Up (2009 film)

Up
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Pete Docter Co-Director: Bob Peterson
Produced by	Jonas Rivera Executive Producers: John Lasseter Andrew Stanton
Written by	Bob Peterson Pete Docter Thomas McCarthy Jim Capobianco Aley Phelan (uncredited)
Starring	Edward Asner Christopher Plummer Jordan Nagai Bob Peterson
Music by	Michael Giacchino
Editing by	Kevin Nolting
Studio	Pixar Animation Studios
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	May 29, 2009 (2009-05-29)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$175 million[1]
Gross revenue	$731,338,164[2]

Up is a 2009 computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film to do so.^[3]

Up is director Pete Docter's second feature-length film, after Monsters, Inc., and features the voices of Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, and Jordan Nagai. It is Pixar's tenth feature film and the studio's first to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D,^[4] and is accompanied in theaters by the short film Partly Cloudy.^[5]

The film centers on an elderly widower named Carl Fredricksen and an earnest young Wilderness Explorer named Russell who fly to South America in a house suspended by helium balloons. The film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with a rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes (the best reviewed wide-released film of 2009 on the site), and grossed over $731 million worldwide, making it Pixar's third-most commercially successful film, behind Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3.

Up won Golden Globe Awards for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Score from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, making Up only the second animated film in history to receive such a nomination, following Beauty and the Beast in 1991.^[6] It was awarded with two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score in 2010.^[7]

Plot

Carl Fredricksen (Edward Asner) is a shy and quiet boy who idolizes renowned explorer Charles F. Muntz (Christopher Plummer). He learns, however, that Muntz has been accused of fabricating the skeleton of a giant bird he had discovered in Paradise Falls, South America. Muntz vows to return there to capture one alive. One day, Carl befriends an energetic tomboy named Ellie (Elizabeth Docter), who is also a Muntz fan. Detailing her ambitions in her personal scrapbook, she tells Carl her desire to move her "clubhouse"—an abandoned house in the neighborhood—to a cliff overlooking Paradise Falls, making him promise to help her. Carl and Ellie eventually get married and grow old together in the restored house, working as a toy balloon vendor and a zookeeper, respectively. Unable to have children, they repeatedly pool their savings for a trip to Paradise Falls, but end up spending it on other obligations. An elderly Carl finally arranges for the trip, but before they can embark, Ellie suddenly becomes ill. Shortly thereafter, Ellie dies, leaving Carl alone.

A short time later, Carl's house becomes surrounded by urban development, but he refuses to sell his property. He then ends up in a tussle with a construction worker over the broken mailbox that he and Ellie made, and is forced by court order to sell the house and to move into a retirement home. However, Carl comes up with a scheme to keep his promise to Ellie: he turns his house into a makeshift airship, using thousands of helium balloons to lift it off its foundations. A young Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai) becomes an accidental passenger, having pestered Carl earlier in an attempt to earn his final merit badge for "assisting the elderly" and become a Senior Wilderness Explorer. He had been sent by Carl on a futile snipe hunt the day before when he attempted to offer Carl some assistance.

After surviving a thunderstorm, the house lands near a large ravine facing Paradise Falls. Carl and Russell harness themselves to the still-buoyant house and begin to walk it around the ravine (with the aid of the garden hose), hoping to reach the falls before the balloons deflate. After walking awhile, Russel sees a tall, colorful flightless bird (whom he names "Kevin") trying to reach her chicks. They are joined by a dog named Dug (Bob Peterson), who wears a special collar that allows him to speak. Russell wants to bring them both along for the journey, while Carl wants to get rid of them. They are then ambushed by a pack of similar dogs led by Alpha (also Bob Peterson), and taken to Dug's master, who turns out to be an elderly Charles Muntz. Muntz invites Carl and Russell aboard his dirigible, where he explains that he has spent the years since his disgrace searching Paradise Falls for the giant bird. When Russell innocently reveals his friendship with Kevin, Muntz becomes disturbingly hostile, prompting the pair, Kevin, and Dug to flee, chased by Muntz's army of dogs; Kevin is injured during the escape. When Carl and Russell decide to take Kevin home, Muntz uses Dug's tracking collar to catch up with them. Muntz then starts a fire beneath Carl's house, forcing Carl to choose between saving it or Kevin. Carl rushes to put out the fire, allowing Muntz to take the bird. After lashing out at Russell and sending Dug away Carl eventually brings his house to the falls, but Russell is still angry at Carl for abandoning Kevin.

