Up

Wonderfully enough, Up was on my "to watch" list, making deciding upon a movie to watch for this blog, very simple.

Up seems to follow a Pixar recipe, within the first 10 minutes you are in tears (hello, finding Nemo?). The main character in Up, Carl Fredricksen, is a crotchety old man who's lost the love of his life, his wife. She fell in love with the Zoo balloon sales man, and they always promised each other to go on wonderful worldly adventures. Life gets in the way, as it always does, causing them to never have enough money to embark on their dreams. As they age, they live a happy life, ending with Carl's wife passing away. In Carl's sadness and loneliness he decides to use his reliable balloon business to float the house to their life's dream destination. Of course he was suppose to do this alone, but upon lift off notices he has a partner in crime, a little boy scout trying to get his "help an elderly" badge. Landing in Carl's dream spot is harder than expected, fighting with another man who inhabits the Island, who is attempting to catch a tropical bird. Carl reaches his dream and in the meantime softens, learning to enjoy the little boy who annoyed him so in the beginning, becoming a surrogate grandfather to him.

Pixar has created a definite formula to creating films for children. Sometimes, I find they they are actually a little bit frightening for children, but I think Up is a wonderful movie for children, even the sad opening with Carl's wife passing away. It teaches children about reaching for your dreams, but also finding happiness in a life of love.

It's hard to give an age recommendations for this film. It's rated PG, and there were certain elements that might bother children. Taking this all into consideration, I would recommend this film for children 6+ (Or for a 26 and 34 year old, which were the ages of the people who chose this film).

5 out 5, I loved Up!

Genre: Movie