Up

Release Date (UK) - 9 October 2009

Certificate (UK) - U

Country - USA

Directors - Bob Peterson, Pete Docter

Runtime - 96 mins

Voices - Christopher Plummer, Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai

This 3D animated feature was the first ever animation to open Cannes at this years festival and its not hard to see why it was chosen, Pixar have created a colourful, touching movie that has universal appeal.

The film begins with the meeting of Carl and Ellie, two adventurous children and the film then almost silently presents as series of scenes from their life together covering sad and happy events up until Ellie's death. This effective short montage already gets the audience so deeply invloved in the emotions of the characters that tears need to be stifled back just 10 minutes in to the film! Although the lack of dialogue here may bore some younger children it is so early on in the film that they should be still rapt in awe of the bright colours and 3D animations.

Threatened with a nursing home the now elderly Carl decides to fulfil his and Ellie's young adventurer dreams and using hundreds of helium balloon's, flies their house to Paradise Falls (as he promised Ellie he would when they were children). Part way he discovers that young 'wilderness explorer' Russell has accidentally joined him on the trip as he was trying to earn his helping the elderly badge, and the plot carries on from there.

The characters they encounter are highly original, from hilarious talking dogs to the quirky explorer Charles Muntz who Carl and Ellie idolised as a child. There are plenty of humorous moments but even these fit in with the gentle emotional pace of the film and are not brash gags. The bright colours and limited use of 3D make this film a lovely piece of artwork and I defy anyone to not enjoy it.

Although this premiered at Cannes and is out in the USA it doesn't come out here in the UK until October.. a delay seemingly caused by not wanting to compete in the summer kids films window of the pushed back Harry Potter and the release of Ice Age 3