FILM · 2009 · USA
Up
- Directed by
- Pete Docter
- Runtime
- 96 min
- Studio
- Pixar
150 archived facts 8 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life.
150 Interesting Facts About Up
Interesting Facts (22)
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If Carl's house was approximately 1600 square feet, and the average house weighs between 60 and 100 pounds per square foot, it weighs 120,000 pounds. If the average helium balloon can carry.009 pounds (or 4.63 grams), it would take 12,658,392 balloons to lift his house off the ground. (20,622 balloons appear on the house when it first lifts off, only enough to lift 185.6 pounds.)
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About halfway through the film, Carl and Russell are trying to put up a tent. Carl is surprised that Russell, with all his badges, never put up a tent before. When he asks Russell why he didn't ask his dad for help, Russell reveals (albeit indirectly) that his parents are divorced (during the conversation where Russell says, "Phyllis isn't my mom"). This is the first time in a Disney full-length animated feature where divorce is hinted at as a reason for a character having a single parent (most of Disney's single parents are assumed to be widowed).
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According to Pete Docter, Carl Fredricksen and Charles Muntz were designed to be mirrors of each other, right down to their names (Carl is a Germanic form of Charles). Both men have suffered a tremendous personal loss (for Carl, his wife Ellie, and Muntz, his good name and reputation), and both are obsessed with an object from their past (the house for Carl and Kevin for Muntz). The difference between the two men is that over the years, Muntz's obsession has made him bitter, paranoid to an extreme, and willing to resort to violence to get what he wants. In other words, Muntz represents what Carl would likely become had he not met Russell and Dug and learned to let go of his past.
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Before the film's worldwide premiere, Pixar granted 10-year-old Colby Curtin's wish to see the film before she died. Colby had been diagnosed with cancer and was too ill to go to a theater. A Pixar employee flew to the Curtins' home with a DVD of the finished film and screened it for her and her family. Curtin died shortly after watching the film, at 9:20 p.m. seven hours later.
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It was the first animated film to open the Cannes Film Festival and also the first 3D film to do so. When the film ended, the festival audience was completely silent. During a panel at the 2011 D23 Expo, executive producer John Lasseter said that the person who broke the silence by standing and applauding was actress Tilda Swinton.
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While playing in the abandoned house, Ellie travels to Paradise Falls; through her soda-bottle binoculars she spots a puppy, and then says they are passing through a storm full of lightning and hail. Carl pilots using the same window of the same house that opens onto Paradise Falls; along the way they pass through a storm, and the first living thing they encounter is a puppy.
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Russell's Wilderness Explorer sash has many jokes and tributes. The most obvious is the Luxo Jr. (1986) ball, which can also be seen on the floor of a girl's room as Carl's house passes by. One of the badges shows a hamburger with a candle in it. This is a nod to Merritt Bakery in Oakland, a favorite haunt of director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera, which makes cakes in that shape. Another badge is a tribute to 2D animation and shows a sheet of hole-punched paper of the kind 2D animators used to align their drawings correctly. There are also First Aid and Second Aid badges, which may be a reference to a short story on the Up website in which Russell struggles to put a bandage on Carl. Another badge depicts the multicolored pinwheel that is the "hang" icon of Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Many of the badges are shown in the credits. In an additional tribute to Apple and Steve Jobs (Pixar's former CEO), Russell is seen trying to teach Carl how to use a computer. The typeface used for the numbers on Carl's alarm clock is "Chicago", one of the first typefaces designed for the Macintosh.
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When young Charles Muntz tells a large audience that he will return with the monster, everyone is wearing a hat. What the viewer cannot see, however, is that he is addressing a real "Sea of Hats" with no characters underneath them. This is a common method computer animators use to depict large crowds.
Production Story (18)
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Carl and Russell travel to Paradise Falls far from society where extinct creatures live - at a cliff much like that of a similar story in 'The Lost World' (1925). It is also based on Angel Falls in Venezuela. They based the landscape on the mountain Roraima, which is situated on the border between Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana. The mountain has a flat tabletop structure with very steep walls (they are called tepuis) which makes for a very otherworldly landscape. The Lost World was also based on the landscape around and on the tepuis.
