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Movie:		8.0
Picture:		10.0
Sound:		6.0
Extras:		8.0
Score:		8.0

Director(s):	Bob Peterson • Pete Docter
Writer(s):	Bob Peterson & Pete Docter
Starring:	Bob Peterson • Christopher Plummer • Jordan Nagai • Ed Asner
Genre:	Adventure • Animation • Children & Family
Website:	http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/up/
Release Date:	November 10, 2009
Rated:

List Price:	Blu-ray - $19.99
Amazon:

When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a famous rock star. I pictured myself in front of a crowd, while I was in the crowd. In elementary school, me and two of my girlfriends made a music video to a Spice Girls song. The five Brits were all the rage and then some, and we wished we were them so badly, we created our own dance moves and made a movie in a bedroom.

Little girls do silly things, right? Well in middle school, I wrote a few songs with another hopeful, we called ourselves The Pink Flames. Probably not the best group name, looking back. In fact it’s a bit embarrassing to divulge now. Next, when the Flames burnt out, I learned guitar and started another band. We were about 14 years old and had a garage sale over the summer in order to buy ourselves a PA system with a couple of microphones. We’d jam our best song (fumbled by the bass player, a girl who we begged to buy a bass simply so we’d have someone to hit the low notes—poor girl obliged and probably never played again after that) in the empty room at the rhythm guitarists’ house. I’d written the song about a few guppies that I kept in a small bowl in my bedroom, but it sounded like adult lovers, so our potential fan base would be none-the-wiser.

After that one, there were others, and once during my senior year of high school, I even played a four song set with my band mate, Ray, at a fundraiser for the South Asian tsunami victims. One cover and three originals. My parents came, took pictures. The dream has vanished into the wind, but I still pick up my guitar from time to time, and play an old song about guppies just to see if I remember the notes. Maybe when I’m 80 years old, I’ll finally have the courage to put myself on the big stage, just like Carl Fredricksen.

Disney’s Pixar has gone above and beyond with this one, creating a wonderful animation called Up. In the theaters, the movie was in 3D, while the Blu-ray doesn’t come that way, it’s still a wonderful movie and Pixar really provided unique characters with beautiful colors and creative landscapes. You know, most people are just trying to get up in the world. Upward mobility, more cash, more real estate, more cars, more more more. Carl Fredricksen is just trying to get up, up into the sky to fulfill a childhood dream. Carl meets Ellie as a boy, both in a flying cap and goggles because they want to be pilots of anything—a blimp, a plane, a helicopter, even a house airlifted by a thousand colored balloons filled with helium.

The two grow up and get married, in Pixar dress and Pixar tuxedo, and Carl promises his wife that he’ll take her to Paradise Falls in South America, a place they fantasized about. They plan on flying there and moving their house on the cliff, right next to the massive waterfall. They save money for years, but something always comes up that requires them to use up the nest egg. Many years later, Carl keeps his promise and ties thousands of balloons to his house. He unveils the wad of red, yellow, blue, green, purple, and pink balloons from a black tarp, and his house lifts up into the sky from his plot of green grass. Up, up, and away.

It turns out that Carl has a stowaway by mistake, a young boy, Russell, trying to complete a merit badge for helping the elderly for his wilderness group, got stuck on the porch when the house lifted up. They embark on a journey that you’d have to see to believe, complete with a huge colorful bird that loves chocolate, and a battalion of talking dogs who try to capture the bird.

It was the perfect blend of sad and silly, cute and funny, and complete with struggles and triumphs. Disney has a knack for capturing these perfect moments to inject a tear-jerking sequence, or a funny comment to lighten the mood right back up. And this is exactly what this movie does—it lightens any mood right up.

Blu-ray Bonus Features

Thanks Disney! The Blu-ray package of “Up” is pretty great. Not only does it have a Blu-ray disc, but it also has a digital copy and a regular DVD copy. This way, you can watch it on your Blu-ray player, but also on your computer or at your friend’s house who doesn’t have Blu-ray. The Blu-ray disc is packed with exclusive extra features. There’s a short film, “Partly Cloudy,” and a few features that allow you to spend more time with your favorite characters. There’s one on Dug the dog, and Charles Muntz, the villain. The one on the dog seems definitely to be a little more for the little ones, but the one on the villain is better because it offers alternate endings for the character, which is neat for any age. The thought that goes into the film and the extras from Pixar, is astounding. They pack it with information and extra features—it’s definitely worth your time to watch them.