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This film starts with a young boy called Carl (Jeremy Leary) watching a film on his hero Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer). Muntz is an explorer and has discovered a 'land that time forgot' sitting on the plateau above Paradise Falls in South America. Muntz, along with his loyal and well trained dogs, brought back a skeleton of a large bird that scientists said was a fake. Outraged Muntz leaves for Paradise Falls vowing only to come back with a live bird to prove that he wasn't a fraud. Carl then leaves all happy and meets up with Ellie (Elie Docter) another fan of Muntz and they make a promise to fly to Paradise Falls together.  In the montage that follows we see them grow up and get married. Once it is determined that they can't have children they put all their effort and savings into reaching Paradise Falls and building their home beside the falls. Unfortunately life happens and they must dip into their saving time and time again as they grow old. Then Carl decides its time and he buys tickets to Venezuela, only Elie dies before they can go.

Carl has now become a cranky old man (Ed Asner) who's home is in the way of a new project development, but he refuses to leave. Instead of losing his house and being places in a retirement home he decides to fulfill his promise to Elli and he attaches hundreds of balloons to his house and flies it to South America to find Paradise Falls. Turns out he isn't alone. Russell (Jordan Nagai) a young Wilderness Explorer came along for the ride. Russell is in need on one more badge to graduate to Senior Explorer and that badge is 'assisting the elderly.'  He had been trying to catch the fake bird Carl told him that had been eating his vegetables and ended up getting stuck on the house as it took off.

Somehow they make it to the plateau but fall out before the get the house beside the falls. Carl ties himself and Russell to the house and they begin walking it over. On the way they come across a very large and colourful bird that Russell calls Kevin. Well, Kevin is being hunted by dogs with talking collars for their 'master' which everyone can guess is Muntz. They meet up with one of the dogs called Dug (Bob Peterson), who is not suited to the hunter role and he befriends the three of them. The other dogs eventually meet up with them and take them back to see Muntz (except for Kevin who is hiding on the house).

Carl is all excited to meet his hero but soon discovers that the man is a crackpot. He has become so focused on capturing the bird that he thinks all others who wander up here are trying to steal his bird from him and he kills them. Carl and Russell manage to get away with the help of Dug and Kevin, but when Carl chooses his house over Kevin and allows Muntz to capture the bird, Russell gets mad and goes to rescue Kevin himself. Eventually Carl realizes that Paradise Falls was just a dream and that real life is more important, or something like that, and he follows and together they defeat Muntz and rescue Kevin and then head home.

First of all I have to say that I absolutely hate 3D. I find it incredibly annoying and useless. The animation was spectacular, and I don't think anything was added by making it 3D.

The movie itself was funny and sweet and cute and filled with interesting characters. It was completely not what I expected from the trailers. Actually the trailers were so vague that it was impossible to guess what it was actually about, but this was not even what I would have thought up. I was describing it to a friend of mind after I watched and she said it sounded like a very weird movie. It was weird but at the same time excellent.  I knew it would be good because it's from Pixar, but I enjoyed this movie much more than I did Wall-E  and  Ratatouille.

There were a few things that I found really hard to believe, however. First of all I really don't think that dogs, no matter how well trained, could fly airplanes. It's just not possible. Also I don't think Muntz would still be alive or at least not able-bodied enough to move around. He was in his late twenties or early thirties (I think) when Carl was a child and now Carl is in his late eighties. That would mean that Munts is over a hundred a least. I know people life long active lives but a hundred and ten year old bird hunter? I think that's a little far fetched.

Besides that the movie was awesome.

Grade: 9/10