Film File - Up

Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) is a bit of a grouch, but one you can just about love. A retired balloon salesman who is forced to leave the house he and his late wife, Ellie, built together, he decides - instead of moving into an old folks' home - to take action. He may be a senior citizen, but he's not ready to give up; he's going to live the rest of his life on his terms and ties thousands of balloons to his roof, lifts the house into the air, and sets off for South America, fulfilling the promise he made to his wife so many years before. Carl's grand plan is challenged with the discovery of an unexpected stowaway, the optimistic, overly eager Russell (Jordan Nagai), an enthusiastic and persistent eight-year-old Junior Wilderness Explorer from Tribe 54, Sweat Lodge 12. Armed with a backpack laden with official Wilderness Explorer camping gear, Russell is ready for the wilderness, even though he's never actually left the city and all his knowledge of the outdoors comes from books. His sole camping experience took place in his family living room. Dug (Bob Peterson) is a mutt living in the wilds as part of a dog pack searching for a rare, flightless bird. The mutt is outfitted with a high-tech collar that translates his thoughts into speech. Kevin is that rare, very fast, mute, 13-foot-tall flightless bird, who, despite his propensity to swallow Carl's walker, joins the jungle's latest and most unlikely pack. The cast is rounded out by Charles F Muntz (Christopher Plummer), a former beacon of hope who inspired his biggest fans, youngsters Carl and Ellie, to parrot his famous mantra, "Adventure is out there!" Muntz is now on a mission to reclaim his reputation by bringing home a unique specimen from the jungle….a rare 13-ft bird. In a nutshell, this is one of Pixar's best ever movies - no idle statement considering their previous hits. At a time when the whole world, and Ireland especially, looks for glimmers of optimism in an all-pervasive gloom, this 96-minute film packs a whole lot of ideas into a relatively small space. There's themes of loss, enthusiasm, cynicism, loyalty and the power of dreams as just some of the emotions expertly sketched in this excellent animated film with a keen sense of how to mix nuance and humour for the most explosive effect. A wonderful follow-up to 'Wall-E', itself one of the best films of last year, 'Up' is destined to become one of the hottest DVD Christmas buys this year. With all the expected top-quality delivery that is the trademark of Pixar, this is a laugh-out-loud film that everybody from adults to kids will seriously like. In these troubled times, that notion of it being never too late to follow your dreams is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. A complete winner.