What Goes Up Never Comes Down

I’ve been known to get teary in a film or seven. I mean, My Girl is sad and touching, okay? But I have never cried in an animated film before. Not even Bambi or Dumbo could get me going, but all that changed on Saturday when I discovered a little, old man named Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) and his wild-haired, wild-hearted love Ellie (voiced by Elie Docter).

To say that Pixar has done it again would be unsurprising – they have not yet failed to bring me the best films of the year and this is no different. Up is a treasure, with surprising characters, detailed beautiful animation, and the kind of story-telling that movies were made for. What surprised me was the maturity of the light-hearted film.

Still clearly a treat for children with its gentle humor, slapstick comedy, old man battles, and talking dogs (of the clever language-converting collar invention variety, not the shoot-me-please Chihuahua variety), the film revolved around a very adult theme: grief and regret. It’s about loss and how we deal with it. It’s about moving on. And for Carl Fredricksen moving on meant releasing balloons through his chimney and traveling poetically through the skies in a flying house, on his way to the one adventure he never had.

Joining him on his journey to self-healing and South America, is a round, adorably obnoxious wilderness scout named Russell (Jordan Nagai) who is trying to help the elderly in order to earn his final badge and become a senior wilderness scout. But there’s more to Russell than meets the eye, and together the grumpy old man and the annoying little scout form an unlikely friendship that will tug at your balloon strings.

The twosome make some other friends on their adventure to Paradise Falls including a bird named Kevin – who turns out to be a mommy trying to get back to her chicks – and a dumb, but lovable and loyal dog named Dug (Bob Peterson), who can talk thanks to the collar his master gave him. And then there’s his master, the film’s villain, voiced by Christopher Plummer, who’s out to capture Kevin with the help of his trained army of talking, cooking, dusting, plane-flying dogs.

I won’t reveal much more lest I ruin some of your fun, but Up is a charmer. It’s a simple feat of story-telling, with a sweet, sentimental and not nearly often enough told story about the people we sometimes overlook. It’s brilliantly drawn with the kind of detail only Pixar seems to capture – right down the growing whiskers on Carl’s chin. It’s also lovely to see in 3D – where you get your own Carl Fredricksen glasses – and the 3D animation never falls back on gimmicky shots of things flying toward you. Instead it provides you with a little depth – which seems so very appropriate.

It’s a gem, that’s for sure. From it’s opening moments, Up soars right into your heart and doesn’t let go. I dare you not to shed a tear.