(CNN) -- For a little while, it looks like "Up," Pixar's 10th feature-length film, is going to be a downer. In "Up," a curmudgeonly senior citizen, Carl, tries to cope with the enthusiasm of Russell, a young boy. Not that there's anything wrong with an animated film tugging at our tear ducts. But you can sense unease rippling through the younger halves of the family audience when, about five minutes into a spunky prologue, intrepid pre-pubescents Carl and Ellie abruptly morph into newlyweds, and then not-so-newlyweds. They gray and stoop before our eyes, youthful dreams of exploration traded in for the comforts of home and domestic bliss. Ellie wants a baby but can't have one. Their savings for the holiday of a lifetime are eaten up by this rainy day, that domestic disaster, until there's no more lifetime left -- not for Ellie, anyway.
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CNN.com's Tom Charity: "Up" is another winner from Pixar
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Film concerns the adventures of an old man and a young boy ... and a talking dog
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There are some unlikely moments, but warmth and richness always come through
@placeholder is all wide-eyed innocence and boundless enthusiasm, haplessly helpful.