By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn’t alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.

Pixar takes to the skies again, this time with buddy-story specialists Pete Docter and Bob Peterson bringing the charm to us in 3D (in “select” theaters, anyway). These days, I support anything that strips away my senses of irony and sarcasm, and Up’s teaser trailer (located above) is wonderfully restorative. At Comic-Con last year, Docter described how the movie was influenced by an unreachable range of Venezuelan mountains, and a septuagenarian ’s wish to fulfill the dreams he made with his now-departed wife when he was a younger man. I got misty. Plus, Docter went on to say that his movie will have some easter eggs for upcoming Pixar projects. More news as Pixar/Disney leaks it.

Rated PG for some peril and action.

Director: Pete Docter Bob Peterson
Stars: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: 29 May 2009 (USA)
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family

Mala (Evan Rachel Wood) is a precocious girl living on the beautiful planet Terra, a place where peace and tolerance are celebrated. Unbeknownst to Mala and her fellow Terrians, the last inhabitants of Earth have exhausted the resources of their planet and those of three others, and are now searching for a new home. This Earthforce has discovered that the use of a Terraformer will make Terra habitable for humans but poisonous for Terrians. When the Earthlings embark on a hostile invasion of Terra, Mala’s father, Roven (Dennis Quaid), is kidnapped. Hoping to save her father, Mala captures and hides a crashed human pilot named Jim (Luke Wilson). While Mala nurses Jim back to health, the two forge a friendship and a plan that could save both the human race and the planet of Terra. Soon, however, they realize that peace will not be secured unless they can combat both the Terraformer and dark political forces that will stop at nothing in their drive to achieve power for power’s sake.

While Terra’s message that peace is a question of free will and choice is a potent one, the exuberance of Mala and her young friends carries the film. Director Aristomenis Tsirbas paints a landscape of pastoral pleasure, and our admiration for Terra’s idyllic vistas is only heightened when they are invaded.

This debut animated feature from Canadian production company Snoot Entertainment might turn a few heads amongst the executive ranks at Pixar and DreamWorks. Since its debut at the Toronto Film Festival in 2007, Terra (the movie’s original title) has earned awards and positive reviews alike, with many people responded to the project’s obvious environmental themes, as well as the creation of a utopian world where freethinkers (cue the voices of Evan Rachel Wood and Justin Long) are outcasts. And then humans come along to make matters worse. I’m in. Here’s a blog with a trailer and other behind-the-scenes bits.

Rated PG for sequences of sci-fi action violence and some thematic elements.

Director: Aristomenis Tsirbas
Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Luke Wilson, Justin Long
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: 1 May 2009 (USA)
Genre: Animation, Adventure

A young girl (Fanning) walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. But when her adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents (including Other Mother [Hatcher]) try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home – and save her family.

Director Selick (the unsung hero behind Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas) finally gets his chance to shine, or at least step out of Burton’s shadow and with the perfect material for him. By perfect, we mean super creepy. And by unsung, we mean he directed Nightmare not Burton (look it up). If you’re a Burton fan or thought the underwater claymation scenes from The Life Aquatic were the best part of that movie, then Selick’s solo work is for you. If you’re a fan of 3-D stop-motion animation, then the LA Times’ behind-the-scenes photo gallery is just for you.

Rated PG for thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor.

Director: Henry Selick
Stars: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman
Studio: Focus Features
Release Date: 6 February 2009 (USA)

One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images.

Uh-oh, the Academy has another Persepolis situation on their hands… Turns out Ari Folman’s surrealist animated war drama never had its mandatory one-week run in New York City this year (something that had to be in place by the end of last August), so it’s no kudos for Bashir, easily one of the best-received documentaries on the international film-festival circuit. Personally, while I think the rule is so old fashioned, I find it odd that the doc’s NYC-based distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, missed the bus here. The Joe Sacco set is up in arms!!

Rated R for some disturbing images of atrocities, strong violence, brief nudity and a scene of graphic sexual content.

Director: Ari Folman
Stars: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Dror Harazi, Yehezkel Lazarov
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Banished from his home for being more man than mouse, Despereaux (Broderick) is befriended by Princess Pea (Watson) who teaches him the value of reading books (instead of eating them) as well as a fellow outcast, Roscuro the Rat (Hoffman), who is interested in hearing the stories Despereaux has learned. When Roscuro is shunned by the princess, however, he plots her kidnapping, putting Desperaux’s human-sized bravery to the test.

Triplets of Belleville director Sylvain Chomet first began work on Despereaux, though he eventually left the project to continue development on a Jacques Tati-scripted project that may or may not be his next film. Chomet was temporarily replaced by Corpse Bride co-director Mike Johnson, though the giant mouse ears wound up being handled by veteran animator Robert Stevenhagen and Flushed Away’s Sam Fell. This is definitely the second most-interesting animated project of the year (nothing is beating WALL·E) and it’s cool to see Chomet’s influence lingering in the trailer. Given the derth of family films this holiday season, Despereaux is the champion by default — even if the marketing and promotion for this one seemed to peter out early.