Day 18: Up (2009)

Up
Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Starring: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai

Pixar amazes me. They have consistently made the most imaginative movies of the past 10 years. Ever movie is a masterpiece (though I've never seen Cars).

My favorite Pixar movie is the Incredibles, mostly because it brought me back to my childhood Saturday morning cartoons. Pixar manages to do things like that for me. It reminds me of all the great adventures I loved as a kid. This movie was all about that sense of adventure.

The movie tells the story of an elderly man named Carl (can anyone tell me another kids movie with an elderly protagonist?). Carl is on his childhood quest to go to South America to see Paradise Falls. I won't bother with a big plot summary, but it all includes fighting his boyhood hero, meeting a talking dog, dealing with an annoying kid, and lifting his house into the air with helium balloons.

This was probably the most emotionally heavy movie Pixar has made. The first twenty minutes of the film were my favorite. They told the story of Carl's young life with his wife Ellie. These scenes of their relationship are so beautifully crafted. The end of this sequence is heartwrenching, really giving us a great insight into our hero Carl.

The movie's visual style was amazing (another Pixar triumph). Everytime we got a shot of the magnificent hosue soaring through the air with multicolored balloons, I was in awe.

I love animation, but am usually annoyed with computer animated movies. Though I still miss hand drawn and stop motion animation, I will continue to love Pixar. Thanks for giving me back my childlike wonder. Keep up the good work.

Lesson learned: Life is a great adventure.

PS- the short film before the movie was FANTASTIC