It has now been fourteen years since Pixar debuted Toy Story, the first feature-length computer-animated movie.  They have released nine films in that time period and I am still waiting for them to slip up.  Their newest release is Up, the story of an elderly man who uses hundreds of helium-filled balloons to fly his house to South America.  Will this be the film that will end their run of visually breathtaking, endlessly entertaining blockbusters?  I am very happy to report that the answer is a resounding no.

Carl Fredrickson has been a hopeful adventurer every since he was a little boy, breathlessly watching newsreel footage of his favorite adventurer, Charles Muntz.  It was during this phase that Carl stumbled across another devoted Muntz fan, an energetic young girl named Ellie.  A romance blossoms and Carl and Ellie spend a lifetime working towards their goal of visiting Muntz’s storied Paradise Falls. Unfortunately, life keeps getting in the way and their dream is never realized.

Now, Ellie has passed on and Carl is struggling to keep their house from determined land developers.  When an unfortunate incident leads to him having to move to a retirement community, Carl decides to go with Plan B.  He escapes in his helium-powered flying house.

So begins the adventure Carl has been waiting for his whole life.  Unfortunately, he has a stowaway in the form of a Boy Scout named Russell, determined to earn his badge for assisting the elderly.  He will certainly have plenty of opportunities to do that once the pair arrive in Paradise Falls, a strange place filled with legendary creatures and dogs who have the ability to talk thanks to their electronic collars.

Unlike when Toy Story was released in 1995, modern movie theaters are filled to the brim with computer-animated movies.  It has gotten to the point where the once-dazzling visuals of the genre have become a bit old hat.  It seems that none of the films’ visuals really stand out from the others anymore.  Fortunately, the films released by Pixar continue to be the exception.

Up features the most impressive color palette in any computer-animated movie since Finding Nemo was released in 2003.  It is especially impressive how the animators were able to replicate the effect of the bright sun shining through hundreds of multi-colored balloons, creating a brilliant shadow effect.

Of course, it is really the stories and the characters that have carried the Pixar brand from movie to movie.  Like Finding Nemo, Up tugs at your heartstrings right from the get-go, allowing us to immediately connect with its lead characters.  Like last year’s Wall-E, there are actually very few characters in Up.  Aside from Carl, Russell, and the villain (who is revealed late in the movie), the rest of the characters with any amount of screen time are animals.  Actually, part of the genius of the film is the idea of allowing the film’s many canine characters to talk thanks to electronically-engineered collars.  The device provides for some creative and humorous ideas into what a dog might be thinking when it performs certain actions.  Even the lamest, most inappropriate joke is funny when it comes from the mouth—er, collar—of man’s best friend.

The film also becomes pretty action packed near the end, which may seem like a surprise for a movie about a 78-year-old, but it all works out well.  Credit goes to director Pete Docter, screenwriter Bob Peterson (who also voices the canine, Dug) and their entire teams for keeping the Pixar streak alive.  Here’s hoping it never ends.

Up is rated PG for “some peril and action.”  The peril and action involves dogs flying fighter planes, so I don’t think that will scare away too many young ones.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of Up.