Up

Up is Pixar Animation Studios' 10th feature film. Pete Docter is directing the film and Bob Peterson is the co-director and writer. Jonas Rivera is the producer and it features the voices of Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger and Jordan Nagai. The film was released on May 29, 2009 and is the first Pixar film released in Disney Digital 3-D(TM) as well the second Pixar film to be rated PG, the first being 2004`s The Incredibles.



Plot
Carl Fredricksen is 78 years old. When he was a child, Carl admired an explorer named Charles Muntz. He, along with his pack of talking dogs and blimp, traveled the world finding amazing things. One day he found his greatest discovery; the "beast of Paradise Falls", the link between dinosaurs and birds. Scientists believe the evidence he found was fabricated, so Muntz declares that he will find proof that it exists, and will never return until then.

A young Carl walks home after visiting the theater. He holds a balloon with "THE SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE" written on it; the name of Muntz's blimp. He walks by an old ruined house and hears someone inside. Intrigued, he walks in to meet a young girl named Ellie. Though quiet, Carl is thrust into Ellie's "club" of adventurers and is rewarded a Grape Soda badge. The house is full of pictures of Muntz and the places he has explorer. Both Carl and Ellie are Muntz's biggest fans. Carl accidentally lets his balloon float away up to the next floor of the house. Determined, he tries to grab it but ends up falling and getting injured. In the hospital, Ellie shows Carl her "Adventure Book", full of pictures of spectacular landforms and creatures. In it is also a section called "Stuff I'm Going To Do". Ellie makes Carl cross his heart that he and her would have an adventure together.

Carl eventually marries Ellie. They live a normal life. They fix up Ellie's clubhouse and make it their home. After being told they cannot have children, they work hard on their dream to go to Paradise Falls. They try to save money, but the burdens of living expenses force them to take money away from their funds. Eventually, Carl affords tickets to Paradise Falls. He puts them atop their favorite hill, where they spent many days together. He brings Ellie up, but she falls while climbing up. Before long, she dies, and Carl is at her funeral.

In the present, Carl is old and grumpy. He still lives in his same old house, which he feels is the thing that's keeping Ellie close to him, but surrounding it is a huge city landscape. New buildings are coming up all around Carl. A corporation is trying to get Carl to sell his house, but he vows to never get rid of it. Sometime later, a young boy knocks at Carl's door; Russell, an 8 year old wilderness explorer. He's trying to earn his final badge, assisting the elderly, to become a senior wilderness explorer. To get rid of him, Carl sends him on a wild snipe chase. Soon after this, a construction vehicle knocks into Carl's mail box. This mail box had Carl and Ellie's names and handprints on it. Though a worker tries to fix it, Carl whacks him with his cane. He walks back into his house as blood oozes from the construction worker's head. Looking out the window, Carl sees a group of people surrounding him...including the police.

Carl ends up in court, where he is declared to be forced out of his home and sent to Shady Oaks retirement center. Disheartened, Carl walks back in his house. As he packs his belongings, he finds something very special in his closet; Ellie's "My Adventure Book". Carl takes a look. He sees the photos of Paradise Falls; Ellie's dream. She always wanted a big adventure. He turned to the page marked "Stuff I'm Going To Do". He couldn't bear to turn the page. He knew that Ellie missed out on her big adventure. Carl looked up to the fireplace. Above it is a painting of Carl's house atop Paradise Falls. Carl realized this would be his last chance. He stays up all night preparing for the morning.

Soon, two workers from Shady Oaks come to pick up Carl. He comes out, but tells the workers that he needs to go into the house quick. Suddenly, balloons spawn from the top of the house. It picks up into the air and flies away. Passersby look in shock to see the flying house. Carl sets up his sailing system and, once he's on course, decides to rest. Just when he lies down in his chair, he hears a knock at his door; it's Russell. He was looking for the "snipe" when he accidentally got caught onto the house as it floated away. Carl lets him come inside, where he starts obnoxiously looking around the house. Carl decides to abort mission and drop off Russell wherever they were. Just as he began to cut balloons, a fierce thunderstorm kicked in, knocking Carl out.