Settling into his home, Carl is sadly poring over Ellie's childhood scrapbook when, to his surprise, he discovers photos of their married life on the formerly blank pages, and a final note from Ellie thanking him for the "adventure", encouraging him to go on a new one. Reinvigorated, he goes to find Russell, only to see him sailing off alone on some balloons to save Kevin. Carl lightens his house by dumping all his possessions, and gives chase, accompanied by Dug. Russell is captured by Muntz, but Carl manages to free both him and Kevin. Muntz pursues them around the airship, finally cornering Dug, Kevin, and Russell inside Carl's house with a hunting rifle. Carl then lures Kevin out through a window with a chocolate bar, with Dug and Russell clinging to her back, just as Muntz is about to break in. Muntz leaps after them, only to snag his foot on some balloon strings, which snap, and cause Muntz to plummet to his death. Freed from its tether, the house descends below the clouds and out of sight.

Carl reunites Kevin with her chicks, then flies the dirigible back to the city. When Russell's father misses his son's Senior Explorer promotion ceremony, Carl takes over and proudly presents Russell with his final badge: the grape soda cap badge that Ellie gave to Carl when they first met. Meanwhile, Carl's house is shown to have landed on the cliff beside Paradise Falls; just as Ellie had desired.

Cast and characters

• Edward Asner as Carl Fredricksen. Carl is an old grumpy man who decides to fly his house to Paradise Falls. Docter and Rivera noted Asner's television alter ego Lou Grant had been helpful in writing for Carl, because it guided them in balancing likable and unlikeable aspects of the curmudgeonly character.^[8] When they met Asner and presented him with a model of his character, he joked, "I don't look anything like that." They tailored his dialogue for him, with short sentences and more consonants, which "cemented the notion that Carl, post-Ellie, is a disgruntled bear that's been poked awake during hibernation".^[9]
• Jordan Nagai as Russell, an overweight Wilderness Explorer stowaway on Carl's flying house.^[10] On their journey, Russell makes several comments to Carl that suggest that Russell's father and mother are no longer together.^[11] Russell's design was based on Pixar animator Peter Sohn.^[12] Docter auditioned 400 boys in a nationwide casting call for the part.^[13] Nagai, who is Japanese-American,^[14] showed up to an audition with his brother, who was actually the one auditioning. Docter realized Nagai behaved and spoke non-stop like Russell and chose him for the part.^[15] Nagai was 8 years old when cast.^[13] Docter encouraged Nagai to act physically as well as vocally when recording the role, lifting him upside down and tickling him for the scene where Russell encounters Kevin.^[9] Asian Americans have positively noted Pixar's first casting of an Asian lead character,^[16] in contrast to the common practice of casting non-Asians in Asian parts.^[17]
• Bob Peterson as Dug, a talking golden retriever.^[18] He is the misfit of a pack of talking dogs owned by Muntz. Peterson knew he would voice Dug when he wrote his line "I have just met you, and I love you," which was based on what a child told him when he was a camp counselor in the 1980s. The DVD release of the film features a short called Dug's Special Mission, which follows Dug just prior to his first meeting with Carl and Russell. Dug previously appeared in Ratatouille as a shadow on a wall that barks at Remy.^[18] Peterson also voices Alpha, a talking Doberman Pinscher^[18] and the leader of Muntz's pack of dogs. Pete Docter has stated that Alpha "thinks of himself as Clint Eastwood". Despite his menacing appearance, a frequent malfunction in Alpha's translating collar causes his voice to sound comically high-pitched and squeaky, as if he had been breathing helium. The normal voice for his translator chip is a resonant, intimidating bass. With both voices, Alpha has a roundabout speech pattern that causes his sentences to be longer than necessary. Alpha is the character's rank in the pack, as well as his name.
• Pete Docter as Kevin. The bird's iridescent appearance is based upon the male Himalayan monal pheasant.^[19] Other than voicing Kevin, Docter also voices Campmaster Strauch, Russell's campmaster, seen at the end of the film.
• Christopher Plummer as Charles F. Muntz. His airship Spirit of Adventure serves as his home in South America. The name may have been inspired by Charles Lindbergh's plane Spirit of St. Louis.^[18] Pete Docter compared Muntz to Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes.^[10] Muntz is the third Disney/Pixar villain who dies (the first being Hopper from A Bug's Life and the second being Syndrome of The Incredibles).
• Elizabeth Docter as Ellie. The voice actor is the director's daughter,^[20] who also provided some of the drawings shown by Ellie.^[21]
• Jeremy Leary as Young Carl.
• Delroy Lindo as Beta, a Rottweiler^[18] and one of Muntz's dogs.
• Jerome Ranft as Gamma, a Bulldog^[18] and one of Muntz's dogs. Ranft is brother to the late Joe Ranft and also part of Pixar Animation.
• John Ratzenberger as Tom, a construction worker who asks if Carl is ready to sell his house.^[18]
• David Kaye as the newsreel announcer.
• Mickie McGowan as Police Officer Edith, a police officer who gives Carl a court order to move into a retirement home.
• Danny Mann as Construction Worker Steve, a construction worker with whom Carl gets into a fight.
• Donald Fullilove as Nurse George and Jess Harnell as Nurse AJ, nurses sent to pick up Carl and take him to a retirement home.
• Josh Cooley as Omega, another dog in Muntz's pack.