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This film marks the debut of Jordan Nagai, who voices Russell. Originally, his older brother Hunter was auditioning for the part, and Nagai simply came along with him. About 400 children showed up for the auditions, but Nagai stood out because he would not stop talking, and they realized he had the same personality and mannerisms as they envisioned for Russell. Director Pete Docter later said that "as soon as Jordan's voice came on we started smiling because he is appealing and innocent and cute and different from what I was initially thinking."
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During pre-production of the film, director Pete Docter looked up to Disney veteran animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Joe Grant for inspiration. Docter stated that the film reflects the friendship he shared with these three talented animators before their deaths, as well as his desire to learn what they went through during their years working for Walt Disney.
- #031
On May 26, 2009, Disney attached balloons to the roof of Edith Macefield's house in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, Washington. Edith fought building developers, and her little house still stands in the center of a large development known as the Ballard Blocks. However, development on this film began a full two years prior to the incidents in Washington, so any similarities are purely coincidental.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Many possible endings were proposed for Charles Muntz. At first, the animators considered redeeming him by having him iron out his differences with Carl after their fight on the zeppelin. However, this ending was deemed too dull, as it would amount to both men simply standing and talking for a long time. In another scenario, Muntz's obsession with catching Kevin took him inside the dreaded labyrinth against his recommendation, where he would eventually get lost and die. As the animators wanted to keep the climax in the air, they considered having Muntz lured into Carl's house by Kevin and then dying as the house fell off the zeppelin with him still inside. However, they did not want to associate the house, which symbolized Ellie, with a violent death. Another potential ending had Muntz getting tangled in some balloons and being lifted away rather than falling. However, animators felt this was too ambiguous and did not give proper closure to the character. Ultimately, the directors decided that this was Carl's story, so Muntz's ending would be kept simple.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
A subplot involving Carl keeping one of Kevin's eggs (which could reverse the aging process) from Charles Muntz was conceived in the early stages of production. Muntz would have already used a few of these eggs, explaining why he looks almost younger than Carl despite being several decades older. It would have also been emphasized that Muntz's obsession with Kevin comes mainly from wanting to obtain another egg. None of this was ever scripted due to it being (in director Pete Docter's words) "too bizarre".
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Pete Docter based Up's flying-house fantasy on the idea of escaping from life when it becomes too irritating, an idea that grew out of his own difficulty with social situations while growing up.
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Joe Grant approved the script of Up and offered advice before his death in 2005, reminding Pete Docter that the audience needed an "emotional bedrock" given how wacky the adventure would become.
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Pete Docter and Bob Peterson concluded that a child character would be the most effective way to help Carl stop being stuck in his ways in Up.
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Up director Pete Docter chose Venezuela as the film's setting after Ralph Eggleston showed him video of the tepui mountains in Canaima National Park.
Behind the Scenes (14)
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When a younger Charles Muntz speaks to a large audience that he will return with the beast alive, everyone is wearing a hat. What the viewer can't see, however, is that he is speaking to a literal "Sea of Hats" with no characters beneath them. This is a common method computer animators use to depict large crowds.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Carl and Russell's hometown at the end is Oakland, California. Oakland landmarks shown include the Fox Oakland Theatre (showing Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)) and the iconic Fenton's Creamery. Fenton's is close to Pixar's headquarters in Emeryville, CA and frequented by its employees. Fenton's did not have to pay to have it in there; Disney and Pixar put it in the film for free.
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In 2004, Pete Docter and eleven other Pixar artists traveled by airplane, jeep and helicopter to reach Monte Roraima, where they spent three days and three nights painting, sketching and encountering wildlife including ants, mosquitoes, scorpions, frogs and snakes.
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Pete Docter said the real rocks and plants the team saw could not be used in Up because reality was so strange that audiences would not believe it.
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The human designs in Up drew on cartoonists Al Hirschfeld, Hank Ketcham and George Booth, and simulating realistic cloth on the caricatured characters proved harder than creating the 10,000 balloons that lift the house, prompting new programs for the cloth and for Kevin's iridescent feathers.
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To animate elderly characters in Up, Pixar animators studied their own parents or grandparents and watched footage of the Senior Olympics; the directors limited Carl's movements, barring him from turning his head more than 15–20 degrees without turning his torso or raising his arms high, though they wanted him to become more flexible and "action hero"-like near the film's end.
