It's taken me some time to sort out what I think about UP, which I saw here in Austin a couple weeks ago. I saw the "flat" non-3D version, with the Partly Cloudy short attached to it, but without credits. It's long been known Pixar isn't planning on merchandising this movie within an inch of its life like their others, but the movie's so good they don't have to.
As deeply-felt as Pixar's previous films have been, and as often as the word "masterpiece" is thrown around, UP has achieved a new triumph in their storytelling acumen. Technological breakthroughs have defined Pixar to many who were introduced to them by Toy Story, the trendsetter for all the copycat attempts at CG animation over the last 14 years. The reason Pixar has persevered in the face of imitators is that they are their own harshest critics, and put just as much if not more energy into the story than the pretty pictures.
Harry posted a reaction shortly after the screening I saw on AICN, and I agree completely that the movie has the adventurous spirit of the original '33 King Kong or The Most Dangerous Game. More interesting for me is that it's one of the best movies about coping with loss that I've ever seen. If anyone considers taking a date to this, they'd better be almost or completely certain they're out with "the one." Otherwise the deeply affecting love story that starts the movie and propels its protagonist could have unintended consequences on the outcome.
It might seem an odd idea to some, taking a date to an animated movie, but this isn't Monsters vs. Aliens, this is like Studio Ghibli made Gran Torino. I made the Gran Torino link (old man, young Asian kid, life lessons learned) on a platonic level when I saw the first trailer, as did others. It touches on the father-son type relationship and other stuff thematically, but otherwise they're very different movies. The reason I mention Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli is that like Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, and others, you're not certain what strange and interesting thing will come next.
I was planning to post something around the time Jeff left for Cannes, where UP and Partly Cloudy will premiere in 3D, but his piece about Russell this morning helped motivate me today. To put it bluntly, Russell is more complex than some annoying little roly poly fat kid.
To say that Russell is eager to please would be a massive understatement. He wants Carl to like him and approve of him so much it hurts. He's an overeating, junk food-inhaling kid due to things he has trouble coping with that are made clear as the film progresses. He's not overweight and inactive due to outright laziness and disinterest in being healthy.
Russell is a modern kid brought up to learn plenty about the world outside having never really been allowed to explore anything. Without giving anything away, his arc as a character has a lot to do with how he wants to be more than what he's been. "It's ok to be overweight" is not the thrust of that arc.
The new short is fantastic as well. Partly Cloudly, directed by Pixar up-and-comer Pete Sohn, is a dialogue-free story about storks and where they get various babies from: clouds. Specifically, it's about one cloud that handles all the "dangerous" babies that should come with a Handle With Care sign. This is thematically the best pairing of short to feature, as appetizer to meal, that Pixar has ever done.
The thing that Sohn does best here is in the effortless and efficient simplicity of storytelling. He gets the job done without dialogue, and the result is still memorable weeks later for me. A lot of his inspiration for becoming an animator came from the animated movies and shorts he could watch with his mother, who didn't speak any English. I'd love to see Sohn take the reigns of something big.
I can't wait to see both again in 3D and then probably a couple more times in the cinema. Whereas WALL-E was brilliant but not the easiest movie to throw on the big screen at Thanksgiving, UP will be very popular on the DVD/Blu-ray aisle in addition to first-run in theaters.