Overview: After a run-in with the law, a retired old man named Carl Fredricksen attaches balloons to his house in an attempt to fly to Paradise Falls in South America, fulfilling a dream to travel there with his late wife Ellie.
The story starts with young Carl Fredricksen, an admirer of Charles F. Muntz. Coming home from a movie, he meets a fellow admirer, a friendly young girl named Ellie who's not afraid to speak her mind. Visiting Carl soon after he injures himself, she tells him her dream of bringing her house right to the top of Paradise Falls. Eventually Ellie and Carl get married and live happily. Occasionally they save their change for a trip to Paradise Falls, but for one reason or another, they occasionally have to use their savings on other expenses.
One day, in their old age, Carl buys tickets to Paradise Falls and plans to surprise Ellie. Her health, however, is failing and they can't go on the trip. She passes away and Carl is left to grow bitter and alone. The world on the other hand would not leave him alone. For one, a businessman who has bought the land surrounding Carl's home is after his property and Fredricksen refuses to sell. Second, a Wilderness Explorer named Russell looking to earn his "Assisting the Elderly" badge comes knocking on Fredricksen's door.
One event leads to another and eventually Carl has attached balloons to his home and flies away towards Paradise Falls. It's not long before he's taken off and ready to rest that he finds young Russell has found his way onto the house porch. Reluctantly Carl lets Russell in and contemplates how he'll return him home. Unexpectedly, they run into a storm and while Carl is asleep (possibly unconscious at some point), Russell has steered the house to South America.
The story continues with Carl and Russell becoming unlikely friends. Along the way, they meet a bird, who Russell names Kevin, and a dog named Dug, who talks using a collar he wears. "Squirrel!"
Eventually we run back into Charles Muntz, who years ago had gone to South America to find a species of bird to prove he was not a fraud. Apparently Kevin was an example of a bird which Muntz sought. This creates all sorts of mayhem and at some point Carl is more concerned with his home than with helping Kevin. He soon realizes, after discovering several filled pages in Ellie's adventure book.
20130122 Comment:
I loved this movie. The beginning is so sad though. Interestingly, I was given a copy of the DVD+Blu-ray, but have yet to see the movie again. I think I will watch it again soon.
20130709:
I had some trouble with my computer correctly playing the DVD at first, but somehow, after numerous tries, it started working. In particular, I put the DVD in, tried to play it with VLC Media Player, then Windows Media Player, and alternating several more times between the two. I finally gave up and tried to run the digital copy. Once that transferred over, it also had trouble playing, first in Windows Media Player, then in VLC Media Player. Then somehow on the next try, it started working. At this point, I put the DVD back in and the DVD worked.
While the movie has its sad moments, overall it is an UPlifting movie. The colors cast by the balloons, for example, are just gorgeous to watch. There is also a good amount of comic relief. "Squirrel!"
I would recommend everybody see this movie, at least once, in his/her lifetime.
20220117 Comment:
While writing this post, I wondered why the balloons didn't lift the house before they were released. Apparently, my mistake was in thinking that the ballons came from inside the house. Upon review of scene via screenshots, they are instead kept under a tarp behind the house and the string simply runs from the ballons and down through the chimney. With that being said, the balloons supply a lifting force that causes the house to fly, and so whatever was tying down the tarp had to have exceeded that force.
But apparently Pixar already bent the laws of physics with respect to how many balloons it would actually take to lift a similar style house in real life. Check out this video by the Corridor Crew where they talk about physics, realism, and give the viewers what it might look like if the animation with actual physics (e.g., the size and number of ballons required).
20251206 Comment:
Today I identified that I had two entries for this movie. This entry contained my 20090808 and 20130709 viewing, while the other entry contained my 20220103 viewing. In the process of consolidating the two posts, I would note that the other post was unsure of how many times I had seen the movie and listed "Watched at least once before". While this is a true statement, it is interesting to learn the the truth as recorded is that I watched the movie twice before.
In addition, I would note the choice in screenshots for the two posts prior to the merge.
Instant Comments:
3: "That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most." - Russell to Mr. Fredricksen
3: Hehe when his hero drops I feel the sensation in my lower body [similar to when I dream about dropping and then my body jumps from the bed]
3: A little teary as he says old man coming through. Not as much as some movies and more predictable, but still touching.
Credits:
3: Star Wars
3: Hehe Russell wins bingo
3=20220103
Released 20090529.
Watched 20090808 Theater. Regency Theatre Center [UP] 6:30p $3.00
Watched 20130709 DVD
Watched 20220103 (Disney+)
Up (2009) Pete Docter. 96 min
Relevant Links:
Up (IMDb.com)
Up (2009 film) (Wikipedia.org)
Up (RottenTomatoes.com)
Cluster ballooning (Wikipedia.org)
 |
| Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) |
The story starts with young Carl Fredricksen, an admirer of Charles F. Muntz. Coming home from a movie, he meets a fellow admirer, a friendly young girl named Ellie who's not afraid to speak her mind. Visiting Carl soon after he injures himself, she tells him her dream of bringing her house right to the top of Paradise Falls. Eventually Ellie and Carl get married and live happily. Occasionally they save their change for a trip to Paradise Falls, but for one reason or another, they occasionally have to use their savings on other expenses.
