More importantly (and deeply), he possesses a whole life full of stories. And the way Docter uses them, as they spill out they resonate with different age groups simultaneously. When Carl connects with a young Wilderness Scout named Russell who stows away on his flying house, small kids who still see adults as aliens will howl with delight. Kids just about Russell's age will be curious, as Russell is, about Carl's many crotchets and tarnished pearls of wisdom. Adults will react with sympathy, even empathy.
Because Docter works at the one American studio that honors story and holds it Paramount, it captures the spirit of 1930s globe-trotting adventures - the ones Carl and his wife held dear - without getting either sloppy or silly. A mysterious feather creature in a South American lost world, a pack of unexpectedly articulate dogs and an obsessed explorer (one of Carl's early idols) come together in a narrative that operates less like a roller coaster than an old-fashioned merry-go-round, with panels that light up and illuminate the core. And because Pixar is also a director-driven studio, Docter didn't have to stand for any second-guessing based on executives' condescending notions of audience expectations or the slanted reactions of recruited focus groups.