Additional characters were voiced by Mark Andrews, Bob Bergen, Brenda Chapman, Emma Coats, John Cygan, Paul Eiding, Tony Fucile, Teresa Ganzel, Valerie LaPointe, Laraine Newman, Teddy Newton, Jeff Pidgeon, Jan Rabson, and Bob Scott.

Production

The main character Carl Fredricksen is partially based on Spencer Tracy.^[22]

The fantasy of a flying house was born out of director Pete Docter's thoughts about escaping from life when it becomes too irritating,^[10][13] which he explained stemmed from his difficulty with social situations growing up.^[23] Writing began in 2004. Actor and writer Thomas McCarthy aided Docter and Bob Peterson in shaping the story for about three months.^[15] Docter selected an old man for the main character after drawing a picture of a grumpy old man with smiling balloons.^[15] The two men thought an old man was a good idea for a protagonist because they felt their experiences and the way they affect their view of the world was a rich source of humor. Docter was not concerned with an elderly protagonist, stating children would relate to Carl in the way they relate to their grandparents.^[10]

Docter noted the film reflects his friendships with Disney veterans Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Joe Grant (who all died before the film's release and thus the film was dedicated to them). Grant gave the script his approval as well as some advice before his death in 2005.^[24] Docter recalled Grant would remind him the audience needed an "emotional bedrock" because of how wacky the adventure would become; in this case it is Carl mourning for his wife.^[15] Docter felt Grant's personality influenced Carl's deceased wife Ellie more than the grouchy main character,^[24] and Carl was primarily based on Spencer Tracy, Walter Matthau, James Whitmore, and their own grandparents, because there was "something sweet about these grumpy old guys".^[22] Docter and Jonas Rivera noted Carl's charming nature in spite of his grumpiness derives from the elderly "hav[ing] this charm and almost this 'old man license' to say things that other people couldn’t get away with [...] It's like how we would go to eat with Joe Grant and he would call the waitresses 'honey'. I wish I could call a waitress 'honey'."^[25]

