Up (2009) - Oscar ® Winner!

"A lovely, thoughtful, and yes, uplifting adventure.  Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"Extending the patented Pixar mix of humor and heart, Up is the studio's most deeply emotional and affecting work.  Richard Corliss, Time Magazine
"A captivating odd-couple adventure that becomes funnier and more exciting as it flies along.  Todd McCarthy, Variety

Editor's Note A feisty septuagenarian teams with a fearless wilderness ranger to do battle with a vicious band of beasts and villains in this computer-animated adventure scripted by Pixar veteran Bob Peterson and co-directed by Peterson and MONSTERS, INC. director Peter Docter. Carl Fredricksen (voice of Ed Asner) is a 78-year-old balloon salesman. His entire life, Carl has longed to wander the wilds of South America. Then, one day, the irascible senior citizen shocks his neighbors by tying thousands of balloons to his home and finally taking flight. But Carl isn't alone on his once-in-a-lifetime journey, because stowed away on his front porch is an excitable eight-year-old wilderness explorer named Russell. Later, as the house touches down on the world's second largest continent, Carl and his unlikely traveling companion step outside to discover that not only is their new front lawn considerably larger, but that the predators therein are much more ferocious than anything they ever faced back home.

	Bob Peterson - Screenwriter
	Jordan Nagai - Voice
	Christopher Plummer - Voice
	Bob Peterson - Co-Director
	Edward Asner - Voice
	Jonas Rivera - Producer
	John Ratzenberger - Voice
	Peter Docter - Screenwriter
	Michael Giacchino - Composer
	Bob Peterson - Voice
	Delroy Lindo - Voice
	Jerome Ranft - Voice
	Peter Docter - Director

Hollywood Reporter
"Winsome, touching and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, the gorgeously rendered, high-flying adventure is a tidy 90-minute distillation of all the signature touches that came before it." 05/13/2009

Box Office
5 stars out of 5 -- "Breakneck speedy, hysterically funny and appropriately lithe, UP handles itself in action with the same intensity as with comedy..." 05/13/2009

USA Today
4 stars out of 4 -- "Adventure comes in many forms and can happen at any stage of life. Disney/Pixar's UP conveys that message through an artful blend of exhilaration and poignancy." 05/29/2009

Los Angeles Times
"UP is the purest pleasure....Rarely has any film, let alone an animated one powered by the logic of dream and fantasy, been able to move so successfully -- and so effortlessly -- through so many different kinds of cinematic territory." 05/29/2009

New York Times
"In its opening stretch the new Pixar movie UP flies high, borne aloft by a sense of creative flight and a flawlessly realized love story." 05/29/2009

Washington Post
"[A] soaring, touching, funny and altogether buoyant movie that lives up to its title in spirit and form." 05/29/2009

A.V. Club
"UP is challenging, emotionally and narratively, but it trusts viewers to keep up; Pixar has never been interested in talking down to children or their parents..." -- Grade: B 05/28/2009

Chicago Sun-Times
4 stars out of 4 -- "UP is a wonderful film....This is another masterwork from Pixar, which is leading the charge in modern animation." 05/27/2009

Entertainment Weekly
Included in Entertainment Weekly's "The Best Films Of The Year" -- "[A] marvelous, moving, funny, and all-in-all beautiful modern animated classic..." 12/25/2009

Chicago Sun-Times
Included in Chicago Sun-Times's "The Ten Best Animated Films Of 2009" -- "[The film] has a meaningful undertone, and opens with extraordinary sequence..." 12/24/2009

Rolling Stone
Ranked #5 in Rolling Stone's "The 10 Best Movies Of 2009" -- "Pixar's animation magic is invariably irresistible..." 12/24/2009

USA Today
Ranked #2 in USA Today's "Top Ten Films Of 2009." 12/31/2009

Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] surreal, sweet-natured comedy about a cranky old man, a flying house and some talking dogs." 10/05/2009

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he light-as-air, gentle sway of emotion in UP lifts Pixar to glorious heights." 01/15/2009

ReelViews 8 of 10
A film like Up makes it clear that Pixar has moved beyond the point where it feels the need to pander to children. Unlike its main animation competitor, Dreamworks, Pixar allows sophisticated themes and ideas to seep into its movies. Everything does not have to be simplified so that a seven-year old can understand what's going on. That's not to say that Pixar films should be seen as family unfriendly art films. Up, for example, includes plenty of jokes that kids will get and several unremarkable action scenes have been included with younger viewers in mind, but there's material of real substance - something increasingly lacking in animated films not tagged with the "Disney" label. Up is not as transcendent as last year's WALL-E, and doesn't rank near the top of Pixar's pantheon of great features, but it's a solid (and in some ways innovative) fantasy adventure that mixes comedy, action, and drama into a satisfying whole that is likely to please all but the most cantankerous curmudgeons...Up is not my favorite Pixar movie, but I welcome its arrival. I'd rather see dozens of movies like this than one more ugly sequel to Shrek or Madagascar or Ice Age. Pixar views their films as creative and artistic endeavors; Dreamworks and Fox see theirs as products. With Pixar, it's about the movie. With most other animated features, it's about the marketing. There are some great moments in Up, and it may be the funniest thing Pixar has done in a long time, but even the aspects of Up that lack greatness are not bad, and that's worth applauding. - James Berardinelli

