Movie Trivia

The first Pixar film since Finding Nemo (2003) not to be presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

The first Michael Giacchino-scored Pixar film not directed by Brad Bird.

Very first animated film, as well as the first 3D film, ever to open the Cannes Film Festival.

The first Pixar film to be given a PG rating since The Incredibles (2004).

Russell is Pixar's first Japanese/Asian-American character voiced by an Asian-American actor, Jordan Nagai.

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.

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.

The legendary singer Charles Aznavour performs the voice of Carl in the French version.

Dug'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. Coincidently, Dug shares Pluto's color scheme as well.

Preceded by the short Partly Cloudy (2009) in some theaters.

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.)

Pixar is known for sticking a few objects from previous films into their new features. In this case, you can spot the "Luxo ball" (yellow and blue with a red star) in a little girl's room while the house can be seen rising through the window in the background. This ball has appeared in many other Pixar films. Also, the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story (1995) is visible on the streets bellow the rising house towards the beginning of the movie, as well as in a parking lot in a scene towards the end.

The Fenton's Ice Creamery featured in the movie actually exists and has two locations. One is in Oakland, CA on Piedmont Avenue and the other is in Vacaville, CA, and that is on East Monte Vista Avenue. Both locations are close to Pixar's headquarters in Emeryville, CA. There is also an express version of the creamery in Oakland International Airport to eat while you wait to catch a plane or if you just flew in. Fenton's did not have to pay to have it in there; Disney and Pixar put it in the film for free.

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.

It is possible that Carl and Russell's hometown or destination at the end is implied to be Oakland, as near the end of the film they visit Fenton's Creamery, a Oakland landmark. In the end credits, a Polaroid photo shows Carl and Russell leaving a showing of Star Wars (1977) at the Fox Oakland Theatre, another Oakland landmark.

All of the dogs except for Dug are named after letters of the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc.).

Pixar's shortest movie title to date.

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.

When Russell flies past the airship using his balloons and the leaf blower, we briefly see several of Charles Muntz's dogs playing poker at a card table. This is a tribute to the famous "Dogs Playing Poker" series of paintings by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.

Carl Fredricksen's face and gruff personality are based on Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau.

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 Carl wakes up and hits the alarm button in the beginning, he has several pill bottles on his bedside. One of these pill bottles bears the name "Luxo," another one of Pixar's many references to Luxo Jr. (1986).

The dog pilots use the same broadcasting calls as the X-Wing Pilots in Star Wars (1977), changed from "Red Squadron" to "Gray Squadron" to reflect the notion that dogs are color-blind.

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 afterwards.

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.

The movie contains a reference to "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970). As Russell was talking about his father he mentioned "Phyllis", to which Carl reacted, "You call your mother by her first name?" This line is a running gag in the Mary Tyler Moore show. Bess (played by Lisa Gerritsen) calls her mother Phyllis (played by Cloris Leachman) by her first name, something that each of the main characters on the show have asked her about. Edward Asner, who voices Carl, and who played "Lou Grant" on the show, was one of the people who asked the question: "You call your mother by her first name?"

WILHELM SCREAM: As the group of dogs fall into the river, one of them screams.

Certain elements of the story were obviously inspired by the classic adventure novel, The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. In The Lost World, Professor Challenger brought back bones of a pterodactyl from an expedition to South America, but was denounced as a fraud. Challenger then returned to South America to capture a live specimen. In Up, Charles Muntz brought back bones of a giant bird from an expedition to South America, but was denounced as a fraud. Muntz then returned to South America to capture a live specimen. Paradise Falls fits Doyle's description of The Lost World, a tall plateau and next to the plateau a thin, flat-topped pinnacle of rock with the top level with the plateau.

After Alpha becomes trapped in the Cone of Shame, Dug speaks to the other dogs, and they address him as the new Alpha (because he defeated the previous Alpha). The voices of both Dug and Alpha are performed by the same actor, Bob Peterson.

The font used for the numbers on Carl's alarm clock is the "Chicago" font, one of the first fonts designed for the Macintosh. Steve Jobs, former Pixar CEO, also spearheaded the original Macintosh project at Apple.

On Dec. 23, 2005, young Colby Curtin was diagnosed with vascular cancer, after doctors found a tumor in her liver. On April 28th, 2009, at the age of ten, her parents took her to see Monsters vs Aliens (2009). She was most impressed with the preview to "Up", saying "I have to see that movie. It is so cool." Two days later, Colby's health began to worsen. On June 4th, her mother Lisa asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered. Unfortunately, Colby was now too sick to leave home and her family feared she would die without seeing the film. A family friend named Terrell Orum-Moore, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help. Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum-Moore said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum-Moore guessed a name, and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said. Pixar officials listened to Colby's story and agreed to send someone to Colby's house the next day with a DVD of "Up". Lisa Curtin asked her daughter, "Do you think you can hang on?". "I'm ready (to die), but I'm going to wait for the movie," the girl replied. The company flew an employee with the "Up" DVD, which was still only in theaters, to the Curtin's home on June 10 for a private viewing. He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie, and the group settled in to watch "Up". Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed, so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film. At the end of the film, Lisa if her daughter enjoyed the movie, and Colby nodded yes. Lisa Curtin described the Pixar employee, saying "He couldn't have been nicer. His eyes were just welled up." Of the film, she remarked, "When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie. I just know that word 'Up' and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven." Seven hours after viewing the film, Colby passed away with her parents at her side. Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

Russell's Wilderness Explorer sash has several in-jokes and tributes. The most obvious is a Luxo ball. 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 the Apple OSX operating system, equivalent to the Windows hourglass icon. Several of these badges are shown in the credits. An additional tribute to Apple and Steve Jobs shows Russell trying to teach Carl how to use a computer, Jobs now being a primary shareholder in Pixar stock.

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.)