UP

I am essentially a big kid at heart and I have particular penchant for the animated movie. Pixar, a subsidiary studio of Disney is a favorite of mine and I avidly watch each and every one of their releases.

This movie follows Carl Fredricksen, an old man who sets off to South America to complete his wife's dying wish. His transport? His house, suspended from hundreds of balloons. His company? An eager 8 year old boy called Russell who stows away on the porch. Once they arrive in South America (it's like America but South!) they meet up with Kevin a colourful ostrich and Dug, a dim but friendly dog. Kevin is being hunted by Dugs pack-mates but Dug wants Carl to be his new master and the gang of unlikely friends have to come together to beat the slightly mad Charles Muntz who wants to capture Kevin to prove a point.

The opening scenes, which set out why it is so important for Carl to fulfill his wife's wishes and how they fell in love? There's a lot I can say about them but they really nothing short of perfection. The way the love twixt the 2 is expressed, without words in one sequence is superb and jerks more than the odd tear. There are moments of of comedy amid the pathos and also action scenes that, upon first viewing, raise the goosebumps. There is a scene, a few minutes in where Carl's house lifts off on it's journey, one necessitated by his wife's death and the encroaching development of the land surrounding the house. I very nearly got up and cheered as Carl stuck a metaphorical two fingers up authority. As the balloons fil the screen with colour? I read that as life being breathed into Carl's dream of adventure, of hope filling him.

This movie works as entertainment, but there are also themes of love, loss and redemption running through it. You see, there's Carl, an old man who defies age to become one of the all time great cinematic heroes. His marriage to Ellie proved childless and there's a wonderful theme of Carl finding a substitute children in Carl, the 8 year old and Dug, the dog. In fact the relationship twixt the heroic but daft Dug and the heroic but crabby Carl is another one brought a lump to my throat, being that I am a dog owner.

This is not just one of my favorite animated movies, it's one of my favorite movies full stop. If you don't get moved by this film then quite frankly you have no soul.