 |
| Ellie and Carl. |
One day, in their old age, Carl buys tickets to Paradise Falls and plans to surprise Ellie. Her health, however, is failing and they can't go on the trip. She passes away and Carl is left to grow bitter and alone. The world on the other hand would not leave him alone. For one, a businessman who has bought the land surrounding Carl's home is after his property and Fredricksen refuses to sell. Second, a Wilderness Explorer named Russell looking to earn his "Assisting the Elderly" badge comes knocking on Fredricksen's door.
 |
| Russell (Jordan Nagai) |
One event leads to another and eventually Carl has attached balloons to his home and flies away towards Paradise Falls. It's not long before he's taken off and ready to rest that he finds young Russell has found his way onto the house porch. Reluctantly Carl lets Russell in and contemplates how he'll return him home. Unexpectedly, they run into a storm and while Carl is asleep (possibly unconscious at some point), Russell has steered the house to South America.
 |
| When houses fly... |
The story continues with Carl and Russell becoming unlikely friends. Along the way, they meet a bird, who Russell names Kevin, and a dog named Dug, who talks using a collar he wears. "Squirrel!"
Eventually we run back into Charles Muntz, who years ago had gone to South America to find a species of bird to prove he was not a fraud. Apparently Kevin was an example of a bird which Muntz sought. This creates all sorts of mayhem and at some point Carl is more concerned with his home than with helping Kevin. He soon realizes, after discovering several filled pages in Ellie's adventure book.
 |
| Kevin, Russell, and Carl |
20130122 Comment:
I loved this movie. The beginning is so sad though. Interestingly, I was given a copy of the DVD+Blu-ray, but have yet to see the movie again. I think I will watch it again soon.
20130709:
I had some trouble with my computer correctly playing the DVD at first, but somehow, after numerous tries, it started working. In particular, I put the DVD in, tried to play it with VLC Media Player, then Windows Media Player, and alternating several more times between the two. I finally gave up and tried to run the digital copy. Once that transferred over, it also had trouble playing, first in Windows Media Player, then in VLC Media Player. Then somehow on the next try, it started working. At this point, I put the DVD back in and the DVD worked.
 |
| Carl, Dug (Bob Peterson; golden retriever), and Russell |
While the movie has its sad moments, overall it is an UPlifting movie. The colors cast by the balloons, for example, are just gorgeous to watch. There is also a good amount of comic relief. "Squirrel!"
I would recommend everybody see this movie, at least once, in his/her lifetime.
20220117 Comment:
While writing this post, I wondered why the balloons didn't lift the house before they were released. Apparently, my mistake was in thinking that the ballons came from inside the house. Upon review of scene via screenshots, they are instead kept under a tarp behind the house and the string simply runs from the ballons and down through the chimney. With that being said, the balloons supply a lifting force that causes the house to fly, and so whatever was tying down the tarp had to have exceeded that force.
 |
| Alpha (Bob Peterson; Doberman Pinscher), Gamma (Jerome Ranft; English Bulldog), Beta (Delroy Lindo; Rottweiler) |
But apparently Pixar already bent the laws of physics with respect to how many balloons it would actually take to lift a similar style house in real life. Check out this video by the Corridor Crew where they talk about physics, realism, and give the viewers what it might look like if the animation with actual physics (e.g., the size and number of ballons required).
20251206 Comment:
Today I identified that I had two entries for this movie. This entry contained my 20090808 and 20130709 viewing, while the other entry contained my 20220103 viewing. In the process of consolidating the two posts, I would note that the other post was unsure of how many times I had seen the movie and listed "Watched at least once before". While this is a true statement, it is interesting to learn the the truth as recorded is that I watched the movie twice before.
 |
| Russell (Jordan Nagai) stays close to the side of the house as it soars through the air. |
In addition, I would note the choice in screenshots for the two posts prior to the merge.
| This Entry | Other Entry |
|---|---|
| #1 Young Carl Fredricksen | #2 Carl Fredericksen |
| #2 Adult Ellie and Carl | |
| #3 Russell | #3 Russell outside the flying house waiting to be let inside |
| #4 House with balloons | #1 House with balloons soon after lifting off |
| #5 Kevin | #4 Kevin (same scene) |
| #6 Dug | #5 Dug (frames apart) |
| #7 Toy Story references | |
| #6 Alpha, Gamma, and Beta | |
| #8 Movie stub |
 |
| Young Carl Fredricksen. |
Instant Comments:
3: "That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most." - Russell to Mr. Fredricksen
3: Hehe when his hero drops I feel the sensation in my lower body [similar to when I dream about dropping and then my body jumps from the bed]
3: A little teary as he says old man coming through. Not as much as some movies and more predictable, but still touching.
 |
| Find the references to Toy Story / Toy Story 3 (2010). |
Credits:
3: Star Wars
3: Hehe Russell wins bingo
3=20220103
Released 20090529.
Watched 20090808 Theater. Regency Theatre Center [UP] 6:30p $3.00
Watched 20130709 DVD
Watched 20220103 (Disney+)
Up (2009) Pete Docter. 96 min
Relevant Links:
Up (IMDb.com)
Up (2009 film) (Wikipedia.org)
Up (RottenTomatoes.com)
Cluster ballooning (Wikipedia.org)
Date/Time
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
@
12:00
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