Disney Pixar has done it again with their 10th feature film, Up. Who would ever have thought that a movie about a crotchety old man, an overeager wilderness boy scout and the said duo flying to South America via a house attached with thousands of helium filled balloons could be entertaining and heart-warming at the same time? The film features the voice talents of Edward Asner (Carl Fredricksen), Jordan Nagai (Russell), and is directed by Pete Docter who also directed Monsters Inc.

The story starts with a shy, young Carl Fredricksen meeting Ellie, a loud girl with scruffy red hair. They discover that they both share an interest in exploration and idolize the famed explorer, Charles Muntz. Ellie then tells Carl about her dream to move her clubhouse to Paradise Falls in South America, a promise she makes Carl keep. From there, the cliche of love-at-first-sight takes its cue and we see Carl and Ellie’s life together. The music during this scene, although repetitive, really makes an impact with it’s the sweet and sentimental kind of tune. Carl meets Russell after Ellie’s death, where Russell is seen desperately trying to earn his last merit badge by ‘Assisting the Elderly’. After a fight with a construction worker, Carl is forced to move into a retirement home but comes up with the brilliant scheme of lifting his house off its’ foundations and at long last, fulfilling his promise to his late wife. Along the way, Carl is displeased when he finds out that Russell has accidently stowed away on his makeshift aircraft. The real adventure starts from when they land on a mountain, right across paradise falls. They only have a few days before the helium runs out of the balloons and Carl is not letting anything stop him from getting his house to the top of Paradise Falls. Along their journey, they meet bizarre tropical animals, talking dogs who have an obssesion with squirrels and find out what it truly means to be a family.

Kids movie, though it may be, I am positive that teens and adults alike will definitely enjoy the good humour that Docter has managed to inject into it. Moving on to voice actors. Edward Asner, former President of Screen Actors Guild, is primarily known or his role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and it’s spin off, Lou Grant. Obviously a seasoned actor on his part, Grant appears to have no trouble portraying someone of his coming age. (Grant turns 80 in November) 400 children turned up for the audition for the role of Russell, yet a 9 year old Nagai who wasn’t even going to audition (he tagged along for his older brothers’ audition) was chosen because he wouldn’t stop talking and his voice was different from what Docter initially wanted. His character is the first Asian-American figure in a Pixar movie. Unlike his character however, Nagai was sometimes very shy and Docter had a tough time getting him to say some of his lines. This however is understandable as Nagai was a mere 7 years of age when he was cast. In a nutshell, Up is a movie not to be missed.