Up (2009)

Movie quotes:
Dug (talking dog): My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you.
[Dug jumps up on Carl]
Carl: Wha. -
Dug: My master made me this collar. He is a good and smart master and he made me this collar so that I may speak - Squirrel!
[Dug interrupts himself to stare intently at something in the distance for a few long seconds]
Dug: My master is good and smart.

At a glance:
Stunning animation is used to embellish the funny and heart-lifting story of an old man who rediscovers the joy of life

Our review (with spoilers):
Carl (voiced by Edward Asner) is in the latter stages of his life. He lives alone in his tiny house, sandwiched between loud, rapidly rising skyscrapers, and endures what seem to be daily visits from people wanting to buy his house and demolish it. When he loses his temper and strikes one of them, he gets ‘invited’ into a retirement home. But Carl has a secret escape plan: on the morning of his last day in his house, thousands of tethered helium balloons are released, taking him away. Also with him is an uninvited guest: Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai),a local boy scout who happened to be on the porch when the house detached. Carl heads for South America to pursue the dream he shared with his deceased wife Ellie. Along the way, he learns to tolerate (and even love) Russell and life.

Up’s narrative has moments of weakness, but the film also has a way of touching something deep in our psyche: the fear of growing old, the sadness of dreams that are never realized, and the joy of using our ingenuity and our imagination to achieve peace and happiness. The occasional weak links in the script are dwarfed by the general good feelings and sense of wonder. The highlight of this good vibe is one long sequence, early on, as we view the life adventure of Ellie and Carl told solely and magically with images and music. The wonderful Pixar animation serves the story rather than distracting from it; of particular beauty are the ultra-realistic jungle panoramas.

Rating:  3 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"If it had lived up to its golden first five minutes, Up would have been the film of the decade. As it is, it remains the best animated flick of 2009, a funny, moving, beautifully made argument that dreamers can move mountains."
- Ian Freer (Empire Magazine)

"A hugely enjoyable work, whose care, craftsmanship and creative courage are rarely found in mainstream films — animated or otherwise."
- Cosmo Landesman (Sunday Times [UK])

An Ant’s Life (2006)

At a glance:
This children’s DVD has very basic CGI and a short 60 minute running time (that includes 5 tacked on old cartoons), but younger (4-6 year old) kids who don’t scare really easily will like it

Our review:
An Ant’s Life is the story of three ants who meet a Queen Ant, She asks them to help her build a new nest. A big-sub plot deals with their almost helpless caterpillar friend who has fallen from his tree and is being terrorized by geckos, a praying mantis, and a spider. The animation is extremely basic and very low budget, and the constant almost-eating of our heroes may actually scare some skittish kids, but, other than that, it’s an okay half-hour of disposable entertainment for 4 to 6 year olds (I doubt if your tyke will be asking to watch it again). My daughter picked it out at the video store, thinking, perhaps, that it was the vastly superior A Bug’s Life, which she had seen before and loved. It appears that the DVD design was meant to encourage this kind of confusion.

The DVD packaging has some other problems. It purports to have a 60 minute running time, and says it also includes 5 bonus cartoons. In reality, An Ant’s Life runs for only about 30 minutes; the 60 minute running time includes these cartoons. And the cartoons are actually Beany and Cecil – from 1962! They are probably in the public domain by now – free to distribute. The fact is, they were done by Bob Clampett, one of the better Warner Brothers directors from the 1940s and 1950s, so they are a lot of fun to watch – much more fun than the feature (at least for me).

The final oddity is that Rotten Tomatoes lists this DVD as year 2006, but the actual An Ant’s Life hails from 1998, and, of course, the Beany and Cecil cartoons are from way earlier. So there are quite a few problems with false advertising here.

Does anyone care? I included this review for those parents who would like to know what they are buying/renting. You can pay 10 bucks for this and you’ll be rewarding all that false advertising. My suggestion? Avoid these insects like the plague (of locusts)! Rating: 1 of 4

Wall-E (2008)

Movie quotes:
Ship's Computer: Caution: Rogue robots. Caution.
WALL.E: Oh, EVE.
[points at screen with them on it, EVE fires a laser blast at the screen, destroying it]
WALL.E: Ohh...
[folds up inside himself]

Ship's Computer: Voice confirmation required.
Captain: Uhhh...
Ship's Computer: Accepted.

At a glance:
Pixar animation scores another triumph of visual imagery with this touching robot on robot love story that takes place within a deeply textured sci-fi world

Our review:
Little robot Wall-E is tasked with cleaning up an earth covered with eons of overflowing rubbish. With all the humans long gone upon a huge ship in space, Wall-E is alone, save for his one cockroach friend. So he’s thrilled when a star ship deposits a sleek feminine robot named Eve onto his world. Suffice it to say that Eve’s ‘directive’ is tied in to the Earth and the survival of the human race.

Imagine one of the great silent movies of the early 20^th century, and transpose it with state of the art animation from the early 21^st century, and together, you have the first 35 minutes or so of Wall-E: a unique film experience. This is not some lightweight kids' animation – it is full-blooded, detailed sci-fi. And it’s worth noting that it is driven by detail as well as by the plot; it’s fascinating to learn the intricacies of this world. The people at Pixar know how to use animation to its fullest – to create a truly alternative universe – and yet it also is an imaginative take on our possible future.

The decision to focus on technology rather than true sentient life could have made it difficult for audiences to connect with the characters. It’s a tribute to Pixar that they not only took that risk, but that they also succeeded. Rating: 3 of 4

Trivia: 'Andrew Stanton' and the Pixar team watched every single Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton movie (the short films and the features) every day during lunch for about a year and a half. This was to inspire the possibilities of pure visual storytelling.

Other reviewers said:
"If anyone doubted that Pixar is the most creative outfit in modern motion pictures, this movie should convince them. It is a genuine masterpiece, a word I don't use often."
- Paul Byrnes (Sydney Morning Herald)

"Not about high profile characters or big action, it delights by entertaining and inspiring more subtly. Who expected that from any movie these days, let alone an animated one?"
- Brian Webster (Apollo Guide)