Is this the best Pixar movie?

Every summer I ask myself this question, and I'm growing tired of it.

Pixar knows how to make a good movie and their latest offering, Up, is funnier than Toy Story, as thrilling as the The Incredibles, and more heartbreaking than Finding Nemo.

I absolutely adored this movie, but while watching these charming characters trek through breathtaking South American vistas, I came to a somewhat sad realization... Much like Up's hero Carl, the Pixar formula for making a good movie is starting to grow old.

This is not to say that Up is a predictable, paint-by-number movie. The characters are far from formulaic: here we have a 78 year-old man as the action hero and a egg-shaped Asian-American boyscout as his sidekick. Pixar riffs on the tired old talking-animal cliche by including Dug, a hilariously realistic dog whose thoughts are translated to English through a nifty electro-collar. Did I mention the 10-foot bird? Mix a Toucan with an Ostrich and you'll have a pretty good idea of what Kevin looks like. Like all the other Pixar movies, the characters in Up are so fun and interesting that they could carry just about any story and they do so with ease.

The action set pieces are breathtaking, the gags are genuinely funny, and the tenderness is real.
Up is a culmination of all things good about Pixar movies executed with a honed precision developed over the last decade with their stable of critically acclaimed hits.

I believe that this is Pixar's best movie, and with that being said, I hope it's the last of it's kind.

How many more movies can Pixar make about a misunderstood, unappreciated hero? How many more dimwitted but endearing sidekicks can they dream up? Part of what made Pixar's first feature-length movie, Toy Story, so good was that it was totally different from what Disney was doing at the time. Sure the flashy computer animation sucked you in, but it was the characters, humor, and overall flavor that really set it apart. Now, I'm afraid that Pixar movies are becoming too much like, well...Pixar movies.

I'm hoping that in the future, Pixar trail-blazes into undiscovered territories, like the characters in Up.

Of course this will have to be after Toy Story 3 and Cars 2.

:(