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Disney●Pixar’s UP has been selected as the opening night premiere of this year’s Cannes Film Festival

Edited by John Delia

This is a very prestigious honor and the first time ever that an animated film has opened Cannes. It’s also the first 3D film to ever open the Festival and Disney’s first opening night film ever. Opening night of the Cannes Film Festival is Wednesday, May 13th.

UP, is an adventure comedy about Carl Fredricksen who spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. UP takes audiences on a journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures.

UP is directed by Pete Docter, director of Monsters, INC. who also developed the story and characters for Toy Story, Pixar’s first full length animated feature film, for which he also served as supervising animator. He served as a storyboard artist on A Bug’s Life, and wrote the initial story treatment for Toy Story 2. The film is co-directed by Bob Peterson, also a screenwriter and author of Finding Nemo

Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, said, It’s a great honor for The Walt Disney Studios, and our incredibly talented cast members at Pixar Animation Studios, to have UP selected as the first animated feature to ever open the Cannes Film Festival. Adding to this historic milestone, ‘UP’ is also the first digital 3D film, and the first Disney film selected for the coveted opening night slot at Cannes. We are so proud of this terrific movie, and can’t wait to share it with the filmmaking community and festivalgoers on Wednesday, May 13, and the rest of the world starting on May 29th.

We are absolutely thrilled that the Cannes Film Festival has chosen UP to be its prestigious opening night offering. This is a huge step for animation, and further supports our belief that a great-animated film is simply a great film. Pete Docter, the director of 'UP,' and the amazing team of artists, animators, technicians, and storytellers at Pixar have worked so hard to create a great motion picture that is impressively fresh, funny, and powerfully emotional,” said John Lasseter. Lasseter is Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and Oscar-winning director or producer of Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters, INC., The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Cars, Ratatouille and Wall-E.

UP is the 10th film from Disney/Pixar, which has gone nine for nine with an unprecedented streak of hugely successful films comprising Wall-E, Ratatouille, Cars, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life. Pixar now has nine of the 25 top grossing animated films of all time domestically, and all nine have been No. 1 at the box office on their opening weekends of wide release.