I hope you understand when I say that I'm utterly speechless, but it's true. Pixar always manages to surprise with their imaginative adventures and character focus that they come dangerously close to Studio Ghibli territory at times. Take "Up" a movie very reliant on mid air travel and vivid landscapes and (sometimes literally) dog fights that are conducted in the open air. "Up" is a sweet and funny film about Carl Fredrickson, an old man whose spent most of his life selling balloons and devoting his love to his wife Ellie. After a somber note where Carl is left behind widowed, he decides to fulfill his life long dream of traveling to South America and he has a stowaway on board in the form of a chunky hero named Russell. The chemistry between the gifted Ed Asner as Carl and Jordan Nagai as Russell is priceless and brings to mind the classic films of WC Fields where he's wrangled with someone he doesn't want to be around but has no choice.

The balloon animation is spot on and most of scenes in the sky are brilliant. What will draw movie goers most are the colorful characters we meet including talking dogs that act as competent obstacles in our heroes' journey to South America, and a mythical bird that is addicted to chocolate.

"Up" is never boring; it's a healthy mixture of comedy and adventure with a hint of tragedy underneath the seams that deal with abandonment issues, and the personal loss of a loved one that some of us never get to move on from. The love story in the first twenty minutes is gut wrenching and when we finally enter in to the comedic relief that is Russell, we tend to move on without ever forgetting why Carl is trying to fulfill a promise to his beloved wife. Besides Nagai and Asner, Christopher Plummer is great as the villainous Charles Muntz whose own obsession with hunting has rendered him a mad man, and he carries with him a presence that immediately qualifies him to the Disney villain hall of fame. "Up" is all about the child in our hearts and how it's never too late to explore the world beyond our doors.

Pixar does it yet again with a competitor for the best film of 2009; "Up" possesses a healthy combination of brilliance with originality matched with top notch production quality that Pixar excels at with unbridled enthusiasm.