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Up is a 2009 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Bob Peterson, and produced by Jonas Rivera. Docter and Peterson also wrote the film's screenplay and story, with Tom McCarthy co-writing the latter. The film stars the voices of Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, and Bob Peterson. The film centers on Carl Fredricksen (Asner), an elderly widower who travels to South America with wilderness explorer Russell (Nagai) in order to fulfill a promise that he made to his late wife Ellie. Along the way, they meet a talking dog named Dug (Peterson) and encounter a giant bird named Kevin, who is being hunted by the explorer Charles Muntz (Plummer), whom Carl had idolized in childhood.
Originally titled Heliums, Docter conceived the outline for Up in 2004 based on fantasies of escaping from life when it became too irritating. He and eleven other Pixar artists spent three days in Venezuela for research and inspiration. The designs of the characters were caricatured and stylised considerably, and animators were challenged with creating realistic cloth. Composer Michael Giacchino composed the film's score. It was Pixar's first film to be presented in 3D format. Up debuted at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival on May 13, 2009, and was released in the United States on May 29. It received acclaim for its screenplay, animation, characters, themes, narrative, emotional depth, humor, Asner's vocal performance, Giacchino's musical score, and the opening sequence. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Up one of the top-ten films of 2009. Up earned $735.1 million worldwide, finishing its theatrical run as the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2009. It was nominated for five awards at the 82nd Academy Awards, winning two, and received numerous other accolades. Among these, it became the second animated film in history to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture, ultimately losing to The Hurt Locker. A short-form series, Dug Days, premiered on Disney+ on September 1, 2021.
In the film, ten-year old Carl Fredricksen idolizes famed explorer Charles Muntz. Muntz is discredited when a giant bird skeleton he brought back from Paradise Falls in South America is deemed a fake. He travels back to the Falls, vowing to not return until he can bring back a live specimen. Carl befriends Ellie, another Muntz fan, who keeps a scrapbook of her adventures and dreams of moving her "clubhouse" (an abandoned home) to Paradise Falls. Carl and Ellie eventually marry, move into and renovate the clubhouse, and take jobs at the city zoo as a balloon salesman and tour guide, respectively. After Ellie suffers a miscarriage, the couple decide to save for a trip to Paradise Falls but must repeatedly spend the money on more pressing needs. Years later, Carl decides to surprise Ellie with tickets to Paradise Falls, but she falls ill and is hospitalized. Ellie gives him her scrapbook before she dies.
Now in his late 70s, Carl holds out in his house while the neighborhood around him is redeveloped. After he unintentionally injures a construction worker, the court deems him a public menace and orders his move to an assisted living facility. However, Carl resolves to keep his promise to Ellie and attaches thousands of balloons to his house to fly to Paradise Falls. Russell, a young "Wilderness Explorer" scout attempting to earn his final merit badge, for assisting the elderly, becomes an accidental stowaway. Before Carl can land and send Russell home, a storm propels the house to South America. The house lands on a tepui opposite Paradise Falls. Carl and Russell harness themselves to the still-buoyant house and begin to tug it across the mesa. Along the way, they encounter a giant flightless bird whom Russell names Kevin (although they later discover it is female) and Dug, a Golden Retrieverwhose collar has a device that translates his thoughts into human speech. Unable to get rid of them, Carl begrudgingly allows both to join the party. A pack of dogs, all wearing collar translators, surrounds the group. The dogs' master is revealed to be an elderly Charles Muntz, who invites Carl and Russell aboard his dirigible and talks about his decades-long quest to capture a bird. Carl's initial excitement over meeting his hero fades as he realizes the extent of Muntz's obsession and mental instability. When Russell notes the skeleton’s resemblance to Kevin, Muntz turns hostile, insinuating he has murdered other travelers whom he suspected of seeking the bird for themselves. Carl, Russell, and Dug flee the dirigible, pursued by Muntz’s dogs; they are rescued by Kevin, who is injured in the process. Hearing Kevin call out to her chicks, Carl agrees to take her home, but Muntz captures Kevin and starts a fire beneath the house. Forced to choose, Carl opts to save his home, allowing Muntz to escape with Kevin and losing Russell's respect. Alone and disheartened, Carl looks through Ellie's scrapbook and discovers that she filled in the blank pages with photos of their life together, noted "Thanks for the adventure - now go have a new one!" Reinvigorated, he goes outside, only to see Russell setting out after Kevin using balloons and a leaf blower. Carl lightens his house by throwing out furniture and keepsakes, enabling it to fly again.