Russell wakes Carl up to tell him that he controlled the house and that they were now close to their destination. He comes out to the front porch when the house suddenly hits the ground. Carl and Russell are knocked out of the house, but they grab onto a dangling hose to stop the house from floating away. Soon, the fog clears and they see Paradise Falls. Carl is extremely excited, but Russell just wants to get his badge. Neither of them can climb back onto the house, so Russell comes up with the idea to "carry" the house by rope to exactly where Ellie wanted it.

Once they're in the jungle, Russell needs a bathroom break. He finds what he thinks are snipe tracks and encounters a giant, chocolate-loving bird. He brings it back to Carl who is absolutely terrified. Though friendly with Russell, the bird is obnoxious towards Carl. Russell becomes attached and names it Kevin, but Carl just wants to move on. Russell leaves a trail of chocolate for Kevin to follow. Soon, Carl and Russell find themselves in a strange rocky area. Soon they come across a lone dog with a strange collar. Carl calls for its owner, but Russell just plays with it. Soon it begins to speak to them. He says that the collar, which allows him to speak, was made by his "good and smart" master. Soon Kevin comes along and pounces Dug, who urges Carl and Russell to allow him to take Kevin as his prisoner. Carl, thinking it's just a "weird trick", urges Russell to come with him and move on.

Meanwhile, three dogs with collars like Dug are searching for a bird as well; Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Alpha has a problem with his collar which makes his voice high-pitched. It turns out that these dogs sent Dug on a "special mission" to find the bird, just so they could get rid of him. Realizing they could get in trouble with their master for losing Dug, they start a video transmission with him through their collars. They are shocked to find that Dug has found the bird and has taken it as his prisoner. Dug abruptly cuts off the transmission when Russell comes on the screen. Confused, they use the trackers on their collars to find Dug.

Night falls, and it begins to rain. Dug and Kevin fall asleep while Russell struggles to build a tent, but is unable to do it. Russell explains to Carl that he's never been camping before, but his divorced father promised Russell that he would come to his ceremony for when he becomes a senior wilderness explorer. Carl feels bad for treating him so badly, realizing that even though he was part of Ellie's "adventure club", he had never had an adventure. Russell makes Carl cross his heart that Kevin can come with them on their adventure. The rain stops and the clear night sky came into view. He sends Russell to sleep, thinking about all he had been through today.

Carl wakes up in the morning to find Kevin gone. Russell and Dug are in panic, but soon they see him on the roof of his house with a pile of food. Dug explains that he is collecting food for her babies, which leads Russell to realize that Kevin was a girl the whole time. Kevin called for her babies, and a faint peeping could be heard. Kevin runs to her babies and leaves. Carl forces Dug and Russell along, leaving the latter depressed. As they're walking, they encounter Alpha, Gamma, and Beta. Dug leaks out that he lost the bird, and the rest of the dogs force Carl and Russell to come along with Dug to their master.

The dogs bring Carl and Russell to a giant cave. Inside are dozens of dogs, all with the special collars. Out from the shadows comes an elderly, but fit man. The man apologizes for getting Carl into this situation, and gives them a goodbye. After a moment, though, Carl calls to the man again. He discovers that the man, the dogs' master, is actually Charles Muntz. Glad to see a fan of his, Muntz invites Carl and Russell inside the cave, where Muntz's blimp is stationed. Carl and Russell park the house beside the cave and enter the blimp as Dug gets the "Cone of Shame", a giant funnel, put on his head for his wrongdoings.

In the blimp's trophy room, Carl is in awe at all of the treasures that Muntz had collected. Just then, Alpha calls Muntz for dinner; Muntz hears Alpha's voice and fixes the problem with his collar. Carl and Russell are invited into dinner. Before long, they see hundreds of photos, drawings, and information on Kevin around the room. Carl realizes what is happening; Muntz is searching for Kevin; the beast of Paradise Falls. Russell calls out that they saw the bird, but Carl quickly adds in that it ran away. Carl looks out the window to see Kevin in the cave. He rushes Russell out of the blimp, but the dogs quickly chase after, understanding why they had suddenly left.



