Pixar stays on top

At this point it’s cliche to say this (and even cliche to say it’s cliche), but Pixar has done it again.

After “Wall-E” got some Oscar buzz in 2008, it seemed like the animation experts had peaked, but “Up” is even better and ultimately one of this year’s best.

Though most of the story – old man Carl Fredicksen (Ed Asner) uses balloons to fly his house to South America – is a thrilling action tale, “Up” is much more than that. The opening sequence chronicling the life and death of Carl’s wife is truly heart-breaking and certainly sobering for the first 15 minutes of a Pixar film.

However, once the tears dry, the action turns to South America and Dug the talking dog appears, “Up” fires off one goofy joke after another. While there may not be anything overly original about it, there’s just something about cranky old men, chubby young kids and slobbering pets that is completely irresistible.

And whereas “Wall-E” beat the audiences over the head with its message of “save the environment or else,” “Up” only stops the beautiful, heart-warming fun to remind us that we should live life to the fullest no matter how old we are – and that’s absolutely OK.