The filmmakers' first story outline had Carl "just want[ing] to join his wife up in the sky," Docter said. "It was almost a kind of strange suicide mission or something. And obviously that's [a problem]. Once he gets airborne, then what? So we had to have some goal for him to achieve that he had not yet gotten."^[20] As a result, they added the plot of going to South America. The location was chosen due to both director Pete Docter's love of tropical locations, but also in wanting a location that Carl could be stuck with a kid due to the inability to leave him with an authority such as a police officer or social worker. They implemented a child character as a way to help Carl stop being "stuck in his ways".^[26]

Docter created Dug as he felt it would be refreshing to show what a dog thinks, rather than what people assume it thinks.^[27] The idea for Alpha's voice derived from thinking about what would happen if someone broke a record player and it always played at a high pitch.^[15] Russell was added to the story at a later date than Dug and Kevin;^[15] his presence, as well as the construction workers, helped to make the story feel less episodic.^[20]

Carl's relationship with Russell reflects how "he's not really ready for the whirlwind that a kid is, as few of us are".^[24] Docter added he saw Up as a "coming of age" tale and an "unfinished love story", with Carl still dealing with the loss of his wife.^[28] He cited inspiration from Casablanca and A Christmas Carol, which are both "resurrection" stories about men who lose something, and regain purpose during their journey.^[29] Docter and Rivera cited inspiration from the Muppets, Hayao Miyazaki, Dumbo and Peter Pan. They also saw parallels to The Wizard of Oz and tried to make Up not feel too similar.^[30] There is a scene where Carl and Russell haul the floating house through the jungle. A Pixar employee compared the scene to Fitzcarraldo, and Docter watched that film and The Mission for further inspiration.^[31]

The character Charles Muntz, who resembles Kirk Douglas,^[32] comes actually from Howard Hughes and Errol Flynn.^[33] An inspiration for the name of this character was cartoon producer Charles B. Mintz,^[34] who stole Walt Disney's hit character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, forcing Disney to create replacement character Mickey Mouse.

Docter and eleven other Pixar artists visited tepuis in Venezuela in 2004 for research

Docter made Venezuela the film's setting after Ralph Eggleston gave him a video of the tepui mountains.^[10][24] In 2004, Docter and eleven other Pixar artists spent three days reaching Monte Roraima by airplane, jeep and helicopter.^[18] They spent three nights there painting and sketching,^[35] and encountering dangerous ants, mosquitos, scorpions, frogs and snakes. They also flew to Matawi Tepui and climbed to Angel Falls,^[18] as well as Brazil. Docter felt "we couldn't use [the rocks and plants we saw]. Reality is so far out, if we put it in the movie you wouldn't believe it."^[22] The film's creatures were also challenging to design because they had to fit in the surreal environment of the tepuis, but also be realistic because those mountains exist in real life.^[24] The filmmakers visited Sacramento Zoo to observe a Himalayan Monal Pheasant for Kevin's animation.^[1] The animators designed Russell as an Asian-American, and modeled Russell after similar looking Peter Sohn, a Pixar storyboarder who voiced Emile in Ratatouille and directed the short Partly Cloudy, because of his energetic nature.^[13][36]

