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Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2009)

This was the tenth feature created by Walt Disney Pictures studios and Pixar sounded like it had simple concept, but it is done so beautifully that you can feel yourself in the story. Basically young Carl Fredricksen (Jeremy Leary) loved the idea of exploring, and his hero was the great Charles Muntz (The Sound of Music's Christopher Plummer), and he one day meets fellow exploring enthusiast Ellie (Elie Docter). They grow and marry each other, and over the years they try to achieve their dream of travelling to the Lost Land in South America, but many things stop them, and the dream disappears completely after the sad death of Ellie. Carl (Edward Asner, voice in hundreds of cartoons) is now lonely and grumpy, but still remembers the promise he made to his wife, it is only when he hits a construction worker forcing him to move out to a retirement home that this may actually happen. Before the men can take Carl with them, a huge cover unveils thousands of helium balloons that manage to lift the whole house away, with directional wings to take Carl to South America. He is inadvertently accompanied by a young stowaway, eight-year-old scout Russell (Jordan Nagai) trying to earn his last assisting the elderly badge. After encountering a storm and nearly getting lost they manage to land safely on a cliff of South America's Lost Land, and tying the house to themselves they start walking to find the spot above the large waterfall. On the way they are joined by a rare colourful flightless bird, probably the "snipe", that Russell names Kevin, and a talking (with a translator) dog named Dug (Bob Peterson). While walking Carl meets his childhood hero, Charles Muntz, missing for many years trying to find the rare bird that he has to become evil over to catch. There is the point where Carl wants to be alone, determined to fulfil his promise to Ellie, but he finds the adventure book is more full than he originally thought. So he plucks up the courage to go after Russell, the bird and Dug and stop the nasty Muntz from succeeding, in the end he even manages to let his house go, attend Rusell's badge receiving reception, and get a new and I guess better house. Also starring Delroy Lindo as Beta, Jerome Ranft as Gamma and Pixar regular John Ratzenberger as Construction Foreman Tom. The montage near the beginning of Carl and Ellie together with music by Michael Giacchino is beautiful, the film is full of extravagant colour, and all the characters make this a wonderful heart-warming story that makes you believe your never to old to follow your heart and your dreams (sounds corny I know, but it's true). It may be aimed a little more at adults, but with plenty of stuff for the younger generation too, it is a visually astonishing, funny, moving, and imaginative, essential animated viewing. It won the Oscars for Best Music for Michael Giacchino and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year, and it was nominated for Best Sound Editing, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and Best Motion Picture of the Year, it won the BAFTA for Best Animated Film and Best Music, and it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film for Best Original Score. Outstanding!