Product Description
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From the revolutionary minds of Pixar Animation Studios and the
accled director of MONSTERS, INC. comes a hilariously
uplifting adventure where the sky is no longer the limit. Carl
Fredricksen, a retired balloon salesman, is part rascal, part
dreamer who is ready for his last chance at high-flying
excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets
off to the lost world of his childhood dreams. Unbeknownst to
Carl, Russell, an overeager 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer who
has never ventured beyond his backyard, is in the wrong place at
the wrong time -- Carl's front porch! The world's most unlikely
duo reach new heights and meet fantastic friends like Dug, a dog
with a special collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin, a rare
13-foot tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the
jungle, Carl realizes that sometimes life's biggest adventures
aren't the ones you set out looking for. Including the hilarious
short film "Dug's Special Mission," UP reaches new heights on
Blu-ray(TM) and DVD. "You will want to see it again and again,"
raves Christopher Kelly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It's
adventure that will send your spirits soaring!
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At a time when too many animated films consist of
anthropomorphized animals cracking sitcom one-liners and
flatulence jokes, the warmth, originality, humor, and unging
imagination of Up feel as welcome as rain in a desert. Carl
Fredericksen (voice by Ed Asner) ranks among the most unlikely
heroes in recent animation history. A 78- year-old curmudgeon, he
enjoyed his modest life as a balloon seller because he shared it
with his adventurous wife Ellie (Ellie Docter). But she died,
leaving him with memories and the awareness that they never made
their dream journey to Paradise Falls in South America. When
well-meaning officials consign Carl to Shady Oaks Retirement
Home, he rigs thousands of helium balloons to his house and
floats to South America. The journey's cely be when he
discovers a stowaway: Russell (Jordan Nagai), a chubby, maladroit
Wilderness Explorer Scout who's out to earn his Elderly
Assistance Badge. In the tropical jungle, Carl and Russell find
more than they bargained for: Charles Muntz (Christopher
Plummer), a crazed explorer whose newsreels once inspired Carl
and Ellie; Kevin, an exotic bird with a weakness for chocolate;
and Dug (Bob Peterson), an endearingly dim golden retriever
fitted with a voice box. More importantly, the travelers discover
they need each other: Russell needs a (grand)her figure; Carl
needs someone to enliven his life without Ellie. Together, they
learn that sharing ice-cream cones and counting the passing cars
can be more meaningful than feats of daring-do and distant
horizons. Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc. ) and Bob Peterson direct
the film with consummate skill and taste, allowing the poignant
moments to unfold without dialogue to Michael Giacchnio's vibrant
score. Building on their work in The Incredibles and Ratatouille,
the Pixar crew offers nuanced animation of the stylized
characters. Even by Pixar's elevated standards, Up is an
exceptional film that will appeal of audiences of all ages. Rated
PG for some peril and action. --Charles Solomon
Stills from Up (Click for larger image)
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Set Contains:
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The eagerly awaited Blu-ray of Pixar's hit Up comes loaded with
extras, including two animated shorts: Peter Sohn's "Partly
Cloudy," which screened with the feature in its theatrical
release, and a new film, "Dug's Special Mission." Directed by
Ronnie Del Carmen, "Special Mission" reveals how Dug, the dim but
lovable golden retriever, met Carl and Russell. "Adventure Is Out
There" documents the research trip a key group of artists took to
the Tapuis in South America and includes not only footage of the
precipitous ascent of the ain, but watercolor sketches the
artists did there. Alternate versions of key moments in the film
show how these scenes changed during preproduction and why. An
early storyboard of the wordless "Married Life" sequence that
reduced many viewers to tears could have worked, but it's far
less satisfying than the final iteration. Discussions of the
characters Carl and Russell include preliminary art and footage
of director Pete Docter working with child actor Jordan Nagai. In
a thoughtful interview, composer Michael Giacchino explains his
use of musical motifs for the individual characters, and how
shifts from major to minor chords suggest different moods. The
Global Guardian Badge Game narrated by Nagai is an interesting
geography quiz that would be more fun if the controls were better
calibrated--it's hard to land a cursor on Delaware or Belgium
when it keeps drifting away. The bonus materials suggest that if
Pixar consistently makes the best animated films in America, it's
because such talented artists work so hard on them. --Charles
Solomon
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