Real imagination worthy of golden-age science-fiction

Rating: 10/10 (8 August 2010)

By now, if you're gonna see Up, you probably already have. For no good reason, I'd missed out on it utterly until this weekend, in August of 2010. I have watched it three times in three nights; I may watch it again tomorrow.
I'm not bothering with yet another synopsis - but here are a few subtle, exacting details that made Up outstanding:
The only intelligible word spoken by the young Carl, perfectly summing up the frisson of the earliest stage of his acquaintance with Ellie - that dazzling light like sparklers on hi-def video - was a simple, "wow." The thing is, you'll probably have to go back and watch it again, convinced by the fluency of the sequence, that he'd been conversing normally with her the whole time.
The first sight of the massive balloon array did NOT follow a sequence showing Carl staying up all night planning, diagramming, building, testing (a la the bird construction in A Bug's Life), set to Raymond Scott-ripoff clichéd planning/diagramming/building/testing music - it was just sprung, dazzling and beautiful, with almost no warning (other than the quick sight of the empty helium tanks on his front lawn and the knowledge that Carl had sold balloons as his work).
The iridescent feather-ruffle - quick, over-and-done-with and not to be repeated - in Kevin's first scene. Also, Kevin's tendency to direct a single round staring eye towards whatever she was paying attention to, instead of facing it beak-on for a two-eyed gaze. This is just,... right. Also also, Kevin's consistent doting embrace for Russell, grudging beak-pat for Carl and scolding squawk for Dug. Okay, just about everything about Kevin.
Carl slapping the frog like a snooze button.
The incidental dog-dialog shortly after Muntz first clears Carl and Russell as friends - "I like you temporarily." "Oh, you DO smell like prunes!" - and their persistent labeling of Russell as a "small mailman."
But to get back to my summary title - the whole treatment of floating the house with balloons *and then following through with the logical upshots of it and being pretty deadpan about the enormous ridiculousness of it* is reminiscent of '40s/'50s science fiction, when there was a sense of wonder. There's SO much good about Up.