Pixar fulfilled the final wish of 10-year-old cancer patient Colby Curtin before the film's release. An employee flew a finished copy of the film on DVD to the Curtin family's home; Colby passed away shortly after watching the film, at 9:20 PM.
The marriage sequence at the opening of the film made the production team cry while it was still at the storyboard stage.
Up became the first animated and first 3D film to open the Cannes Film Festival. After the screening, such a silence fell over the hall that Tilda Swinton stood up and led the audience in applause.
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.
Many endings were considered for Charles Muntz: reconciling with Carl, getting lost in a maze while chasing Kevin, dying by falling from the house's zeppelin, or getting tangled in balloons and rising into the air. However, the directors decided it was Carl's story and kept Muntz's ending simple.
The production's code name was "Helium."
In an early subplot, Carl hides one of Kevin's eggs that reverse aging; Muntz appeared younger because he used several eggs. This idea did not make it into the script because director Pete Docter found it "too strange."
Up is the second animated film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (the first: Beauty and the Beast, 1991) and the first Disney/Pixar production to achieve this.
The first animated film to win the Best Original Score Oscar since Pocahontas (1995).
The second Pixar film whose main character is an elderly person; the first was Geri's Game, which won the Best Animated Short Oscar in 1997.
Director Pete Docter looked to Disney's veteran animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Joe Grant for inspiration during pre-production; the film reflects the friendship he shared with them and the years they worked for Walt Disney.
In some theaters it was shown together with the short film Partly Cloudy (2009).
The only Pixar film by Pete Docter that uses the original Disney and Pixar production logos; it is also the only film with no character voiced by Frank Oz.
The second highest-grossing animated film of 2009 (after Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs).
The only Best Picture nominee whose title contains just two letters; the record for the shortest nominee title belongs to Z (1969).
The first Pixar film that failed to win Best Animated Film at the Saturn Awards; it lost the award to Monsters vs. Aliens (2009).
Up shares similarities with the film "Batteries Not Included": a property slated for demolition, elderly adults, and the property being squeezed between skyscrapers. That film was written by Pixar writer/director Brad Bird.
The second Pixar film rated PG by the MPAA (after The Incredibles).
It was initially going to be called "Up & Down," but the title was changed to avoid negative reactions.
As of April 2020, it is Pixar's shortest film title.
Up became the third Pixar film rated PG by the Australian Classification Board; The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007) are also on this list.
Up, the third Pixar film composed by Michael Giacchino, was also the first Pixar production not directed by Brad Bird.
It went down in history as the last original feature-length Pixar film of the 2000s.
Up was the last Pixar film not released in June; this changed six years later with The Good Dinosaur (2015).
Up, Pixar Animation Studios' 10th film, was Lou Romano's last work at the studio; the artist moved to Laika in 2009, then to Sony Animation.
Disney's fifth computer-animated film rated PG by the ACB: Dinosaur (2000), The Incredibles (2004), Chicken Little (2005) and Ratatouille (2007) lead this list.
Up, Pete Docter's only directorial experience focused on a human character, stands in contrast to Monsters, Inc. (monsters) and Inside Out (emotions).
On August 16, 2025, Up was the last film broadcast on HBO Family before midnight programming ended.
Disney's third computer-animated film released in May: Dinosaur (2000) and Finding Nemo (2003) are among the predecessors.
Up was Pixar's first film released in May since Finding Nemo (2003); it was also the first Pixar production not released in June after The Incredibles (2004).
Up, along with Ratatouille (2007), is one of two Pixar films whose main cast members are named outside the credits and which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Up, along with Mary Poppins (1964), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), A Bug's Life (1998) and Ratatouille (2007), is the sixth Disney film to win the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.