Rolling Stone 9 of 10
A grumpy old coot, a chubby kid and a house hoisted by helium balloons -- if you're thinking that Up sounds like a shortcut to sugar shock, snap out of it. Pandering to ninnies is not on the agenda for this latest landmark in Pixar animation. With Pete Docter and Bob Peterson sharing the directing and writing, Up is a breathtaking ride into the realm of pure imagination. Up shames the pap that now passes for family entertainment (yes, Night at the Museum 2, I'm talking to you)...You can feel balls-out creativity whooshing through every frame. Darkness and its cousin loss also intrude, as they do in Pixar's best films (The Incredibles, WALL-E, Finding Nemo). Up sees the world as real, full of life and pain. Some theaters are showing Up in 3-D, which dims the color a bit, but the dimensions that count are in the movie's mind and heart. The opening sequence is touched by genius. A young Depression-era boy named Carl goes to the movies and watches a newsreel about Charles Muntz (a complex portrait in voice by the great Christopher Plummer), an explorer who takes off for South America in a dirigible to track a giant bird at Paradise Falls. Quiet Carl wants to explore as well. He meets an exciting, motor-mouthed girl, Ellie, who shares his feelings. They grow up, marry and grow old without fulfilling their dreams of children or adventure. This near-silent prelude is Pixar perfection. Up achieves literal liftoff when the widowed Carl (eloquently growled by Ed Asner) takes the balloons he used to sell pre-retirement, ties them to his house and takes off for Paradise Falls. He doesn't know he has a stowaway, eight-year-old Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai). And he doesn't know the perils of his journey will include Muntz's pack of attack dogs with electronic collars that enable them to talk...The movie is wonderfully funny and touching (props to the gawky hero of a bird Russell names Kevin), but what's really exhilarating are the risks it takes, all set to Michael Giacchino's ardent, award-caliber score. Up may be the first animated kiddie crowd-pleaser to feature dentures and an hommage to Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, as old man and boy drag a house and the burden of dreams through the jungle. Up works miracles. Just sit back and watch it fly. - Peter Travers

Rolling Stone Magazine 9 of 10
A grumpy old coot, a chubby kid and a house hoisted by helium balloons -- if you're thinking that Up sounds like a shortcut to sugar shock, snap out of it. Pandering to ninnies is not on the agenda for this latest landmark in Pixar animation. With Pete Docter and Bob Peterson sharing the directing and writing, Up is a breathtaking ride into the realm of pure imagination. Up shames the pap that now passes for family entertainment (yes, Night at the Museum 2, I'm talking to you)...You can feel balls-out creativity whooshing through every frame. Darkness and its cousin loss also intrude, as they do in Pixar's best films (The Incredibles, WALL-E, Finding Nemo). Up sees the world as real, full of life and pain. Some theaters are showing Up in 3-D, which dims the color a bit, but the dimensions that count are in the movie's mind and heart. The opening sequence is touched by genius. A young Depression-era boy named Carl goes to the movies and watches a newsreel about Charles Muntz (a complex portrait in voice by the great Christopher Plummer), an explorer who takes off for South America in a dirigible to track a giant bird at Paradise Falls. Quiet Carl wants to explore as well. He meets an exciting, motor-mouthed girl, Ellie, who shares his feelings. They grow up, marry and grow old without fulfilling their dreams of children or adventure. This near-silent prelude is Pixar perfection. Up achieves literal liftoff when the widowed Carl (eloquently growled by Ed Asner) takes the balloons he used to sell pre-retirement, ties them to his house and takes off for Paradise Falls. He doesn't know he has a stowaway, eight-year-old Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai). And he doesn't know the perils of his journey will include Muntz's pack of attack dogs with electronic collars that enable them to talk...The movie is wonderfully funny and touching (props to the gawky hero of a bird Russell names Kevin), but what's really exhilarating are the risks it takes, all set to Michael Giacchino's ardent, award-caliber score. Up may be the first animated kiddie crowd-pleaser to feature dentures and an hommage to Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, as old man and boy drag a house and the burden of dreams through the jungle. Up works miracles. Just sit back and watch it fly. - Peter Travers