Trailer Teaser: Up

Disney and Pixar’s latest collaboration, Up, has been bestowed the honour of opening this year’s Cannes film festival. It is the first animated feature ever selected to open the prestigious festival, and screening the 3D version will be another first (though one wonders how the plastic frames will compliment the celebrity couture!).

This historic recognition for animation should come as no surprise to our generation. Not only were we born and bred on cartoons – the Simpsons, Smurfs and Snorks* were mother’s milk to us – but we were also raised during the Disney Renaissance. 1989-99 was the golden decade that brought us such modern classics as The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin; decades after Dumbo and Bambi, Disney proved to be the promised land once again.

Then Pixar’s collaboration with Disney brought about a whole new world of animation. Toy Story was released in 1995, which paired the ridiculously talented Joss Whedon with those gob smacking computer animators of the dancing lamp. After the Oscar-winning performance of Wall-E this year, Pixar and Disney are no doubt seeking to stick to the heights of success with Up.

Here we have the story of a 78-year-old grouch of a man who drifts off to South America under a canopy of balloons before discovering a rather accidental Boy Scout stowaway…

Ahem…sorry, but is no-one else reminded of the unfortunate fate of a certain ballooning, Brazilian priest from last year? No doubt an unfortunate coincidence. Oops.

This trailer certainly sets the scene for more air-borne adventures. Monsters Inc. writer/director Pete Docter has teamed up with Finding Nemo and Ratatouille writer Bruce Peterson, so even if this latest Disney/Pixar creation doesn’t quite reach the Wall-E stratosphere, surely audiences will still be eager to get on Up. 

Australian Release Date: 4 June 2009

*I may well be alone on the Snorks, but did love that show, and couldn’t resist the sibilance.