Carl and Russell grab the house and run for their lives. Dug quickly points out a side cave for Carl and Russell to take. Just when the dogs are about to catch them, Kevin leaps from the roof of the house and scoops up Carl and Russell, helping them run. Balloons on the roof of the house pop as they drag against the rock ceiling. The house hits a giant rock and knocks Russell off of Kevin, still hanging onto the harness that was connected to the house. An avalanche of rocks falls as they make it outside, stopping the dogs. Dug tries to command the dogs to stop chasing them, but Dug is knocked away by Alpha, removing the Cone of Shame. Soon, Kevin arrives at the edge of a cliff. The house is moving forward, dragging them off the cliff. Everybody grabs on as they are taken midair. The dogs jump to catch them but fall into a rushing river. Carl, Russell, and Kevin land on the other side of the canyon. Kevin is terribly hurt and cannot go on. Russell begs to stop and help Kevin; Carl looks up to see that the balloons are getting weaker and weaker. Carl reluctantly agrees to stop, remembering his promise to Russell as well.

The dogs return to Muntz, who reacts angrily. When the dogs explain that Dug is on Kevin's side, he comes up with the idea to use Dug's tracking device. Meanwhile, Carl and the group think that they're safe. They decide to continue moving with Kevin on the porch of the house. Russell tells Carl that the wilderness is a lot crazier than he thought it would be. He said his dad made it sound easy, going on to say that after their meetings for the Wilderness Explorers, he would bring him to Fenton's ice cream, where they would sit on the curb and count the number of blue and red cars that go by; it was the simple things he remembers the most. Carl feels the same thing.

Kevin hears her babies cry for help and darts towards them, into the cave. Suddenly, a spotlight falls on Kevin. Muntz's blimp had followed her. Kevin tries to run, but a net shoots out of the blimp and catches her. Carl takes Russell's knife and saws at the net. The dogs are getting closer, and they are dragging Carl's house behind them. Muntz throws a lantern at the house and sets it afire. Carl runs to help the house and stops sawing. Immediately the dogs swarm Kevin; they take her into the blimp and leave. Russell is upset that Carl let Kevin be taken away. He forces Russell and Dug to continue on straight to the falls.

Soon, Carl finally arrives at the falls. He has achieved his goal, but doesn't feel happy. Russell throws his sash on the ground in anger, saying he doesn't want it any longer. Carl picks up the sash and looks towards the house. At this point, it's barely above the ground. The balloons had weakened severely over the past day or two. Carl goes inside and quietly began to tidy up. The house is a mess; everything is all over the floor. Carl takes a seat in his chair for a moment. He picks up Ellie's adventure book beside his feet. He flips through the pages, up until the page marked "Stuff I'm Going To Do". Knowing that the pages will be blank, Carl is afraid to turn the page, but he manages to anyway. He is suprised. The pages are not empty. They are filled with pictures of Carl and Ellie's life together. The final photo is of them, elderly and in their chairs. Below, Ellie has written: "Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one. Love, Ellie." Carl learns that Ellie saw their simple life as her wish of an adventure. Carl looks at Russell's sash, and crosses his heart.

Back outside, Russell grabs a large bunch of balloons and a leaf blower. He declares that he'll find Kevin even if Carl won't help him. He flies away; in anger, Carl throws a chair off the front porch. The house lifts off the ground a bit. This gives Carl an idea. He empties the house, throwing everything out, and begins flying away. Dug also comes with Carl, who both agree that Carl is Dug's master.

Russell tries to save Kevin, but he is quickly captured by Muntz. He interrogates Russell, who won't reveal anything. Muntz looks out the window to see Carl and the house. He demands the dogs to kill Carl if they see him. The floor below Russell starts to lower, sending him down a ramp to nowhere. Carl catchest sight of this and puts on Russell's sash. He steers the house towards the blimp and jumps to Russell, saving him from death. Russell says to Carl that they should work together to help Kevin, but Carl just wants Russell safe and demands that he stays in the house.

Carl and Dug enter the blimp through an air duct. They discover Kevin, who is locked in a giant cave guarded by fierce dogs. Carl grabs a tennis ball on the edge of his cane and throws it out the door of the room, leading all the dogs to give chase. Carl locks the door and begins to free Kevin.

