A short while back Disney made the decision to go back to only family and animated films. Smart decision. Teaming with Pixar – “Monsters, Inc.” director and “Finding Nemo” screenwriter – for the best digital animated film ever. The only difficult part was trying to scribble thoughts on my notepad while sitting in the dark and squinting through 3D glasses. Carl Fredericksen (Ed Asner) fell in love with a spitfire of a vixen when he was but a boy and went on to marry her years later. Bring the tissues because after a five minute montage of their entire wedded blissful lives, he becomes a widower and regrets not taking his bride to the one place she always dreamed of: South America. Connecting his house to thousands of balloons, Asner goes “up” and away to the land of Paradise Falls. With him, an unexpected sidekick – a boyscout – who wants to earn his badge as Senior Wilderness Explorer. Asner is a curmudgeon – reminiscent of his “Mary Tyler Moore” days, something your kids won’t get, but you will. This move is part “Wizard of Oz” and part “It’s A Wonderful Life” and you’ll completely enjoy what I consider to be the best film of the year as “Up” soars to true heights. Four tiaras
