The villain Charles Muntz is named after 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.
When Russell goes to rescue Kevin, he catches up with the airship, the Spirit of Adventure. The shot of Russell - from the inside cabin, is of some of the dogs playing cards (using Milk Bones as their chips), is a nod to the iconic, (in)famous tacky painting; Dogs Playing Poker.
As per Pixar tradition, John Ratzenberger once again provides a voice in the movie, making him the only actor to do a voice in every Pixar film.
Doug's 'point' pose, where his entire tail, back, and head is in a perfectly straight line, is an homage to the identical pose that Mickey's dog Pluto often makes. Doug also shares a similar color scheme to Pluto.
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". There are no people under those hats (DVD director's commentary).
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. This is the first time in a Disney full-length animated feature where divorce is even hinted as being a reason for a character having a single parent (Cody in The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Andy in Toy Story (1995) but we are never told if the moms are divorced or widowed).
When Carl and Ellie go picnicking, their destination is a spot under the same tree from A Bug's Life (1998).
Co-director/co-writer Bob Peterson stated that Dug's line "I have just met you, and I love you," was inspired by a quote from a small child that he met when he was a camp counselor in the 1980s.
Up's musical score has become the 9th musical score (and the 3rd from an animated film) to win the Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Award for "Best Original Score". The other previous winners are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Jaws (1975), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The English Patient (1996), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
All characters are based upon circles and rectangles, except for the villains who are triangles. Not only are Carl and Ellie based on squares and circles, but objects around them are based on their shapes, like their chairs and picture frames. When they both appear in a photograph, the frame is both circle and square.
Pixar is known (at least by devoted Pixar fans) for referring to a character in their next movie to come out 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.
Carl wears the same grape soda pin that was featured in the Buzz Lightyear commercial in Toy Story (1995).
The tepui (flat mountains) and waterfalls similar to Paradise Falls are actually found in Venezuela. The country's Angel Falls is the highest waterfall in the world.
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.
The second Pixar film to be given a PG rating, the first being The Incredibles (2004) and the third, the most recent, being Inside Out.
Carl Fredricksen's face and gruff personality are based on Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau.
Film 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 had showed up for the auditions, but Nagai stood out because he would not stop talking. 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."
When we first meet Carl as a child, the left side of his collar is sticking out of his vest while the right side of his collar is tucked into his vest. When we first meet Russell, the left side of his collar is tucked under his neckerchief and the right side is sticking out.
Russell is Pixar's first Japanese/Asian-American character voiced by an Asian-American actor, Jordan Nagai.
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 the room of a girl 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 is used by 2D animators to line up their drawings correctly. He also has badges for First Aid and Second Aid, which may be a reference to 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 Windows uses an hourglass icon). 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. [link=nm0423418, also spearheaded the original Macintosh project at Apple.
When Carl's house first takes off and when the camera zooms out from the parking lot at the end, Pixar's trademark Pizza Planet truck introduced in Toy Story (1995) can be seen.
If Carl's house was approximately 1600 square feet, and the average house weighs between 60-100 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.)
The iconic, slightly out-of-perspective drawing of the house sitting by the falls is an homage to the style of Mary Blair, the artist credited with bringing the modern art look to Disney animation.
The term 'A113' is the number of the courtroom, and can be found on the gold sign Carl sits next to while waiting to be called (Courtroom A113). A113 is a frequent Pixar in-joke based on one of the room numbers for the animation program at Cal Arts.
The house is based on the real life Edith Macefield house in the Seattle suburb 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.
When Carl is watching television, and is interrupted by Russell knocking at the door, he is watching a home shopping channel. This particular program has become a well-known blooper video of a pitchman making a gaff in which he describes a picture of a horse, except the picture he is describing is actually that of a moth.
One of the construction machines reads L 415-72, which is art director Lou Romano's birthday.
The rifle that Charles Muntz uses is an 1874 Sharps, a very popular model with buffalo hunters of the American Wild West, and the procedure he uses to load, aim, and fire the weapon is accurate. (His use of shot-shells in a long-range rifle, however, is questionable at best.)
The second animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. The first was Beauty and the Beast (1991). However, it is the first Disney/Pixar film to do so.
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, but never scripted, due to it being (in director Pete Docter's words) "too bizarre".
The ancient sword Muntz holds against Carl is a Claymore, just like the one William Wallace famously owned.
On the DVD cover and in commercials, the dogs appear to be flying Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk airship-launched fighters. US Navy airships such as the Macon and the Akron based at Moffet Naval Airstation between the first and second World Wars were actually designed to carry and launch these fighters.
Carl's summons notice has the number 94070 - the postcode of San Carlos, where producer Brad Lewis was once the mayor.
One of Carl's brochures for Paradise Falls has an image based on the Sunny Miami figurine from Knick Knack (1989).
The victory music that plays in UP when Dug outwits Alpha and puts the cone of shame on him sounds like the victory music in Finding Nemo when Nigel outwits the seagulls and makes them get their beaks stuck in the sail of a yacht.
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 passing as well as wanting to learn what they went through during their years working for Walt Disney and soon after.
The only Best Picture nominee to have just 2 letters in the title. However, the record for shortest Best Picture nominee title belongs to the film Z (1969), a 1969 nominee.
The first Pixar film since Finding Nemo (2003) not to be presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
Carl never speaks directly to Ellie throughout the movie. In the early scenes where they first meet, Ellie does all the talking.
On the official movie website, there is a video clip titled "Ditch 'Em". The same scene in the film has music playing, while the clip on the site has only voices and sound effects.
At the end of the film Carl and Russell are sitting on the curb counting red and blue cars. Dug calls one as "gray" which is correct since dogs cannot see color.
Rex from Toy Story (1995) makes a nod to this film in Toy Story 2 (1999). When the gang goes to Al's apartment to rescue Woody and try to find a way into Al's apartment, Rex mentions finding balloons to float to the top.
Gamma is voiced by Jerome Ranft, who is the brother of the Late Joe Ranft, who happened to voice a number of Pixar Characters prior to his death in 2005 during the production of Cars (2006).
In Brazil the voice of Carl Fredricksen is dubbed by Chico Anysio (April 12, 1931 - March 23, 2012), great Brazilian comedian.
The infomercial Carl watches on TV is a real infomercial. The ad was promoting a camera, but the advertiser accidentally mistook a picture of a butterfly as a picture of a horse.
This is the First Pixar Movie since Finding Nemo (2003) to release in May, as well as the first since The Incredibles (2004) to not be released in June.
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