Up (2009)

By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years younger, inadvertently becomes a stowaway.

Directors:

Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

Writers:

Pete Docter (story), Bob Peterson (story),

Stars:

Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai

Top 250 #115 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 53 wins & 37 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward Asner	...	Carl Fredricksen (voice) (as Ed Asner)
Christopher Plummer	...	Charles Muntz (voice)
Jordan Nagai	...	Russell (voice)
Bob Peterson	...	Dug / Alpha (voice)
Delroy Lindo	...	Beta (voice)
Jerome Ranft	...	Gamma (voice)
John Ratzenberger	...	Construction Foreman Tom (voice)
David Kaye	...	Newsreel Announcer (voice)
Elie Docter	...	Young Ellie (voice)
Jeremy Leary	...	Young Carl (voice)
Mickie McGowan	...	Police Officer Edith (voice) (as Mickie T. McGowan)
Danny Mann	...	Construction Worker Steve (voice)
Donald Fullilove	...	Nurse George (voice) (as Don Fullilove)
Jess Harnell	...	Nurse AJ (voice)
Josh Cooley	...	Omega (voice)

Storyline

A young Carl Fredrickson meets a young adventure-spirited girl named Ellie. They both dream of going to a lost land in South America. 70 years later, Ellie has died. Carl remembers the promise he made to her. Then, when he inadvertently hits a construction worker, he is forced to go to a retirement home. But before they can take him, he and his house fly away. However, he has a stowaway aboard: an 8-year-old boy named Russell, who's trying to get an Assisting the Elderly badge. Together, they embark on an adventure, where they encounter talking dogs, an evil villain and a rare bird named Kevin.

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Plot Keywords:

house | south america | stowaway | retirement | balloon | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some peril and action

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 May 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Up - Una aventura de altura

Box Office

Budget:

$175,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£6,411,836 (UK) (9 October 2009)

Gross:

£34,284,193 (UK) (18 December 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital EX DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When we first meet Carl as a child, the left side of his collar is sticking out of his vest while the right side of his collar is tucked into his vest. When we first meet Russell, the left side of his collar is tucked under his neckerchief and the right side is sticking out.

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Goofs

The phrase "Jiminy Cricket" was used in common slang as a euphemism for "Jesus Christ" (in context of a "cuss" word) since the 1920s. The expression is spoken in movies like The Brave Little Tailor and The Wizard of Oz. Pinocchio had a character named Jiminy Cricket who was named after the expression, not the other way around.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Newsreel Announcer: Movietown News presents, "Spotlight on Adventure." What you are now witnessing is footage never before seen by civilized humanity: a lost world in South America. Lurking in the shadow of majestic Paradise Falls, it sports plants and animals undiscovered by science. Who would dare set foot on this inhospitable summit? Why, our subject today, Charles Muntz!

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits are presented as text typed in a scrapbook, with photographs and mementos taped onto the pages.

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Connections

References A View to a Kill (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Habanera"
(uncredited)
from "Carmen"
by Georges Bizet

User Reviews

Pixar hits it out of the park, again

I was lucky enough to get a ticket to a special pre-release screening of Up at Pixar studios in Emeryville, organized by the San Francisco Film Society. After a hour-long reception in the atrium of their beautiful main building we went through some rigorous security (metal detectors!) and were treated to an hilarious short (Partly Cloudy) and Pixar's new high water mark, Up.

My favorites to date have definitely been Wall-E and the Incredibles, and Up is another slightly-left-of-center masterpiece. The emotional impact of the beautiful, wordless summation of Carl's life that opens the movie is the bass note that resonates through the whole film and is at least as affecting as the scene in Wall-E when he holds his own hands while watching Hello Dolly. The rest of the movie, of course, is breathtaking on just about every level, especially the tactile quality of all the characters and textures and the completely realized weather effects and action scenes. With no "new" technical milestones (fur in Monsters, Inc., water in Finding Nemo, realistic camera effects in Wall- E), the design is the main focus, from the hilariously stylized characters to the amazing setting of the tepui.

As the associate producer who participated in the Q&A following the movie pointed out, the past three Pixar movies have not been easy sells to their parent company Disney (they'll be back in familiar territory with Toy Story 3 and Cars 2), but Pixar's commitment to inventive, story-driven films continues to pay off here. All of the good press is true, and I can't wait to see it again. Thanks for staying true to yourselves Pixar!