This is a nice movie for young and old. Young Carl meets Ellie and both kids have an adventurous spirit. Young Ellie talks a lot more than Carl and mentions this to him. “You don’t talk much,” she says. Then she adds, “I like you!” The years pass and their friendship blossoms and leads to marriage. Although the couple has dreams of traveling to South America and going on adventures, their adventures instead wind up being the quality time they spend together over the years. When Carl one day finds himself old and alone, suddenly young Russell pops up in his life and, like Carl, he is lonely and needs a friend.

Soon Carl attaches a whole lot of balloons to his house as he prefers to fly away then to go to a nursing home. Young Russell tags along unexpectedly and they take on more adventures than you could shake a stick at. The animation is fantastic in this film and the movie features themes of loyal friendship and trying something new just to keep life fresh and interesting. There are many moments in which both young and old will see themselves in various characters. It should be noted that there is some mild violence in the movie and at one point the bad guy shoots a rifle toward the house with kids standing out on the porch. The old man also bops a man in the head with his cane which draws blood. But the film mainly focuses on helping others out and it illustrates the theme nicely. We are awarding our Dove Seal to this movie for ages twelve plus, but parents should consult the content listing below. Some will feel comfortable with their kids under twelve seeing the film. The film also deals with death but in a classy way.

This movie has great characters and a good story. You can only go “up” by seeing it with your family.