3 1/2 stars = Very good
Ratings explained

Generally, what you'd expect from the extras to "Up" is a clever Pixar short and an office-ful of geeky people talking about how they did the animation.

Yes, you get the Pixar short, and it's a funny, slapstick one, with Dug the dog trying to make friends with the pack and messing up at every turn.

But from the animators and producers you also get the equivalent of an IMAX adventure film, in which they travel to Venezuela to scale the spectacular tepuis where the second half of the movie is set. Carl and Russel get there via a floating house rigged with balloons. The "Up" creators take a helicopter to access one of the more remote places on the planet, where they discover "hostile" rock formations, magnificent waterfalls, valleys of crystals, and flowers that look like they were arranged by FTD.

At one point, a group gets stuck without shelter during a storm on the rugged Kukenan, but as co-director Bob Peterson notes, the crew felt the need to "earn the idea of using a tepui in our film."

Obviously, it's that kind of detail that sets Pixar movies apart, but "Up" also has the inspired characters and story line that go hand in hand. The first half tells the heartbreaking story of a grouchy old widower (voice of Ed Asner), yet another daring choice for a children's feature. Lightening the mood is the chubby Asian boy scout (Jordan Nagai) who becomes a stowaway on his South American odyssey to Paradise Falls.

Once there, "Up" shifts into an action-comedy with Carl confronting his menacing boyhood hero, a rare flightless bird and the pack of souped-up dogs. At that point, it's more targeted to the Pixar audience of young kids, who may have suffered a bit through the studio's darker 2008 film "WALL-E."

The balloon trip, though, does come full circle in a way that resolves the story beautifully. Up-lifting to be sure.

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