Ben 10 Goes Up

**Ben 10 Goes Up**

## Plot

In the 1930s, shy eight-year-old Carl Fredricksen idolizes famous explorer Charles F. Muntz. When Muntz is accused of fabricating the skeleton of a giant exotic bird he says he discovered at Paradise Falls, he vows not to return until he captures one alive. One day, Carl befriends a girl named Ellie, also a Muntz fan. She confides to Carl her desire to move her "clubhouse" — an abandoned house in the neighborhood — to a cliff overlooking Paradise Falls.

Carl and Ellie grow up, marry and live in the restored house. After Ellie suffers a miscarriage[8] and they are told they cannot have a child, the couple remembers their childhood dream of visiting Paradise Falls. They save for the trip, but repeatedly have to spend the money on more pressing needs. Finally, the now elderly Carl arranges for the trip but Ellie suddenly falls ill, is hospitalized, and dies.

Years later in the present day, Carl still lives in the house by stubbornly holding out while the neighborhood homes are torn down and replaced by skyscrapers. When he accidentally injures a construction worker, the court deems him a public menace and orders him to move to a retirement home. However, Carl resolves to keep his promise to Ellie by turning his house into a makeshift airship using thousands of helium balloons. Russell, a young "Wilderness Explorer" who visits Carl in his effort to earn his final merit badge for assisting the elderly, becomes an accidental stowaway.

The flying house encounters a cumulonimbus storm and ends up high above South America. The house lands on a tepui opposite Paradise Falls. Carl and Russell harness themselves to the still-buoyant house and begin to walk it across the mesa, hoping to reach the falls before the balloons deflate. Russell encounters a tall, colorful bird whom he names "Kevin". They then meet a Golden Retriever named Dug, who wears a special collar that allows him to speak and who vows to take the bird to his master. The next day, they encounter a pack of aggressive dogs led by Alpha, a Doberman Pinscher, and are taken to their master, who turns out to be Charles Muntz. Muntz invites Carl and Russell aboard his dirigible, where he explains to them that he is still searching for the giant bird he promised to bring back. When Russell notes the bird's similarity to Kevin, Muntz becomes hostile, believing they are attempting to capture the bird themselves and alluding to other suspected rivals having faced death at his hands.

Carl and Russell flee with Kevin and Dug, but Muntz captures Kevin and starts a fire beneath Carl's house, forcing him to choose between saving it or Kevin. Carl saves the house, allowing Muntz to capture Kevin. Russell is upset at Carl for giving Kevin to Muntz. The two then arrive at Paradise Falls. Carl looks through Ellie's childhood scrapbook and is surprised to find that she has filled in the blank pages with photos of their marriage, along with a note written from her hospital bed, thanking him for the "adventure" and encouraging him to have a new one.

The repentant Carl goes outside, only to see Russell sailing off with some balloons and a propulsive leaf blower to rescue Kevin. By throwing out his furniture and keepsakes, Carl lightens the house enough to follow. Dug shows up and Carl lets him stay with him. Russell is captured by Muntz, but Carl manages to board the dirigible, tether the house, and free Russell and Kevin. Dug saddles Alpha with the cone of shame and thereby unexpectedly becomes the dogs' new leader. Muntz determinedly pursues them around the airship and disables Carl's house, but he inadvertently gets his foot caught on some loose balloon lines, causing him to fall to his death. The house, having lost too many balloons to fly, descends out of sight through the clouds.

Carl and Russell reunite Kevin with her chicks and fly the dirigible back home. Russell receives his "Assisting the Elderly" badge, and Carl presents Russell with his own badge — a grape soda cap that Ellie gave to Carl when they first met. Meanwhile, unknown to Carl, his house has landed on the cliff beside Paradise Falls, fulfilling his promise to Ellie.