While Pixar usually designs their characters to be caricatured, Carl was more so caricatured, being only three heads high.^[37] He was not given elderly features such as liver spots or hair in his ears to keep him appealing, yet giving him wrinkles, pockmarks on his nose, a hearing aid, and a cane to make him appear elderly. Docter wanted to push a stylized feel, particularly the way Carl's head is proportioned: he has a squarish appearance to symbolize his containment within his house, while Russell is rounded like a balloon.^[9] The challenge on Up was making these stylized characters feel natural,^[10] although Docter remarked the effect came across better than animating the realistic humans from Toy Story, who suffered from the "uncanny valley".^[24] Cartoonists Al Hirschfeld, Hank Ketcham and George Booth influenced the human designs.^[15][29][38] Simulating realistic cloth on caricatured humans was harder than creating the 10,000 balloons flying the house.^[23] New programs were made to simulate the cloth and for Kevin's iridescent feathers.^[39] To animate old people, Pixar animators would study their own parents or grandparents and also watched footage of the Senior Olympics.^[8] The directors had various rules for Carl's movements: he could not turn his head more than 15–20 degrees without turning his torso as well, nor could he raise his arms very high. However, they also wanted him to grow more flexible near the end of the film, transforming into an "action hero".

A technical director worked out that in order to make Carl's house fly, he would require 23 million balloons, but Docter realized that number made the balloons look like small dots. Instead, the balloons created were made to be twice Carl's size.^[40] There are 10,927 balloons for shots of the house just flying, 20,622 balloons for the lift-off sequence, and it varies in other scenes.^[18]

Music

Up is the third Pixar film to be scored by Michael Giacchino, after The Incredibles and Ratatouille. What Pete Docter wanted more importantly out of the music was the emotion, so Giacchino wrote a character theme-based score that producer Jonas Rivera thought enhanced the story. At the beginning of the movie, when young Carl is in the movie theater watching a newsreel about Muntz, the first piece of music heard is "Muntz's Theme", which starts out as a celebratory theme, and echoes through the film when Muntz reappears 70 years later. "Ellie's Theme" is first heard when she is introduced as a little kid and plays several times during the film in different versions; for instance, during the sequence where Carl lifts his house with the balloons, the theme is changed from a simple piano melody to a full orchestral arrangement. Giacchino has compared the film to opera since each character has their own theme that changes during a particular moment in the story. There are several examples of character themes changing during the movie:

• When Carl meets Muntz, a romantic version of "Muntz's Theme" expresses Carl's joy in finally meeting his hero.
• When Muntz lifts his lamp and shows "the wall", "Muntz's Theme" plays in a minor key with a lot of dissonance to express his twisted nature.
• At the end of the film, as the climactic battle between Carl and Muntz takes place, we hear "Ellie's Theme vs. Muntz's Theme."

The score was released as a digital download on May 26, 2009, three days before the film opened in theaters. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Score, the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the 2010 BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. It is the first score for a Pixar film to win the Oscar (Randy Newman also won for Monsters Inc, but in the category of Best Original Song).

Release

Pete Docter (left), Jonas Rivera (right) in 2009 with KUSI-TV's Phil Konstantin

When the film screened at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California from May 29 to July 23, 2009, it was accompanied by Lighten Up!, a live show featuring Disney characters.^[41]

Among the children's books published in conjunction with the film is My Name is Dug, illustrated by screenwriter Ronnie del Carmen.^[42] Despite Pixar's track record, Target Corporation and Wal-Mart will stock few Up items, while Pixar's regular collaborator Thinkway Toys will not produce merchandise, claiming its story is unusual and will be hard to promote. Disney acknowledged not every Pixar film would have to become a franchise.^[1] Promotional partners include Aflac,^[43] NASCAR and Airship Ventures,^[44][45] while Cluster Balloons will promote the film with a replica of Carl's couch that will be lifted by hot air balloons, that journalists can sit in.^[46]

In Colombia, unexpected publicity for the film was generated due to the uncanny similarity of Carl Fredricksen with Colombian ex-president Julio César Turbay Ayala.^[47][48]

Director Pete Docter intended for audiences to take a specific point from the film, saying:

Basically, the message of the film is that the real adventure of life is the relationship we have with other people, and it's so easy to lose sight of the things we have and the people that are around us until they're gone. More often than not, I don't really realize how lucky I was to have known someone until they're either moved or passed away. So, if you can kind of wake up a little bit and go, "Wow, I've got some really cool stuff around me every day", then that's what the movie's about.^[49]

