Review of Up (1984) by Cam P — 22 Jul 2018

"Up"- You're never too old for an adventure!

Disney and Pixar team up to create one of the most heartwarming, humorous films full of animation and imagination! Up pulls on the heart strings as broken families are healed and dreams are fulfilled throughout the movie. The characters catch the audience's attention through captivating interactions, making them laugh and keeping them enthralled. It is impossible not to fall in love with this movie from the beginning.

The film Up is organized for the purpose of entertaining children and families. The directors captivate the children and the rest of the family with brilliant colors, stunning animation, and by using real life situations with deeper meaning shown throughout the movie. These real-life situations are diverse enough that just about every age can relate in one way or another to the characters themselves, not just the situation they are experiencing. This includes the characters' distinct personalities as well. Carl, or "Mr. Fredrickson" is first portrayed as a young boy as he goes through his life and meets his wife Ellie as a little girl. She dreams of nothing but traveling the world! They bond over their fascination of Charles F. Muntz, a pilot who has traveled the globe time and time again, as he makes many amazing scientific discoveries in his airship designed by he himself. Eventually Ellie and Carl get married and decide to start a family of their own as different slides depict Ellie's inability to have children. Heartbreaking as it is, we find out that Ellie passes away while a scene of Carl walking away from her casket is shown.

Mr. Fredrickson, later as a grumpy 78-year-old retired balloon salesman living alone, wanted nothing more than to continue to reside in his own home. The same house that he and his wife Ellie built together and grew old in, before she passed away. After assaulting a construction worker with his cane, he is forced to leave his property so they can continue to build a shopping center. He loves his house so much he refuses to give it up. He comes up with a somewhat crazy impossible idea: to connect hundreds of helium balloons to his house though the chimney and lift it from the ground, steering with only blankets and sheets as sails.

At this point in the movie everyone is hooked. Mr. Fredrickson has set sail to South America where Ellie had always dreamed of going. He didn't even have to leave the house and the adventure had already begun! What Mr. Fredrickson did not know was that there was an 8-year-old wilderness explorer (Russell) as a stowaway on his front porch! The same chubby little boy who had showed up a couple days before begging to "assist the elderly" or help Mr. Fredrickson to walk across the street. This was, so that he could receive his last merit badge from his Boy Scout organization. They go throughout the rest of this exciting film exploring and going on many different adventures as Russell gets to "assist" Mr. Fredrickson. A bond develops between them as they face challenges. They meet fantastic friends and foes along the way. The first of them being a dog named Dug who has a collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin a 13-foot-tall bird who cannot fly. They definitely make the audience laugh more than anyone! One particularly funny moment is when Dug is attached to Kevin's leg as he walks, begging Kevin to be his prisoner. Although Kevin cannot speak he lets out a loud squawk back at Dug as Russell yells at Dug to stop bothering Kevin. This specific scene makes the children laugh and relates to the adults as well because it is very similar to a parent getting after their children.

The climax hits, and Russell and Mr. Fredrickson are stuck against saving Kevin from once loved and admired Charles F. Muntz and his pack of talking dogs! This is where the directors, Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson could have done a better job illustrating the antagonists of this movie. The pack of dogs was funny, but could be considered too much at times with their meaningless jokes. Despite that, they did contribute to the chase, and the feeling of adventure while Russel, Dug and Mr. Fredrickson attempted to save Kevin.

Peterson and Doctor have worked together to also direct the movies: Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding nemo, and The Incredibles. We can see a pattern in these specific films all being aimed to entertain children and families. Peterson and Doctor meant for everyone to love and relate to these characters and their realistic situations. These directors make a pretty good effort of displaying exactly how the characters might act in real life. Although, with animation it can be hard to tell how a character is feeling without them directly saying it out loud, Doctor and Peterson do a fabulous job! Such as the scene where Russell shares with Mr. Fredrickson that his dad lives somewhere else than at home with him. During the time that he expresses his feelings, his body language is clearly shown as he fidgets with his hands, and doesn't make eye contact with Mr. Fredrickson telling the audience that this is a more sensitive, deeper subject for him to talk about.

Overall, Up is a very uplifting movie. We are shown Carl's family being broken apart and later find out that Russell's family is broken as well. The movie plays on, and it only goes up from there. The characters Carl and Russell change in positive ways developing a close relationship with each other that closes the gap in their hearts with love, and heals their broken families. The most heartwarming part is when Mr. Fredrickson makes it just in time to present Russell with his "assist the elderly" merit badge. This meant so much to Russell that Mr. Fredrickson becomes somewhat of a father figure to him. They both sit down to eat ice cream together realizing they have exactly what they thought they were missing; a friendship full of love and adventure. Sometimes we don't know how things will turn out, what our destination will be, or what we will accomplish, but that's what lets us call it an adventure.