Yeah, I know, it’s Pixar. You should be going in expecting to get a little teary. Still—the first ten minutes pass and you haven’t been sobbing like this since your grandmother’s funeral.

Don’t let that deter you, though. Let me try this again. Up is a movie about an old man and a little boy, and they’re both adorable, and they go on adventures together, sticking it to gentrification and the disappointment of meeting your childhood heroes.

Uh, OK, this is still sounding pretty heavy. One more time. Listen, the old man lives in a house whose external aesthetic is best described as “Easter egg,” and to get away from encroaching real estate developers he attaches so many balloons to his house that it floats away! (Which is a real thing that can happen!)

Shenanigans ensue when the old man realizes a small child, a Boy Scout, has unintentionally hitched a ride on the porch. They end up in South America, helping each other learn the value of friendship. Luscious, technicolor flora and fauna fill the screen. It’s totally lighthearted and you’re not crying, you tell your little sister, you have allergies, or maybe something got in your eye, but really, you’re fine.

I give up, this is probably the saddest movie in the world. It has a happy ending, though, I promise.

Up
2009
dir. Pete Docter
96 min.

Part of the ongoing series: Magic 106.7 Family Film Festival