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"Ellie's Theme" in Up is introduced when Ellie appears as a little kid and recurs in different versions, including a full orchestral arrangement during the sequence where Carl lifts his house with balloons; Michael Giacchino compared the film to opera because each character has a unique theme that changes at particular story moments.
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Characters & Cast (45)
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Russell's appearance was based on Korean-American Pixar employee Peter Sohn, who was a storyboard artist on the film. The employees at Pixar draw each other during meetings for fun, and a cartoon of Sohn was used as the model for Russell. Sohn also voiced Russell in the video short George and A.J. (2009).
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Contains a major spoiler — show
When Beta and Gamma start laughing at Alpha's squeaky voice, he suggests that they may be attempting to challenge his rank. Beta denies this but jokingly suggests that Dug would. Dug becomes the new Alpha at the end of the film after trapping Alpha using the Cone of Shame.
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Pete Docter chose an elderly man as Up's protagonist after drawing a grumpy old man with smiling balloons, and he and Tom McCarthy felt that the worldview of someone Carl's age would be a rich source of humor; Docter was not worried about an elderly lead in a children's film, saying children would relate to Carl as they do to their grandparents.
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Pete Docter felt Joe Grant's personality shaped Carl's deceased wife Ellie more than it shaped the grouchy main character, and the "emotional bedrock" Grant called for became Carl's mourning for his wife.
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Carl was based primarily on Spencer Tracy, Walter Matthau and James Whitmore, along with the grandparents of Pete Docter and his team, because Docter saw "something sweet about [those] grumpy old guys".
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Up was the first film for Jordan Nagai, who voiced Russell. His older brother Hunter originally auditioned for the role, and Nagai came along with him. About 400 children auditioned, but Nagai stood out because he wouldn't stop talking, and they realized he had the same personality and mannerisms they had in mind for Russell. Director Pete Docter later said, "As soon as Jordan's voice came in, we started smiling, because he's appealing, innocent, lovable and different from what I'd initially imagined."
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All the dogs except Dug are named after letters of the Greek alphabet. When Dug puts Alpha in the Cone of Shame, the other dogs begin calling him Alpha. Dug and Alpha are voiced by the same actor. Alpha, Beta and Gamma are a reference to the working classes in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World.
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On May 26, 2009, Disney tied balloons to the roof of Edith Macefield's house in Seattle. Edith had resisted construction developers, and her house still stands in the middle of Ballard Blocks. However, the film's development began two years before these events; the similarities are entirely coincidental.
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This is the first film of Jordan Nagai, who voices Russell. Nagai had come along when his older brother Hunter attended the auditions. Out of roughly 400 children, Nagai stood out because he never stopped talking, and the production team realized he had the personality they had envisioned for Russell.
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According to Pete Docter, Carl Fredricksen and Charles Muntz were designed as mirror images of each other, right down to their names (Carl is the Germanic form of Charles). Both have suffered a great personal loss (Ellie for Carl, his reputation for Muntz) and are obsessed with an object from their past (the house for Carl, Kevin for Muntz). The difference is that Muntz's obsession has made him bitter, paranoid and prone to violence; Muntz represents the person Carl would have become if he had not met Russell and Dug and learned to let go of the past.
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While playing in the abandoned house, Ellie goes to Paradise Falls; through her soda-bottle binoculars she sees a puppy, and then says they are about to enter a storm with lightning and hail. Carl flies the same house to Paradise Falls using the same window; along the way they pass through a storm, and the first living creature they encounter is a puppy.
- #082
A subplot involving Carl hiding one of Charles Muntz's eggs that could reverse Kevin's aging process was considered in the early stages of production. Muntz would have used several of these eggs, explaining why he looks almost younger despite being decades older than Carl. It would also have been emphasized that Muntz's obsession with Kevin stemmed mainly from obtaining another egg. None of this was written into the script because, in director Pete Docter's words, it was 'too weird'.
- #083
When young Charles Muntz says he will bring the monster back alive to a large crowd, everyone is wearing a hat. But what the audience cannot see is that he is actually addressing a 'Sea of Hats' with no characters beneath them. This is a common method computer animators use to animate large crowds.
