Carl Fredricksen, the 70-something protagonist of Pixar's "Up," is a squat, short-tempered geezer, a virtual knot of rage on legs.
With his neighborhood torn down to make way for a mall, Carl's is the one home left standing, defiantly, in the face of so-called progress. When the construction team accidentally backs a truck into his mailbox, you half expect Carl to go postal on them with a shotgun, a la Clint Eastwood in "Gran Torino". (Though the odds of a gun rampage in a Pixar film are about as far-fetched as a G-rated Maria Ozawa flick.)
Like with Clint's retired auto-worker, though, we feel sorry for Carl (voiced by professional grump Ed Asner) because he's all alone. His wife and soulmate, Ellie, has passed away, and Carl has no one, only the memories and a deep feeling of regret.