"Adventure is out there!"

Rating: 7/10 (19 October 2017)

I'm not particularly a fan of animated movies, but once settled in I can generally find them entertaining and worthwhile. The same can be said for "Up", the tale of an old widower curmudgeon who inadvertently hijacks a stowaway on his sky-bound home as it lifts off for a lifelong destination called Paradise Falls. The film is colorfully rendered, and if you're a guy who once might have been involved in Scouting at any level, you'll get a kick out of Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) sending his young hitchhiker Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai) on a hopeless snipe hunt. When these things occur, I find myself in the underdog's corner, and when Russell finds a snipe and names him Kevin, the adventure really gets under way. It's too bad Carl's childhood hero turned out to be a villain, but that sets up the challenge of saving his new found friends from a diabolical, mad scientist, and find a way to get back home. Oh yeah, can't forget the cute canine pal along for the ride as well. His name is Dug, and is sort of the comedy relief character along with Kevin, and has a big hand (paw?) in making the save for the intrepid travelers. For it's efforts, "Up" won a Best Animated Feature Film at the Oscars in 2010 against some worthy contenders. In it's own way, the film has something for young and old alike, and if you're feeling down for any reason at all, you might even find it up-lifting.