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Movie(s): Up
First Appearance: Up (2009)
Voiced by: Edward Asner
Cranky, grumpy, irascible, cantankerous. Carl Fredericksen is all of these things and more, but the genius of Up's lead (the first of two characters from their arguable masterpiece to make this list) is that we know right from the off why he ended up that way. And it's not just because he's old. Watching Carl slowly shake off the shackles off loss and hurt over the course of 90-odd gloriously rejuvenating moments is a rare joy, the sort of thing that Pixar seems to specialise in. Carl (impeccably voiced by Asner) remains one of the most well rounded and plain human characters in animation history.
Stroke of genius
Even though it's not as cathartic as the moment when Carl stumbles upon Ellie's scrapbook and decides to move on with his life, and instead merely illustrates why Carl becomes the man he is when we meet him, we have to go for the Married Life montage near the film's beginning. The most moving, boldly brilliant four-and-a-half minutes of moviemaking we've seen in a long time, it retains the power to provoke tears even now. Genius.
Fun fact
Carl's look is modelled on Spencer Tracy from Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, which was his last film.
10/10