Home media

Up was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in North America on November 10, 2009 and in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2010.^[50] It features the film plus the theatrical short Partly Cloudy and the new short Dug's Special Mission, as well as an audio commentary by director Pete Docter, the documentary Adventure is Out There on the filmmakers' research journey to South America, The Many Endings of Muntz (an alternate ending of sorts), and a digital copy.^[51]

The Blu-ray edition has a four-disc pack that adds Cine-Explore with BonusView, Global Guardian Badge and Geography games, 8 documentaries, and BD-Live to the Deluxe DVD and digital copy platters. A Limited Edition is also available called the Luxo Jr. Premium Pack which includes a collectible lamp modeled after Pixar's bouncy short star that is designed to hold a complete Pixar Blu-ray collection.^[52]

In addition, Pixar also created a short film titled George & A.J., written and directed by Up storyboard artist Josh Cooley, which shows what the two Shady Oaks retirement home workers did after Carl left with his house. It was initially available for purchase at the iTunes Store, and then was later posted to Disney·Pixar's Facebook and YouTube pages.^[53][54]

Reception

Since its release, Up has been acclaimed by critics. As of October 17, 2009 (2009 -10-17)^[update], Rotten Tomatoes reports that 98% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 252 reviews, with an 8.6/10 review average.^[55] The film also holds a score of 88 on the review aggregator website Metacritic as of August 1, 2009 (2009 -08-01)^[update].^[56] Film critic Roger Ebert called it "a wonderful film".^[57] The Hollywood Reporter lauded the film as "Winsome, touching and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, this gorgeously rendered, high-flying adventure is a tidy 90-minute distillation of all the signature touches that came before it."^[58] Although the San Francisco Chronicle noted that the film "contains many boring stretches of mindless freneticism and bland character interaction," it also declared that there are scenes in Up of "Such beauty, economy and poetic wisdom that they belong in any anthology of great movie moments...to watch Up with any attention is to be moved and astonished by the economy with which specific visuals are invested with emotion throughout [the film]..."^[59] Variety enthused that "Up is an exceptionally refined picture; unlike so many animated films, it's not all about sensory bombardment and volume...Unsurprisingly, no one puts a foot wrong here. Vocal performances...exude a warm enthusiasm, and tech specifications could not be better. Michel Giacchino's full-bodied, traditional score is superlative..."^[60]

The character of Carl Fredricksen has received mostly positive reception. Bill Capodagli, author of Innovate the Pixar Way, praised Carl for his ability to be a jerk and likable at the same time.^[61] Wall Street Journal editor Joe Morgenstern described Carl as gruff, comparing him to Buster Keaton, but adds that this begins to wear thin as the movie progresses.^[62] He has been compared to Spencer Tracy, an influence on the character, by Washington Post editor Ann Hornaday^[63] and Empire Online editor Ian Freer, who describes him as similar to a "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner-era" Tracy.^[64] Entertainment Weekly editor Lisa Schwarzbaum described his appearance as a cross between Tracy and an eccentric out of a George Booth cartoon.^[65] Time editor Richard Corliss also makes the comparison, calling him a "trash compacted version" of Tracy.^[9] He has also been compared to Walter Matthau, another inspiration for the character's design, by LA Weekly editor Scott Foundas, suggesting that actor Ed Asner was channeling him while performing the role of Carl.^[66] Variety editor Todd McCarthy described Carl as a combination of both Tracy and Matthau.^[60]

The relationship between Carl and his wife Ellie has been praised in several media outlets. In his book Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Message of Children's Films, author M. Keith Booker described the love between Carl and Ellie as touching. While also describing the scene of the two of them aging as a "masterpiece of its own kind", he was not sure how much children would appreciate the scene, commenting that his son was squirming in his seat during the scene.^[67] Reelviews editor James Berardinelli praised their relationship, stating that it brought a tear to his eye in a way no animated film has done, including anything by famed anime director Hayao Miyazaki.^[68] Ann Hornaday praised the prologue, describing it as "worthy of Chaplin in its heartbreaking poignancy".^[63] Chicago Tribune editor Michael Phillips praised the scene, describing it as an emotional and cinematic powerhouse.^[69] However, Salon.com editor Stephanie Zacharek criticized the love between Carl and Ellie, describing their marriage as resembling a dental adhesive commercial more than a real relationship.^[70]

