A movie about old age and young hearts

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2010)

Walt Disney once said that he wanted to make movies for audiences, not just kids. His goal was to produce animated film equal to live action features, movies that were seen and appreciated just like any other movies. One can certainly discuss how well the Disney studio has taken care of this legacy, but the company that kept the innovation going for it has obviously been Pixar. Step by step, movie by movie, the people at Pixar have kept outdoing themselves. To me, Wall-E was them crossing the final frontier, breaking their own roof and kept going towards the stars. That wasn't just a family adventure and it wasn't a kids movie. It was about two machines and the entire human race - a movie for audiences, don't you think?
Up is a companion piece on the same level. It's not about the entire human race, but it's about the entire life of a human being - this is a movie that tries to learn very young people a little something about very old people. In the beginning of the movie we meet Carl, a little toddler with stars in his eyes, dreaming about going out into the world for adventure. Coming home from a Newsreel concerning his biggest adventurer hero, he passes a house where adventurous things seem to be in full motion. Thus, he meets Ellie, a happy gal with equally grand dreams as himself. Now, in any other animated movie this would be our two main characters, kids on the screen for kids in the theater to relate to. But what follows is a montage, spawning decades, and upon the end of this montage we meet our main protagonist - it's Carl alright, but now he's Mr. Fredricksen, a cranky old man. The movie has just outrun the eight year olds by 70 years or so! Hey little Charlie, this is your life Mr. Fredricksen. It's dangerously brilliant.
Our cranky old hero has a warm and colorful life behind him, but he never got to go out on any of those adventures. While there's still time, and while there's certainly nothing better to do, Carl figure it's time for some adventure so he flies away in his house toward South America, the land of his dreams. His only baggage is Russell, the real kid for the kids in the audience to "relate" to. Carl finds him obnoxious and even though Russell is your average modern eight year old, I guess the real modern eight year olds in the movie house should understand why by now. Back in the days, all Carl and Ellie knew about South America was that it was "America, only south". Russell takes GPS for granted and says "You're going to South America? You know, most people take a plane, but you're smart because you'll have all your TV and clocks and stuff." Russell doesn't seem to have any pure, authentic dreams of adventure in him, and he's certainly not that imaginative, but he does like chocolate.
What follows is an adventure as old fashioned as it is fun and original. There's something very classical about the whole fair; an amazing flying machine that has to be repaired somehow, strange dangers in the jungle and giant zeppelins with the insides of luxurious steamboats. In a sense, this is also an adventure movie about adventure movies - it's part of the adventure to explore jungles, discover strange animals and exciting secrets. Carl knew this when he was eight but now, almost eighty, it's all just a nuisance. He is totally uninterested in whatever they discover. "Can we keep it?" Russell says. "No" Carl keeps replying and continues to limp along. "But it's a talking dog!!" Russell finally exclaims.
Up also has fairy tale touch to it that is woven into the visual dynamic. It feels as if it's taken inspiration both from the films of Miyazaki, and from that elegant French style of animation that borders to realism. The adventure is strange enough to make you fall back into escapism, but at the same time it's all very close to heart. Carl Fredricksen is as believable as Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon were in Grumpy Old Men. Up seems to salute these kind of cranky old men too, it seems to give an homage to this soon extinct generation of analog, post- war dream weaving. It also seems to be wanting to tell the kids of today that you should really try and be nice to cranky old men, because being one is not the easiest thing in the world. Another thing the movie seems to be telling us is that no matter how lonely and bittersweet life can be when you're at the end of your days, we are all children at heart.