The first order of business today is a call to arms. Today is June 1. That means the ranking list over at Top Web Comics has been reset. If we’re going to crack the Top 10, this is our best opportunity. So, please, for The Gipper… vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics right now.

For your trouble, you can see how Truman handles the Buzz and Woody uprising in his own inimitable style!

Today’s comic calls back to something very specific in Theater Hopper’s history. Back in 2005, Cami gave Tom an early Christmas present – Dewey, the havok-wrecking monkey. Truman and Dewey didn’t get along with each other, which is expected when a new pet is brought into the home. But things came to a head after Tom snuck Dewey into a screening of King Kong. It fill him will all sorts of terrible ideas. Of course, Truman came to the rescue the only way you can possibly hope to stop a rampaging monkey… buy flying a biplane, guns blazing.

I don’t know if you’ve seen Up yet, but if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve probably seeing Dug the talking Dog. Dug is a member of a larger pack of talking dogs and, well, long story short… at one point, three of them fly biplanes.

YOU TOTALLY STOLE MY IDEA, PIXAR!

Please note my tongue placed firmly in cheek because I TOTALLY stole the dog-flying-a-bi-plane gag from Charles Schultz, to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude.

But, yeah… I have to admit it was my own comic that came to mind when I watched that scene in the movie.

Describing the dogs in biplanes scene makes me realize how completely odd Up is. Maybe even a little to idiosyncratic for its own good. But I don’t care. I love, love, LOVED this movie. Despite its flourishes, Up is probably Pixar’s most emotionally relevant film to date.

I never thought Pixar would be capable of making me care about their characters as much as they were able to hook me with Wall-E and Eve. If they can make you care about robots in love, they can do anything.

As we know, Up is the story of Carl Fredrickson, a widower who ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies it to South America. But what we don’t know is where Carl got the idea.

In the film’s first act, we’re introduced to Carl’s childhood sweetheart, Ellie – a girl who, in all likelihood, for who the term “moxie” was invented. It is her childhood dream to build a house next to Paradise Falls. In a stirring, wordless montage, we see the couple grow old together, scrimping and saving to fund their bold adventure into the jungle. Before long, Ellie succumbs to old age, leaving Carl to fend for himself. Punctuated by Michael Giacchino’s brilliant score, both Cami and I were an emotional wreck after watching that scene. That’s when Up got its hooks into us – deep. After that, you’ll pretty much let a movie get away with anything – even a trio of talking talks flying biplanes.

I can’t stress the value of Giacchino’s score in this one, folks. Occasionally when Carl looks to the heavens and speaks to the ethereal Ellie, Giacchino’s score returns to the first act and drags up those memories of a life spent together. Carl’s pain becomes our pain as we remember alongside him. Absolutely fantastic work. That’s why I was disappointed to learn that Disney is not releasing the Up original soundtrack as a physical CD, but in digital download only.

I think what I appreciate most about Up, is that even though it is pulling your heartstrings, it never feels manipulative. It feels completely organic to the story. Carl’s quest to the Amazon is completely in service to his wife’s wishes. Love that conquers continents. The romantic in me can’t resist.

Additionally, Carl is joined by a young stowaway, Russell – a motormouth “Wilderness Explorer” seeking to collect his “Assisting the Elderly” badge so he can become a Senior Explorer. Rotund, yet hyperactive, Russell’s backstory as a child of divorce is only alluded to. But it is a powerful representation of what he hopes his obsessive collection of badges will achieve – his father’s attention and approval. Russell never says as much in such detail, but the animators make his despondency clear on his face. That’s note-perfect storytelling, folks. If nothing else, Pete Docter’s direction does a fantastic job of showing and not telling.

In addition to Up being Pixar’s more emotionally affecting film, I will also go out on a limb and say it is it’s funniest. Lots of rapid-fire jokes throughout, mainly courtesy of its animal cast introduced in the second act – Dug, the aforementioned talking dog and Kevin, an exotic 9 foot tall bird that joins them on their journey.

Things fall apart a little bit in the third act as Carl and Russell bump into the recluse adventurer Charles Muntz who has tucked himself away in the tabletop mountains seeking to capture one of Kevin’s species to bring back to the civilized world. At this point, the film becomes more of a farce than an adventure and if I were to lob any criticism toward the film, it would land here.

But as I said earlier, these details are almost incidental to the primary plot device of seeing Carl through on his epic quest. His is almost a Quixotic folly, but you believe in the love for his wife and cheer him on.

Of course, what Carl discovers after the task is complete and the lesson learned that adventure can be found in your own backyard, become profound for their simplicity. Carl traversed the globe keeping everything familiar to him within arms reach. But in order to achieve peace, Carl has to let go of everything that was keeping him locked inside a widower’s despondency. We witness his growth as a characters and as all his pain is lifted off his shoulders. It’s an amazing transformation.

I can’t recommend Up highly enough. It is far and away my favorite film of 2009.

What about you? Did you see Up this weekend? Did you succumb to it’s emotional right hook or did the film’s eccentricities get in the way? Leave your comments below!