Meanwhile, Russell leaves the house, but falls off the porch. He grabs the garden hose and is dangling for his life. The wind pushes the house towards Muntz's blimp and knocks Russell against the window of the cockpit. Muntz sees Russell and demands that the dogs take down the house; they get into airplanes and shoot at Russell and the balloons.

Carl, Dug, and Kevin sneak through the corridors of the airship, looking for a way out. Suddenly, Muntz emerges from the shadows and pulls out a sword. Muntz kicks Dug out of the door and locks it. In front of Dug now are Alpha and the remainder of the pack. Muntz slashes at Carl as he tries to defend himself with his cane. Carl gets knocked to the ground. Carl has an idea; he spits out his false teeth at Muntz, knocking him back. Carl grabs his teeth and gets back up.

Back in the cockpit, Dug is being knocked against the controls, turning the ship. Muntz stumbles in the other room, giving Carl and Kevin an escape chance. They jump out the window and began to climb the airship, with Muntz right behind. Back in the cockpit, Alpha steps towards Dug. Dug grabs a lamp and throws it at Alpha. The knob on Alpha's collar gets broken, and Alpha gets a lampshade over his head. Alpha gets stuck in the Cone of Shame, with his high-pitched voice back. Dug takes control of the dog's pack as they listen to his every command.

Outside, Russell sees Carl and Kevin in trouble. Encouraged, he manages to climb to the porch of the house. Planes continue to attack, but he manages to stop the planes by calling out that he sees a squirrel; this distracts the dogs and makes them collide all of the planes. Meanwhile, Carl and Kevin make it to the top of the blimp, where Dug joins them.

Russell steers to the top of the blimp; everybody grabs on and steps on the porch. Muntz reaches the top of the blimp, now holding a rifle. With one shot, a bullet rips through the balloon strings, sending a good amount of them floating away. The house hits the top of the airship, sending Carl tumbling out and the house sliding off the top.

Carl grabs onto a hose to try to stop the house from falling. He demands that Russell, Dug, and Kevin escape the house. Muntz fires at the porch, forcing them to run inside the house. Muntz jumps onto the front porch and bangs on the front door of the house with his rifle. Carl demands Russell and Dug to hang onto Kevin just as Muntz crashes through the front door. Carl pulls out a chocolate bar, enticing Kevin. He jumps through the front window. Muntz scrambles for the bird, and his leg gets caught in some balloons. He floats away.

Carl had managed to save everybody, but his house fell through the clouds, presumably breaking. But he doesn't feel sad; he learned that it wasn't the house that kept Ellie close to him, but his heart.

Sometime later, Carl, Russell, and Dug are with Kevin and her babies. Kevin is now safe. They make their goodbyes and enter Muntz's blimp. Together, Carl and Russell take off for home. The dogs are now happy, not ferocious, as Carl is now their master.

Back in the city, the Senior Wilderness Explorer ceremony has finally begun. Russell steps up to the front of the audience. The Campmaster asks for someone to come up for Russell, and Carl has arrived just in time. He awards Russell with the grape soda badge that Ellie had given him. The dogs howl with approval.

Carl and Russell sit on a curb in front of Fenton's ice cream, licking ice cream cones as the blimp floats overhead. They count the red and blue cars that pass by. Soon, they begin to cheat at the game, pointing at things such as the fire hydrant and a balloon. But nobody minds, as it was just a simple game, something Russell cares for, and something Carl will remember for the rest of his life.

Cast

 * Edward Asner as Carl Fredricksen
 * Jordan Nagai as Russell
 * Christopher Plummer as Charles Muntz
 * Bob Peterson as Dug
 * John Ratzenberger as Construction Foreman Tom
 * Elie Docter as Ellie

Box office results
In its opening weekend, Up made $68.1 million, the number 1 movie for the weekend. This is the third best opening for a Pixar film, only behind Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.

Rating

 * This movie is rated PG for some peril and action. It is the second Pixar film to receive a PG rating, the first being The Incredibles.