In preparation for Disney – Pixar’s newest comedy adventure Up (coming out May 29 in digital 3D and it looks awesome of course), Allied Advertising is inviting local personalities (not entirely clear what this means) to take flight aboard Up character Carl Fredricksen’s armchair. Powered by gigantic, colorful, helium-filled balloons, participants will soar more than 40 feet into the air above Minneapolis.

Up tells the story about Carl Fredricksen, a 78-year-old curmudgeon who dreams of a great adventure—from the safety of his comfy armchair—that is until the balloon salesman ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies far, far away en route on an adventure to South America. I for one am looking forward to this latest effort by the Pixar crew (this time out it’s Monsters, Inc. director Pete Doctor’s chance to blow us away). How great is it that Pixar continues to push the creative boundaries of CG animation? And the films make money! Really, they are probably the best studio at the moment, hitting a home run with every film (though I did not like Cars myself as it felt like a bad rip off of a Pixar movie). And the fact that their new main character is an old man is pretty brave (can’t really sell toys of ol’ Carl can you?). This is a pretty cool sounding promotional event. Could be fun, but I’m skipping – fear of heights can be a real bitch. Dammit!

WHEN & WHERE: Monday, May 4th at the Metrodome (if you need directions or the address for the dome I’m not sure how you got to this blog in the first place, but here goes anyways: Look for the big, ugly white dome thingy in downtown Minneapolis – you know, that big stadium that looks like a toilet – at 34 Kirby Puckett Place Minneapolis, MN 55415)

If you’re interested in this opportunity do CONTACT: Maggie Henjum at Allied Advertising. Her number is 612.436.7414.

I’d love to see some comments here: your thoughts on Pixar movies? What’s our favorite of the bunch (mine is The Incredibles)? Can they continue their streak of success, or will Up be the first failure? Any other thoughts on animation and 3D could spark some great chatter here. So get typing!

Watch the trailer

Tags: Balloons, Inc., Minneapolis, Monsters, Pete Doctor, Pixar, Summer movies, Up

This post was written by Erik McClanahan, Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 4:52 pm and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.