Favorite Animated Films, NO. 47


Animated Films have come a long way over the years. It's a genre and format that presents a wide range of styles and stories. This year, I'll be taking a look at my 50 favorite Animated Films, offering a new one from No. 50 to No. 1 each Saturday in 2024. Join along and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments!

Young Ellie: [written note to Carl] Thank you for the adventure. Now find another adventure.

Up (2009)
Starring: Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, and Bob Peterson
Director: Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson
About: Pixar films are always something of a fun adventure. I remember when I saw Up the first time. I was torn, as there is a piece of it that I think is a masterpiece in storytelling. But the film as a whole remains somewhat uneven for me. The story of Carl and Ellie is a treasure. That opening sequence, were it an animated short, might be the greatest animated short of all time. But the rest of the movie that follows doesn't match the emotions and intensity of that opening sequence for me. If it continued as a short and was about Carl finding a way to get his house to the rain forest to achieve the dreams he had with Ellie, I might still be weeping. But we get a wider story here that is just OK. Still, that opening alone is worthy of me including the film on this list.

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