Oscar Review #1 - Up!

(Disclaimer: If you haven’t seen this movie, there may be information in this review that might be considered a “spoiler” - although I consciously try not to put major spoiler info in my reviews. Proceed with caution.)

Anyone who actually KNOWS me would not be surprised that I chose the animated film for my first Oscar review. In fact, if Netflix didn’t have so many of the Oscar choices available, I could easily be convinced to make this my only Oscar review! Of course, I’m talking about “Up” - Pixar’s 2009 release featuring the voice of Ed Asner as Carl Frederickson, a crotchety old man who ties thousands of helium balloons to his house to float it to South America.

The movie starts out with Carl as a little boy, sitting in the theater watching a news-reel about the great explorer, Charles Muntz, and his attempt to prove the existence of a rare South American bird. Carl, the little boy, idolizes Muntz and is running around pretending to be him when he discovers a little girl, Ellie, doing the same thing. Ellie maintains a scrapbook of Muntz’s adventures and the back section of the scrapbook is empty, saved for her own adventures. She informs Carl that she intends to go to Paradise Falls, the place where Muntz does his exploring, someday. We then see time pass as they grow up, get married, and grow old together. Carl finds the scrapbook and remembers Ellie’s dream to go to Paradise Falls. He gets plane tickets and plans to surprise her, but before he can, she gets sick and subsequently dies. At this point in the movie, I’m bawling like a baby.

Flash forward to current times - Carl has a lonely existence in the same house he lived in with Ellie refusing all offers from the construction company who is building all around the house. (Picture the Bugs Bunny cartoon where he refuses to move his hole for the building of a super-highway and the thing ends up with the highway built around Bugs’ concrete-encased home.) Back to Carl. Events happen and he’s going to be put in a home. Carl appears to play along with the plan, but then when the men in the white suits come to pick him up, he lets loose the thousands of balloons he has attached to his house, and the house starts floating through the city. With a compass and the picture of South America from Ellie’s scrapbook, Carl sets course for Paradise Falls.

Shortly, Carl discovers that Russell, the Boy Scout who he’d previously sent on a snipe hunt to get rid of him, was a stowaway on the house. Carl, as I previously mentioned, is crotchety so they do not get along well. Along the way, Russell befriends a strange but friendly multi-colored bird who he names Kevin and a dog, Dug, whose owner has fixed him up with a collar that allows Dug to speak his thoughts. Of course, like most dogs, Dug’s thoughts aren’t very deep, centering mostly around smells and squirrels.

I don’t want to say much more, so as not to spoil any surprises. Nevertheless, hilarity ensues as one would expect from an animated movie and all turns out well. Carl learns a few lessons, including if you get rid of the baggage of the past, your load gets lightened enough that you can head out on adventures. Also, that life is an adventure, if you look at it with the right attitude. By the end of the movie, Carl has become a grandfather figure for Russell. They and Dug have many adventures.

I’m a fan of animated movies. I have been since I saw my first, Disney’s Robin Hood (which reminds me, Haley's supposed to be burning that soundtrack for me..), back in the .. um.. early 70’s. My criteria is simple, memorable characters (especially the kind that make good Happy Meal toys), a good story, good laughs, a few tears. Up met my criteria and then some. Two thumbs up for Up! It is movie that kids and adults will all enjoy. Mom and I both enjoyed it, so I can guarantee you it won’t win the Oscar, but there you go.