The Human Element Makes Animation Watchable...

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2010)

Many people disagree with me about this, but I'm sticking to my guns because of the level of enjoyment I received from these films. The disagreement is that WALL-E was some sort of exceptional film and THE INCREDIBLES was only so-so. I had the exact opposite experience. I found WALL-E to be so-so and The Incredibles to be a wonderful film because of the human element attached to it. Also, both The Incredibles and this film, UP, had a PG rating and not a G, which might mean that deeper, perhaps disturbing things, made this film carry more emotional weight. And it most certainly does.
Edward Asner plays Carl Fredricksen, a man who's loved and lost. Yes, we ACTUALLY get to see an old person pass away at the end of their life ...in an animated feature. Imagine that. Reality. This gives Up more bite and we empathize with Carl on a very basic human level. Whereas with Wall-E, we're trying to gain empathy for a machine that's acting like a human. Not the same thing.
Into Carl's lonely life comes wannabe boy scout Russell (Jordan Nagai), who's trying to earn a merit badge. But Carl wants none of his help, nor does he want to help Russell gain the badge.
Amidst Carl's life is his understanding that his now dead wife Ellie never got to have any adventures. She married Carl and bought a home, which took over their lives and made them home-bodies. They both grew up worshipping adventurer Charles Muntz and wanting to go and find out what happened to him. But Ellie never made it. So, when Carl's house is being threatened by developers and his life steered toward Shady Oaks retirement facility, Carl attaches a mass of helium balloons to his house and floats away. Trouble is, that pesky boy scout is on-board, too.
Eventually they make their way to South America and discover dangers, foes, friends, and, yes, adventure. Talking dogs with an obsession for squirrels add a high amount of hilarity to several scenes, as does a unique bird that befriends Russell and loves chocolate.
More telling is the friendship that blossoms between Russell and Carl as the generation gap closes, and Carl learns to open his heart (and mind) to new experiences. Also learning to let go of Ellie's memory adds an incredibly deep plot-line to an amazing story.
The animation, like most 3-D style animations, is impressive. The colors, shadows, and depth made the scenes come alive. But it's the story that makes it all worthwhile. Just like The Incredibles, this is a tale about human beings doing unique things but with regular challenges and mental hurdles. It is this that drives me to see complex animated films, not a robot .