Edward Asner has been praised in several media outlets for his portrayal of Carl. San Francisco Chronicle editor Mick LaSelle praised Carl's voice actor, Ed Asner, as a great choice due to having a grumpiness to his voice that is not truly grumpy, but rather coming from a protective stance.^[71] Entertainment Weekly editor Lisa Schwarzbaum praised Asner's acting, stating that he has a "Lou Grant authority" to his voice.^[65] Time editor Richard Corliss stated that Asner had the "gruffness and deadpan comic timing to bring Carl to life".^[9] The Boston Globe editor Ty Burr concurred with this, stating that his Lou Grant-like voice had not diminished with time.^[72] USA Today editor Claudia Puig praised Asner's delivery, describing it as superb.^[73]

Dug, the talking canine, was awarded the Palm Dog Award by the British film critics as the best canine performance at Cannes Film Festival. Dug beat the fox from Antichrist and the black poodle from Inglourious Basterds.^[74]

In addition to the positive critical reviews the film received, Up highlights Pixar's corporate image as an altruistic company through its charitable acts. In June 2009, a 10-year-old girl from Huntington Beach, California was suffering from the final stages of terminal vascular cancer. It is reported her dying wish was to "live to see the movie" despite the advanced stage of her disease. Due to her deteriorating condition, she was unable to leave the family home. As a result, a family friend contacted Pixar and arranged for a private screening. A Pixar employee flew to the Huntington Beach home with various Up tie-in toys and a DVD copy of the film. The girl could not open her eyes, so her mother described the film to her scene by scene. The girl died approximately seven hours after the screening ended.^[75]

Box office

Up ranked number one at the box office its opening weekend, grossing $68,108,790 in North America. This was a stronger return than analysts had been expecting.^[76] The film had a small drop-off of 35% over its second weekend, earning another $44,244,000.^[77] Initial estimates projected the film holding on to the top spot in its second weekend, but revised figures placed it in second, less than $1M behind the Warner Bros. comedy The Hangover, but over $25M ahead of the Will Ferrell remake of Land of the Lost.^[78] In its third weekend, the film experienced an even smaller decline of just 30%, again trailing The Hangover by just a few million to place second.^[79] Making $30,762,280 that weekend, it is the twelfth biggest third weekend ever for a film.^[80] As of December 20, 2009 (2009 -12-20)^[update], the film has a total of $293 million in the United States and Canada and $438 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $731 million.^[2] The film is Pixar's third highest grossing film worldwide, behind Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3.^[81]

Awards and nominations

Up won two awards at the 82nd Academy Awards, for "Best Animated Feature" and "Academy Award for Best Original Score". Also, won "Best Original Score", and "Best Animated Feature Film" at the 67th Golden Globe Awards. It was also nominated for nine Annie Awards in 8 categories, winning two awards for "Best Animated Feature" and "Best Directing in a Feature Production".^[82] Up also received the Golden Tomato from Rotten Tomatoes for highest rating feature in 2009, and best reviewed animated film. It also won "Choice Summer Movie Comedy" at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards,^[83] and two Critic's Choice Awards for "Best Animated Film" and "Best Original Score". It was also nominated for three Grammys at 52nd Grammy Awards, winning two. It won Favorite Animated Movie at the 2010 Kids "Choice Awards".

References

External links

• Official website
• Up at Allmovie
• Up at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Up at HD Report (Blu-ray disc review)
• Up at the Internet Movie Database
• Up at Box Office Mojo
• Up at Rotten Tomatoes