30 Day Movie Challenge Day 23

Day 23- Fave Animation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_movie
Up

This movie is about an older man named Carl Fredrickson (Ed Asner). When he was younger, he was a shy, quiet biy who idolized a world explorer named Charles Muntz. But he loses faith in the explorer when he learns that Muntz was accused of faking the skeleton of a giant bird in Paradise Falls, South America. And one day when going home, he runs into a tomboy girl named Ellie, who also happens to be a fan of Muntz. The 2 become friends and she confides in him her desire to live in a house above Paradise Falls. They eventually get married and grow old together in their restored house, him working as a toy balloon vendor and her as a zookeeper. But when they are told they can't have kids, this saddens them, and they pool their money to go to Paradise Falls, but they have to keep digging into that money for repairs and things but before they can live in Paradise Falls, she becomes ill and dies, leaving him all alone.

A few years later, his house is the only one around because of urban development and he refuses to move. A construction worker who hits his mailbox with a bulldozer gets hit on the head by Fredrickson's cnae and he is summoned to court. And by the order of the court, he is evicted from the house and forced to go to a retirement home. But he surprises everyone, including the nursing home staff there to get him when suddenly dozens of balloons emerge from the roof of his house. He has turned his house into a flying airship in an attempt to keep a promise for Ellie. Little does he know that also on board with him is a Wilderness Explorer scout named Russell (Jordan Nagai). Mr. Fredrickson lets Russell in and as they go towards South America, they end up in a thunderstorm, and the house lands near a ravine near Paradise Falls, and the 2 decide to tie ropes to themselves and drag the house to it's location. Later on, they run into a large flightless bird who Russell calls Kevin who is trying to reach her chicks and a Golden Retriever named Dug who is outfitted with a collar allowing him to speak. Little do they know that Dug's collar has a tracking device on it and later they are being followed by a pack of dogs lead by Alpha. They are taken to Dug's master and theat's where they meet Charles Muntz on his dirigible. After Muntz becomes angry at not finding a real bird, 'Kevin' starts calling out for her babies and that's when Muntz finds the bird. This causes Russell, Carl and Dug to run for their lives while being chased by Muntz's dogs.

When the 3 reach Carl's house, Muntz is there and starts a fire under his house. This makes Carl choose between Russell and saving the house. And after it's out, Russell is angry with Carl as they try to get to the falls. When he goes into the slightly burned house, he starts looking at Ellie's scrapbook, and he finds a message towards the end about starting a new adventure and that's what gives him the idea about Russell, but when he goes outside, he sees Russell throwing his merit badge belt off and taking a leaf blower and some balloons and flying away, saying he'll rescue Kevin. He decides to empty out all the stuff in the house and go after him. Russell is captured by Muntz on board his dirigible, and Carl manages to get on board and rescue him, but Muntz manages to trap Russell, Dug, Carl in his house and attempts to kill them, but when they escape thru a window in the back, Muntz follows, but snags his foot on a rope and falls to his death with just a few balloons attached to save him. They reunite 'Kevin' with her chicks and when they fly the dirigible back to the city, Russell sees his father has missed his Senior Explorer ceremony, but Mr. Fredrickson has made it and presents him with his final badge, including one he calls the Ellie Badge, which is a grape soda cap. And the final scene shows the house sitting on the edge of Paradise Falls.

Cast

• Edward Asner as Carl Fredricksen (Jeremy Leary voiced the younger Carl). Docter and Rivera noted Asner's television alter ego, Lou Grant had been helpful in writing for Carl, because it guided them in balancing likable and unlikeable aspects of the curmudgeonly character.^[8] When they met Asner and presented him with a model of his character, he joked, "I don't look anything like that." (the appearance of Carl is meant to resemble Spencer Tracy as he appeared in his final film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner^[9]). They tailored his dialogue for him, with short sentences and more consonants, which "cemented the notion that Carl, post-Ellie, is a disgruntled bear that's been poked awake during hibernation".^[10] In Colombia, unexpected publicity for the film was generated due to the uncanny similarity of Carl with Colombian ex-president Julio César Turbay Ayala.^[11][12]
• Jordan Nagai as Russell. On their journey, Russell makes several comments to Carl that suggest that Russell's father and mother are no longer together.^[13] Russell's design was based on Pixar animator Peter Sohn.^[14] Docter auditioned 400 boys in a nationwide casting call for the part.^[15] Nagai, who is Japanese-American,^[16] showed up to an audition with his brother, who was actually the one auditioning. Docter realized Nagai behaved and spoke non-stop like Russell and chose him for the part.^[17] Nagai was 8 years old when cast.^[15] Docter encouraged Nagai to act physically as well as vocally when recording the role, lifting him upside down and tickling him for the scene where Russell encounters Kevin.^[10] Asian Americans have positively noted Pixar's first casting of an Asian lead character,^[18] in contrast to the common practice of casting non-Asians in Asian parts.^[19]
• Bob Peterson as Dug, a Golden Retriever who can talk.^[20] He is the misfit of a pack of talking dogs owned by Muntz. Peterson knew he would voice Dug when he wrote his line "I have just met you, and I love you," which was based on what a child told him when he was a camp counselor in the 1980s. The DVD release of the film features a short called Dug's Special Mission, which follows Dug just prior to his first meeting with Carl and Russell. Dug previously appeared in Ratatouille as a shadow on a wall that barks at Remy.^[20]
  • Peterson also voices Alpha, a talking Doberman Pinscher^[20] and the leader of Muntz's pack of dogs. Pete Docter has stated that Alpha "thinks of himself as Clint Eastwood". Despite his menacing appearance, a frequent malfunction in Alpha's translating collar causes his voice to sound comically high-pitched and squeaky, as if he had been breathing helium. The normal voice for his translator is a resonant, intimidating bass. With both voices, Alpha has a roundabout speech pattern that causes his sentences to be longer than necessary.
• Christopher Plummer as Charles F. Muntz. Muntz is an old explorer looking for the beast of Paradise Falls; he vowed to not return to North America until he had captured the creature. He uses a group of dogs to aid him in his hunt. The name of his airship, Spirit of Adventure, may have been inspired by Charles Lindbergh's airplane, Spirit of St. Louis.^[20] In various interviews, Pete Docter has mentioned Howard Hughes and real life adventurers Charles Lindbergh and Percy Fawcett as inspirations for Muntz.^[21]
• Pete Docter as Kevin, a large colorful prehistoric bird. Other than voicing Kevin, Docter also voices Campmaster Strauch, Russell's camp master, seen at the end of the film.
• Elizabeth Docter as Ellie Fredricksen. The voice actor is the director's daughter,^[22] who also provided some of the drawings shown by Ellie.^[23]
• Delroy Lindo as Beta, a Rottweiler^[20] and one of Muntz's dogs.
• Jerome Ranft as Gamma, a Bulldog^[20] and one of Muntz's dogs.
• John Ratzenberger as Tom, a construction worker who asks if Carl is ready to sell his house.^[20]
• David Kaye as the newsreel announcer.