2 thumbs up for 'Up': Cartoon offers adventure for the young and young at heart

'Up'

Disney-Pixar

1 hour, 36 minutes

Carl Fredricksen is not your typical action hero. Yes, he's got heart, and courage, but he's also got years. Here is a man who, unlike a certain swashbuckling archaeologist I can mention, makes no attempt to hide the fact that he is, in fact, old.

But Carl is also determined, and when the state says this simple balloon salesman's got to give up the home he spent many a happy decade in, building a life with his dear sweet departed Ellie, he does the only thing he can. He ties thousands of his helium-filled best to the roof and sails his two-story bungalow out and over the heads of the amazed crowds -- up into the clouds and on to South America to dwell on a cliff overlooking a lost world. After all, a promise is a promise.

More than any other big-budget animated extravaganza, even the other Pixar films, "Up" reminds me of a true piece of children's literature brought to life. The animation, typically breathtaking, is nothing if not a beautifully realized Van Allsburg illustration brought to life in vivid, striking color but without losing an ounce of mystery. That this story is original and not from the legendary artist who brought us "The Polar Express" and "Jumanji" only further testifies to the enormous talent to be found at Pixar.

It's not an overstatement to say that I loved this film. I have always appreciated Pixar's movies, of course, but as of late I'd begun to wonder if either they were slipping or if I was growing more curmudgeonly or both. "Ratatouille" was, in my admittedly minority opinion, a train wreck, and "Wall-E," though cute, reminded me more of an exercise than a really satisfying story.

"Up," however, restores my faith completely. Though Carl, given gravelly soul voiced by Ed Asner, wants nothing more than to be left alone, his plans are foiled by an adorable cadre of needy characters, including an intrepid Wilderness Explorer named Russell, a talking dog named Dug, and a relic of the lost world named Kevin. As opposed to a regular cartoon whose stories tend to follow well-worn paths, "Up" takes you places you never expected, including heart-breaking sadness in the first 15 minutes, and high-flying adventure well into the third act.

Though the script begins to feel slightly rushed as it nears the climax, the writing over-all is stellar. Particularly nice is the creation of the character Dug, who should be little more than an anthropomorphized talking pooch, but who manages to be both effective comic relief and a surprisingly honest and realistic portrayal of a dog who wants nothing more than to please his master.

Though I loved the characters and the story, my favorite part of the film was, for lack of a better word, the cinematography. Animated and CG-heavy films used to be little more than eye-candy, but with more and more of those type of films finding their way into the prestigious award categories, there will soon need to be more places to acknowledge these films besides the catch-all, "Best Animated Feature." The pure artistry of the scenery in "Up" was moving -- the vast panoramas punctuated by a strangely beautiful vision of a tiny house held aloft by thousands of brightly colored balloons will stick with me the same way some of the vast oceanscapes of "Finding Nemo" did.

One of the recurring elements of Pixar's films is the opening short film, and "Cloudy Day" doesn't disappoint, although I did find its premise of cloud-deities creating the young of the world to be oddly pagan. It's a cute story, however, and nicely realized.

The content of this particular short notwithstanding, I really like the concept of the short film preceding the main feature. Not only does it hearken back to the golden age of Hollywood, but it gives a stage to an underseen art form. Every year at the Oscars, creators of short films, animated and live-action, are honored, but how often does anyone ever get to see their work? I wonder if the format that Pixar uses shouldn't be adopted by the cinematic world at large. I'm sure the audience wouldn't mind if the theater chains took some of the time they spend advertising Axe Body Spray and Lexus and actually showed us something cinematic.

I make this next statement with full realization that I may be looking at this film through the rose-colored haze of a recent viewing, but "Up" deserves serious consideration in the Best Picture category. It's a story of loss and aging, of hope and second chances, and of the power of simple charity. It's fun and funny, yes, but it's also got a serious message and is nearly perfectly put together.

The last Pixar film to receive a push for the big award was "Ratatouille," and I think if we're going to give that kind of credit to a movie about a rat-chef who achieves culinary success by yanking on the tussled locks of some doofus wannabe, then the bar's set pretty low.

"Up" flies high, and proves once again that a simple cartoon can soar.

Grade: A

"Up" is rated PG for mild scares and scenes of peril.

Chris Jenness is a freelance graphic designer, artist and movie buff who lives in Nikiski.