Carl Fredricksen is a young boy enthralled by the legend of and adventures of Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer), a Zeppelin flying globe trotter who has discovered a lost world in South America called Paradise Falls. Muntz is disgraced because one of his discoveries is deemed a fraud. He leaves vowing not to return until he has the living animal as proof. None of this dissuades Carl from his hero worship of Muntz. On his way home, Carl having a backyard adventures discovers a kindred soul in Ellie, a girl his age who wants to grow up to be an adventurer herself. Ellie makes Carl promise to take her adventuring to Paradise Falls, they grow up to be best friends, they marry, and get jobs but life keeps getting in the way of the adventure to Paradise Falls until a lifetime passes and Ellie dies, and the hope and spirit of adventure die in Carl too.
As Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) settles into retirement, the neighborhood he has known with Ellie has changed around him. Instead of neighbors houses and Oak trees his house is the last standout amongst strip malls and skyscrapers. One day he is surprised by a knock at his door it's a Wilderness Explorer named Russell who is trying to earn a badge in assisting the elderly. Carl gets rid of the kid by sending him on a snipe hunt and he thinks it's the last he's seen of Russell. Through a mishap during a confrontation with an official of the construction company trying to buy Carl's house, he finds himself being forced to go to a retirement home. Carl trying to honor his vow to Ellie to go to Paradise Falls spends the night filling thousands of balloons with helium and escapes the clutches of the retirement home by deploying the balloons and the house floats away headed for Paradise Falls. There's one little problem, after Carl is aloft and sailing on the currents of the wind he's again surprised by a knock at the door, it's Russell who was looking for the snipe under Carl's house. Carl and Russell make it to Paradise Falls and there the adventures begin, but not what they expected it to be. They're befriended by a giant bird Russell names Kevin, a talking dog, and the aged Charles Muntz still obsessed with vindicating his name and returning to civilization with a living creature which turns out to be Kevin.
UP is a great adventure for young and old, children will love it for the adventures Carl and Russell have in trying to get to Paradise Falls and the adventures once they get there. And adults will remember the promises of their youth and the adventure they sought and will hopefully make the discovery Carl does, life is the adventure!
I think too many movies have sequels made, not because the story can carry it, but because the original made a lot of money, but as UP was ending I was wondering and ready to see what the next adventure for Carl and Russell will be!
Like Wall-E before it UP is taking full advantage of the full expressive effects of the medium, there's an almost 20 minute nonverbal beginning & it works to fantastic effect! It's a great adventure for kids and for adults too, it shows you how to open yourself again after your world seems to be shrinking.
I noticed some reviews unfavorably mentioned the beginning 20 minutes as not being for children, but that's absolutely incorrect. While the first 20 minutes tell the poignant story of Carl and Ellie's life there is nothing explicit or anything used just for sensational effect. This movie is all about love, hope, adventure, either capturing those emotions or recapturing them in your life.Get more detail about Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray].
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