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Carl and Russell's journey ends in Oakland, California. Among the city's landmarks are the Fox Oakland Theater (showing Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope) and the iconic Fenton's Creamery. Fenton's is a frequent spot for employees because it is close to Pixar's headquarters in Emeryville; Disney and Pixar included the establishment in the film for free.
- #086
Russell's appearance is based on Peter Sohn, a Korean-origin Pixar employee who was a storyboard artist on the film. Employees at Pixar who draw caricatures of each other for fun used a caricature of Sohn as the model for Russell. Sohn also voiced Russell in the short film George and A.J. (2009).
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Director Pete Docter looked to Disney senior animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Joe Grant for inspiration during pre-production. The film reflects the friendship Docter shared with these three talented animators before their deaths and his desire to learn about the years they worked for Walt Disney.
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On the DVD cover and in advertisements, the dogs appear to be flying Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk fighter planes. Built in the early 1930s, the US Navy airships Akron (ZRS-4) and Macon (ZRS-5) were actually designed to carry and launch these fighter planes; an elaborate 'trapez' system was used to launch and recover the aircraft in mid-air. Although the system worked well, both airships were lost at sea in severe storms: Akron off the coast of New Jersey in 1933, and Macon two years later off Big Sur, California. The Navy later abandoned the technology, so it was never used in actual combat operations.
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Easter Eggs & References (31)
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Several interesting parallels exist between the villain Charles Muntz and Charles A. Lindbergh include: Both are named Charles, both were lauded adventurers who became persona non grata, disappearing from public sight after being publicly ridiculed, and both were aviators who captained airships named "The Spirit of _________."
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Pixar is known, at least among devoted Pixar fans, for referring to a character from their next movie in their most recent one. A stuffed Lotso bear from Toy Story 3 (2010) appears, along with the ball from Luxo Jr. (1986) and the plane from Toy Story (1995), in the room of a little girl Carl passes when his house first takes off.
- #103
On the DVD cover and in commercials, the dogs appear to be flying Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk fighter planes. The U.S. Navy airships Akron (ZRS-4) and Macon (ZRS-5), built and flown in the early 1930s, were actually designed to carry and launch these fighters, using an elaborate "trapeze" to launch and retrieve the planes in mid-flight. Although the system worked well, both airships were lost at sea in severe storms; the Akron in 1933 off the New Jersey coast, and the Macon two years later off Big Sur, California. The Navy then abandoned the technology, so it was never used in actual combat operations.
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The Shady Oaks Retirement Village, seen in the leaflet, is likely to be an in-joke reference to the Touchstone Television series The Golden Girls (1985), another Walt Disney Company title dealing with older people. Dorothy and her mother, Sophia, always discussed the dubious retirement home called Shady Pines.
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When Ellie plays in the abandoned house, she goes to Paradise Falls; she sees a puppy through her soda binoculars and then says they're going through a storm with lightning and hail. Carl pilots the same house using the same window to Paradise Falls; along the way, they fly through a storm, and the first living thing they encounter is a puppy.
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The villain Charles Muntz has a similar name to Charles Mintz, the Universal Pictures executive who in 1928 stole Walt Disney's production rights to his highly successful "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" cartoon series. This led Walt Disney to create Mickey Mouse, who soon eclipsed Oswald in popularity.
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Russell's Wilderness Explorer sash has several in-jokes and tributes. The most obvious is a Luxo Jr. (1986) ball, which can also be seen on the floor of a girl's room watching Carl's house float by. One badge has a hamburger with a candle in it. This is a nod to Merritt Bakery in Oakland - which creates cakes in that shape - a favorite hangout of director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera. Another badge is a tribute to 2-D animation, showing a perforated paper that 2D animators use to line up their drawings correctly. He also has badges for First Aid and Second Aid, which may reference a short on the Up website where Russell struggles to apply bandages to Carl. Yet another badge depicts a multicolored pinwheel - the "hang" icon of Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Several of the badges are shown in the credits. An additional tribute to Apple and Steve Jobs (former CEO of Pixar) shows Russell trying to teach Carl how to use a computer. The font used for the numbers on Carl's alarm clock is the "Chicago" font, one of the first fonts designed for the Macintosh.
