"Up", de Pixar, apertura de Cannes (Variety)

PARIS -- Pixar's 3-D toon, "Up," co-helmed by "Monsters, Inc." director Pete Docter, will open the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.

"Cannes has demonstrated for many years its interest in animation by selecting films from DreamWorks, as well as films that use animation differently like 'Persepolis' and 'Waltz With Bashir,' " said Thierry Fremaux, Cannes Film Festival's delegate general.

"It's audacious to open the festival with an animated film, but we're conscious of our duty : it's by stretching its boundaries that cinema remains universal."

Co-helmed and produced by Bob Peterson, "Up," about a 78-year-old who teams with a wilderness ranger to fight beasts and villains, will be the first toon ever to unspool in 3-D at the opening ceremony.

Recent toon contenders for the Palme d'Or have included "Shrek," "Over the Hedge," "Kung-Fu Panda" and "Waltz With Bashir."

"Up" will bow in the U.S. on May 29.

This year's edition of the Cannes film fest runs May 13-24.