I don’t want to be harsh and say that Pixar is trolling for a Best Picture Oscar that they felt they deserved with last summer’s massively successful (and as yet unseen by me) Wall-E, but I don’t think it would have been entirely remiss if the full title of this film was “For Your Consideration at Awards Time: Disney/Pixar presents Up”That isn’t to say this is a bad movie-far from it actually. I liked it way more than I expected to and I was frankly impressed with the way the subject matter is dealt with.There are few straight up children’s films. most have jokes for the parents and older siblings to be in on so they don’t lose interest in the celebrity voiced tedium that a lot of these films tend to wallow in. This film, instead of jokes (and one absurd Star Wars reference) there are adult situations. There is a reason why the movie is PG rated and not G. Kids are going to have questions after this film, difficult ones. Parents should not shy away from answering these questions honestly, as their choice of entertainment doesn’t shy away from bringing up the issues in the first place.The plot of the movie is thus: a sweet, if single minded old man named Carl goes off to fulfill a childhood dream that he and his wife Ellie never got to do: visit Paradise Falls like their childhood hero and have an adventure. Along the way he gets saddled with a boy named Russell who just wants to earn his last badge to help the elderly, a bird named Kevin, and a talking dog named Doug. The film is both hilariously funny and heartbreakingly sad. I daresay it’s the saddest children’s film since Bambi or Dumbo, and I’d stand by that statement.Is it going to win the best picture Oscar, or even be nominated? No, I don’t think it will. But come Oscar time (and if you know me, you know that it is never too early for me to be thinking about these things) it will be a lock for Best Animated Feature and possibly Best Original Screenplay. It’ll be a contender in any other catergory it’s nominated in as well. Why? Because it’s not just a good children’s movie or a good animated movie—it’s a good movie of any kind, plain and simple.

I don’t want to be harsh and say that Pixar is trolling for a Best Picture Oscar that they felt they deserved with last summer’s massively successful (and as yet unseen by me) Wall-E, but I don’t think it would have been entirely remiss if the full title of this film was “For Your Consideration at Awards Time: Disney/Pixar presents Up”
That isn’t to say this is a bad movie-far from it actually. I liked it way more than I expected to and I was frankly impressed with the way the subject matter is dealt with.
There are few straight up children’s films. most have jokes for the parents and older siblings to be in on so they don’t lose interest in the celebrity voiced tedium that a lot of these films tend to wallow in. This film, instead of jokes (and one absurd Star Wars reference) there are adult situations. There is a reason why the movie is PG rated and not G. Kids are going to have questions after this film, difficult ones. Parents should not shy away from answering these questions honestly, as their choice of entertainment doesn’t shy away from bringing up the issues in the first place.
The plot of the movie is thus: a sweet, if single minded old man named Carl goes off to fulfill a childhood dream that he and his wife Ellie never got to do: visit Paradise Falls like their childhood hero and have an adventure. Along the way he gets saddled with a boy named Russell who just wants to earn his last badge to help the elderly, a bird named Kevin, and a talking dog named Doug. The film is both hilariously funny and heartbreakingly sad. I daresay it’s the saddest children’s film since Bambi or Dumbo, and I’d stand by that statement.
Is it going to win the best picture Oscar, or even be nominated? No, I don’t think it will. But come Oscar time (and if you know me, you know that it is never too early for me to be thinking about these things) it will be a lock for Best Animated Feature and possibly Best Original Screenplay. It’ll be a contender in any other catergory it’s nominated in as well. Why? Because it’s not just a good children’s movie or a good animated movie—it’s a good movie of any kind, plain and simple.