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Contains a major spoiler — show
Up has some story similarities to the film *Batteries Not Included, including property due for demolition, older adults, and the property eventually being sandwiched between skyscrapers. *Batteries Not Included was co-written by Brad Bird, one of Pixar's most successful writers/directors.
- #126
Contains a major spoiler — show
If you pay attention during the opening, there are crafting supplies, including tape and various crayons, on Ellie's bedside table while she is in the hospital. This alludes to her having worked on their adventure book. There's also Carl catching his balloon cart as it almost floats away.
- #127
Contains a major spoiler — show
All of the dogs except for Dug are named after letters of the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc.), although this could relate to rankings in a dog pack, where the lead male is known as the Alpha, then Beta, and so on. This is supported by the fact that when Dug puts Alpha in the Cone of Shame, all the other dogs begin referring to Dug as Alpha. The voices of both Dug and Alpha are performed by the same actor, Bob Peterson. The three main dog characters, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, named from the Ancient Greek alphabet, also reference three classes of workers in Aldous Huxley's novel 'Brave New World' It is also worth noting that Muntz' "chef" is a dog named Epsilon, another class of worker from 'Brave New World,' and that the third dog piloting the small planes alongside Beta and Gamma is named Omega (whose name is never used anywhere in the film itself, being only used in the Credits, voiced by Josh Cooley).
- #128
Contains a major spoiler — show
When the dogs start attacking Russell with airplanes at the end, this aerial fight literally becomes a 'dogfight'. Also, the dogs refer to each other with "Grey Leader", "Grey One", "Grey Two", etc. This is a nod to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), where pilots referred to each other with Red Leader, Red One, etc., and it also jokingly refers to the myth that dogs cannot see colors, only black, white and shades of gray. Also, when Russell distracts the dogs and their planes start to scramble, their formation breaks just like Darth Vader's squadron when they were attacked by Han Solo in the Death Star. Lastly, when the dogs start shooting, their guns sound like the blasts from an X-Wing fighter.
- #129
Contains a major spoiler — show
Inside the newly-updated photo album, one of the pictures of the couple is of them in a car, looking over their shoulders (Carl in the driver's seat). The pose they are in, as well as the car is a recreation of a famous ghost photo. In the picture, the man was posing for his brand new car, and in the passenger seat was the ghostly image of his mother.
- #130
Pixar is known (at least among devoted Pixar fans) for having a character in one film reference a character who will appear in its next film. A stuffed Lotso bear (from Toy Story 3 (2010)) appears in the bedroom of a little girl Carl passes when his house first lifts off (along with the ball from Luxo Jr. (1986) and the plane from Toy Story (1995)).
Deeper Meaning (18)
- #131
All characters are based on circles and rectangles, except for the villains, who are based on triangles. Not only are Carl and Ellie based on squares and circles, but objects around them are also based on their shapes, such as their chairs and picture frames. When they both appear in a photograph, the frame is a circle and a square.
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All the characters are based on circles and rectangles, while the villains are made of triangles. Carl and Ellie are not only composed of squares and circles; the objects around them (chairs, picture frames) are also designed to match these shapes. In a photo of them together, the frame consists of a circle and a square.
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In the newly updated photo album, a picture of the couple shows them looking back over their shoulders in a car (Carl in the driver's seat). Their pose and the car are a re-creation of a famous ghost photograph. In the photo, the man was posing with his new car, and the ghostly image of his mother was in the passenger seat.
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Career & Awards (1)
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The very first animated film, as well as the first 3-D film, ever to open the Cannes Film Festival. When the film was over, the festival audience remained completely silent. During a panel at the 2011 D23 Expo, executive producer John Lasseter said that it was actress Tilda Swinton who broke the silence by applauding and leading the audience in a standing ovation.
Life & Family (1)
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Before the film's worldwide release, Pixar granted a wish from 10-year-old Colby Curtin to see the movie before she died. Colby had been diagnosed with cancer and was too sick to go to a theater. A Pixar employee flew to the Curtins' house with a DVD of the finished film and screened it for her and her family. Curtin died seven hours later at 9:20 pm, shortly after seeing the movie.
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