Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure
film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in
Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and
opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film
to do so.The film was director Pete Docter's second film, the first being
2001's Monsters, Inc., and features the voices of Edward Asner, Christopher
Plummer, Bob Peterson, and Jordan Nagai. It is Pixar's tenth feature film and
the studio's first to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D,and is accompanied in
theaters and DVD releases by the short film Partly Cloudy.
The film centers on an elderly widower named Carl
Fredricksen and an earnest young Wilderness Explorer named Russell who fly to
South America by floating in a house. The film has received universal critical
acclaim, with a rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes (the best reviewed
wide-released film of 2009 on the site), and grossed over $731 million
worldwide,making it Pixar's third-most commercially successful film, behind
Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3.
Up won Golden Globe Awards for Best Animated Feature Film
and Best Original Score from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Young Carl Fredricksen is a shy, quiet boy who idolizes
renowned explorer Charles F. Muntz. He is saddened to learn, however, that
Muntz has been accused of fabricating the skeleton of a giant bird he had
claimed to have discovered in Paradise Falls, Venezuela, South America, and was
fired. Muntz vowed to return to Paradise Falls and not return until he had
captured a specimen alive to clear his name.
One day, Carl befriends an energetic and somewhat eccentric
tomboy named Ellie, who is also a Muntz fan. She confides to Carl her desire to
move her "clubhouse"—an abandoned house in the neighborhood—to a
cliff overlooking Paradise Falls, making him promise to help her. Carl and
Ellie eventually get married and grow old together in the restored house,
working as a toy balloon vendor and a zookeeper, respectively. When they are
told by a doctor that they are unable to have children, they save for a trip to
Paradise Falls, but repeatedly end up spending the money on more pressing
needs. An elderly Carl finally arranges for the trip, but Ellie suddenly
becomes ill and dies, leaving him alone.
Some time later, Carl is still living in their house, now
surrounded by urban development, but he refuses to sell. He ends up injuring a
construction worker over damage done to his mailbox. He is evicted from the
house by court order due to being deemed a "public menace", and is
ordered to move to a retirement home. However, Carl comes up with a scheme to
keep his promise to Ellie: he turns his house into a makeshift airship, using
thousands of helium balloons to lift it off its foundation. A young member of
the "Wilderness Explorers" (a fictional youth organization) named Russell
becomes an accidental passenger, having pestered Carl earlier in an attempt to
earn his final merit badge, "Assisting the Elderly".
After surviving a thunderstorm, the house lands near a large
ravine facing Paradise Falls. Carl and Russell harness themselves to the
still-buoyant house and begin to walk it around the ravine, hoping to reach the
falls before the balloons deflate. They later befriend a tall, colorful
flightless bird (whom Russell names "Kevin") trying to reach her
chicks, and then a dog named Dug, who wears a special collar that allows him to
speak.
Carl and Russell encounter a pack of dogs led by Alpha, and
are taken to Dug's master, who turns out to be an elderly Charles Muntz. Muntz
invites Carl and Russell aboard his dirigible, where he explains that he has
spent the years since his disgrace searching Paradise Falls for the giant bird.
When Russell innocently reveals his friendship with Kevin, Muntz becomes
disturbingly hostile prompting Carl, Russell, Kevin and Dug to flee, chased by
Muntz's dogs. Muntz eventually catches up with them and starts a fire beneath
Carl's house, forcing Carl to choose between saving his home or Kevin. Carl
rushes to put out the fire, allowing Muntz to take the bird. Carl and Russell
eventually reach the falls, but Russell is angry with Carl.
Settling into his home, Carl discovers photos of their
married life in Ellie's childhood scrapbook and a final note from his wife
thanking him for the "adventure" and encouraging him to go on a new
one. Reinvigorated, he goes to find Russell, only to see him sailing off on
some balloons to rescue Kevin. Carl empties the house of his furniture and
possessions and pursues him.
Russell is captured by Muntz, but Carl boards the dirigible
in flight and frees both Russell and Kevin. Muntz pursues them around the
airship, finally cornering Dug, Kevin, and Russell inside Carl's tethered
house. Carl lures Kevin out through a window and back onto the airship with Dug
and Russell clinging to her back, just as Muntz is about to close in; Muntz
leaps after them, only to snag his foot on some balloon lines and fall to his
death. Snapped from its tether, the house descends out of sight through the
clouds, which Carl accepts as being for the best.
Carl, Russell and Dug reunite Kevin with her chicks, then
fly the dirigible back to the city. When Russell's father misses his son's
Senior Explorer ceremony, Carl proudly presents Russell with his final badge
for assisting the elderly, as well as a personal addition: the grape soda cap that
Ellie gave to Carl when they first met (which he dubs the "Ellie
Badge"). Meanwhile, Carl's house is shown to have landed on the cliff
beside Paradise Falls, as promised to Ellie.
During the credits, a series of photographs shows Carl
enjoying his latest adventure: living an active life as a surrogate grandfather
to Russell.
Mr.Fredrickson and Ellie :)
