Member review

Up (Pete Docter) at the face of it is heart-warming and heart wrenching of the couple Carl and Ellie, the first 8 minutes could stand alone be a multi-award winning short film. It magnificently guides the audience through an emotional and eventually tragic love story between Carl (Ed Asner/ Jeremy Leary) and Ellie (Ellie Docter). The montage follows Carl and Ellie from life as children through married life all the way to Ellie’s heart wrenching death. Throughout this montage we learn that the couple have a dream of moving to paradise falls, we also learn that Ellie is unable to bear children. After Ellie’s death Carl becomes a stubborn old man. Carl meets a boy named Russell (Jordan Nagai) and outwardly rejects his attempts to help him, Carl then has an altercation that means he has to leave his home, because of this he uses his balloon know how to fly his house to South America. Russell is taken accidentally taken along this journey and hijinks ensues as the pair work together to get Carl’s house to the falls. Through this Carl sees Russell as the child he could never have and is reborn as a new man by the end of this emotional adventure.

Up was only the second animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award in 2009 and it’s clear why. Up carries an emotional weight more than any other animated film conveying real human problems through the family-friendly style of computer generated animation. The two protagonists Carl and Russell are perfect contrasts meaning the two characters learn as much from one another as they teach. Serious issues such as death, divorce, infertility, growing old and growing up are tackled through two completely different people on opposite sides of society in terms of class, age as well as cultural background. As well as these incredibly moving emotional moments, there are a huge amount of child – friendly and lovable characters and gags. These include Doug the talking dog obsessed with squirrels, Kevin a mysterious bird and the other talking dogs each with a plethora of jokes and funny moments.

Pixar undoubtedly make hit after hit, but Up is without a doubt is one of their finest films so far.