Prior to the release of ‘Up’, I thought to myself, maybe I’ve grown too old for Pixar? Both ‘Ratatouille’ and ‘WALL-E’ never interest me as a teenager from their bizarre titles and lacklustre appeal from the movie trailers. Both of those films I would view later on, and both are excellent examples of modern animation and modern cinema in general, despite my doubts. But I had no interest in seeing ‘Up’ on the big screen, back in 2009, and while my father agreed to take me to go see it, after the film, I fell back in love with Pixar and animation.

 

‘Up’ reminded me of ‘Finding Nemo’s emotional beginning, the creativity of the characters like Kevin in ‘Monsters, Inc.’, the exciting action which excelled ‘The Incredibles’ and the fun and the humour that made both ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Cars’ work. ‘Up’ was an original animated feature that combined the aspect of every past Pixar production and made it fresh and new through the likeable protagonists of Carl and Russell, two unlikely heroes, which mirror Woody and Buzz Lightyear from ‘Toy Story’.

 

Carl is a hard worker, who is a massive fan of Charles Muntz, and wants to be an explorer, just like Muntz himself. Along the way he marries his childhood sweetheart Ellie and the both of them live a long and happy life. Unfortunate circumstances happen, which results Carl to ‘float’ to Paradise Falls in South America inside his house, carried by thousands of brightly coloured balloons.

 

‘Up’ is a masterpiece, from its characters, to the score, to the beautiful animation and an exciting story that is both fun and emotional.

 

‘Up’ is among Pixar’s greats and my favourite original film among the Pixar bunch. And rightfully so.

 

Score: 10/10