Up
The story of Carl Fredericksen is the oldest one ever told: a love story. A shy young boy with aspirations of following in the footsteps of his idol, the explorer Charles Muntz, Carl has a chance encounter one day with the energetic Ellie that changes his life forever. The two fall in love, marry and live a blissful life together, only for their life-long wish of visiting South America going unfulfilled when Ellie passes away.
Determined to live out his wife's dream, Carl ties thousands of helium-filled balloons to his house that lift it off the ground and begins his journey, soaring over the clouds to reach South America. However, unknown to Carl, Russell, an over-optimistic eight-year-old, has accidentally joined him on his trip. The adventures and characters Carl and Russell come across in this magnificently crafted and gloriously told story combine perfectly to create an enduring film that both tickles the funny bone and pulls the heartstrings.
It seems that Disney/Pixar can't put a foot wrong; after the Oscar-winning triumph of "Wall-E", it was difficult to see how they could top the lovelorn waste collector. This time round they've gone from a distant future inhabited by robots to a 78-year-old man with a walking stick - and the results are extraordinary. "Up" is a visual masterpiece; yet, for all the studio wizardry, it is the human aspects that will most captivate audiences. Carl and Russell are an unlikely, yet incredibly entertaining partnership, and the story is the most subtle and beautiful that the studio has written.
Take your friends, kids, partner, parents, grandparents - take everyone you know - just be prepared for them to want to go see "Up" again and again.