CANNES - Kitted out with goofy red-and-black glasses, hard-nosed Cannes film critics gave a warm welcome to Disney-Pixar's latest offering, feel-good 3D animation "Up", at a press screening ahead of the festival kick-off Wednesday.

Hundreds of international critics massed in one of the festival's giant red-velvet screening rooms gave a rare hearty round of applause to the opening movie, a rousing adventure quest in the wilds of South America.

The Riviera film festival will add a new chapter to its history -- giving a nod to what some hail as the future of cinema -- when the animated film screens before an audience of tuxedo-clad VIPs, forced into 3D glasses for the occasion.

"It's an unusual choice for Cannes, in that for once they set out to please -- unlike the sort of dour film they usually go for," Variety film critic Anne Thompson told AFP after the screening.

"If Cannes are making a statement, they are betting on the future of cinema -- which is digital and 3D. They are inviting Pixar into the pantheon of auteur cinema."

The tale of an old widower who ties balloons to his house and flies south to fulfil a childhood dream -- flanked by a pint-sized stowaway -- is both the first animated feature, and the first 3D movie to open the 12-day showcase.

Festival's president Thierry Fremaux explained his choice for the prized opening slot, saying he was convinced 3D was "one of cinema's upcoming adventures."

Hollywood is betting big on the new format, and Pixar's 150-million-dollar adventure is just the tip of the 3D iceberg as far as Disney is concerned, with a dozen big-budget 3D movies and six more with live-action 3D in the works.