately empathizes with him and is drawn into his own personal adventure. As Docter explains, “Meaningful adventure in life is the relationships we share with others.”

What sets the character of Carl apart from others normally found in an animated film though is the tough choices he must make throughout his journey. Carl must continually reassess what is important to him, how realities can differ from perceptions that have been built up in the mind, and ultimately, what his own adventure truly is. The filmmakers likewise make tough choices in regard to telling their story, such as deciding to let characters live or die, and without falter, they always keep Carl’s story central, thus allowing him to develop fully.

UP is a near perfect movie. Not just a near perfect animated movie, but it ranks as among the best films that have been released this year. The movie is intricately woven with moments of hilarity, such as in the scenes featuring the lovable talking dog, Dug, to moments of tenderness and sorrow, to exciting action, including a fight aboard a dirigible along with an air combat scene involving dogs piloting biplanes. While these elements of course are rooted in the fantastical world that only animation could provide, the journey the characters take and the choices they make are completely true to life and indicative of dilemmas that people face as they come to terms with growing old, feeling a sense of the regret of what dreams weren’t accomplished throughout a life and losing a loved one. Coupling this with outstanding animation and brilliant directing, it is easy to see why UP is among the best of Pixar’s work to date and is easily one of the best films of 2009.

For the Blu-ray release of UP, Disney has released an incredible four-disc edition that contains the Blu-ray of the movie, a DVD of the film and a digital copy, allowing families to enjoy UP across a variety of home media platforms. There is also a disc of extensive bonus features that provide a detailed look at the making of the film and that will truly be the delight of cinephiles. Included on the discs are:

Disc One
• PARTLY CLOUDY theatrical short (5:46)
• DUG’S SPECIAL MISSION (4:40) an all-new original short that is great fun to watch
• ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE (22:17) a documentary on the production team’s travels to Venezuela to spend time on a Tapui to conduct research on how to design the world of the jungle Carl visits
• Alternate scene: “The Many Endings of Muntz” (4:56) a featurette on how the production team decided what Muntz’s fate would be
• Cine-Explore The making of UP with Pete Docter and Bob Peterson

Disc Two
• Documentaries: “Geriatric Hero” (6:24); “Canine Companions” (8:26); “Russell: Wilderness Explorer” (9:00); “Our Giant, Flightless Friend, Kevin” (5:04); “Homemakers of Pixar” (4:38); “Balloons and Flight” (6:25); “Composing for Characters” (7:37)
• Alternate scene: “Married Life” (9:15)
• UP promo montage (6:00)
• Global Guardian Badge Game
• Worldwide trailers

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Movie Rating:

Blu-ray bonus features: EXTENSIVE