Muntz captures Russell, but Carl and Dug board the dirigible and free both him and Kevin. Muntz pursues them and traps them inside the house. Carl and the others retreat back to the airship just as his tether breaks away. Muntz leaps after them, but snags his leg in balloon strings and falls to his death. The house descends out of sight beneath the clouds. Carl and Russell reunite Kevin with her chicks before returning home in Muntz's airship. Russell receives his "Assisting the Elderly" badge, and Carl presents Russell with a grape soda bottle cap Ellie gave Carl when they first met, which he dubs "The Ellie Badge." Unbeknownst to Carl, the house lands on the cliff overlooking Paradise Falls, fulfilling his promise to Ellie.
Feb 6, 2024
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It can be interesting to pick up common themes among the movies nominated for Academy Awards each year. Sometimes it’s something as simple as an actor or actress appearing in multiple nominees, as is the case with Sandra Hüller giving memorable turns in Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest. Or perhaps a preponderance of donkeys, like last year when EO and The Banshees of Inisherin both featured the animals (and delivered them to similar fates). Or the stories can share common themes, which surprisinlgy turned out to be the case between this year’s nominees Past Lives and Robot Dreams, a small-budgeted animated film that proved remarkably adept at exploring the ways we can move on after the end of a relationship without forgetting what made it special.
The film opens on Dog, who lives a lonely life in New York City during the 1980s. One night, he sees an advertisement for a robotic companion and immediately places an order. It arrives, with much assembly required, and so Dog gets to work, ultimately leading to the creation of Robot. As promised, the two hit it off immediately, with Robot’s wide-eyed enthusiasm at his new surroundings causing Dog to stop and appreciate more of the world around him. This first Summer that the pair spend together is one of the most joyful sequences ever put to film, and it’s near impossible not to have one’s spirits lifted while watching it.
As the saying goes however, all good things must come to an end, and so as the season nears its end the pair head to the beach where exposure to water causes Robot to become rusted in place. Dog isn’t strong enough to move him and the crowds have all left, so he is left with no choice but to come back the next day with tools in hopes of getting Robot working again. Unfortunately, when he returns he finds that the beach has closed and barricaded for the season, with some very zealous guards on hand to keep him away, and so the formerly inseparable duo must now wait to be reunited.
Over the Fall, Winter, and Spring, we watch what happens to the pair through a series of vignettes that highlight the loneliness they both feel without the other. Robot dreams (see what I did there) of being reunited as he remains helpless on the sand and Dog attempts to make connections with his unique fellow citizens, like Snowman, whose face takes on the color of the frozen drinks he consumes and who uses his own head as bowling ball. It all leads up to a bittersweet ending that feels true in a way that will resonate deeply with anyone who has loved and lost and still went on loving from afar, at least a little.
The animation style is utterly charming and features lots of cute flourishes and nods to classic cinema. The soundtrack delights as well, with a mix of jazz and hits (going forward I will forever think of this movie when I hear Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September”). This is especially important as there is not a single line of spoken dialogue to be found, instead using imagery and sound to tell the story to wonderful effect. The central relationship between Dog and Robot is one of the most endearing friendships in movie history, and this story will hit viewers directly in the feels in all the right ways. ★★★★★
Mar 6, 2024
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It’s Encanto for grown ups.
May 4, 2025
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This is the least expected day for people to be cute. Always keep them guessing
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