Up

The Pixar juggernaut rolls on with yet another creatively successful box office smash ― and Up is possibly the sweetest, most genuinely heartfelt concoction they've whipped up yet. Embarking upon the story of grumpy senior Carl (Ed Asner), who balloon rigs his house and flies to Brazil with kid stowaway Russell (newcomer Jordan Nagai), the tone is beautifully set with the prologue story of Carl's lifelong love for his wife, in whose honour he seeks this adventure. It's a beautiful gambit, making Carl a tired romantic seeking one last adventure, not a grumpy kidnapper who's hijacked a youngster away from his parents. (Questions of parenting are not asked, nor answered, in the film.) Life's an adventure for all involved, including inspiration-turned-villain Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), who's simply lonely and misunderstood. In these times of uncertain format future, Disney continues to cover its bases: the one available edition includes two Blu-Ray discs, a stripped down DVD, and a digital download across four discs. Blu-Ray consumers get the most bang ― games, expanded back stories and extensive making-of docs ― while the DVD is simpler, with the Partly Cloudy theatrical short and an interesting featurette on animators travelling to Venezuela for research. What's disappointing, given Pixar's legacy of unmatched quality control, is new dog-oriented short Dug's Special Mission, which takes one of Up's breakout characters (the voice-enhanced Dug, and the dog pack) and does very little with it. This is another in a long line of Pixar delights, which shows no sign of waning. Plus: commentary, alternate scenes, more.