Up (2009)
A Pixar original story by Pete Docter.
10-year old Carl Fredricksen idolizes famed explorer Charles Muntz whose motto is “Adventure is out there!”. Muntz and his dog companions travel to Paradise Falls (a land lost in time) in South America on his dirigible aircraft, the Spirit of Adventure, but was discredited when a giant bird skeleton he brought back from was deemed a fake; humiliated, he returned to the falls, vowing to clear his name by bringing back a living specimen. Carl later encounters fellow Muntz fan Ellie, who gives him a Grape Soda badge, shows him a scrapbook of her adventures and shares her dream of moving her clubhouse—an abandoned home in the neighborhood—to a cliff beside Paradise Falls. Carl and Ellie eventually marry, move into Ellie’s former clubhouse, and get jobs at the city zoo, Carl as a balloon salesman and Ellie as a tour guide. After Ellie suffers a miscarriage, the couple decide to save for a trip to Paradise Falls but are repeatedly forced to spend the money on more pressing needs. Years later, after a happy life together, Carl decides to surprise Ellie with tickets to Paradise Falls, but she falls ill and is hospitalized. Ellie gives Carl her childhood scrapbook before passing away, leaving him devastated (“Married Life”).
Now in his late 70s, Carl stubbornly holds out in his house while the neighborhood around him is replaced by skyscrapers. After Carl unintentionally injures a construction worker, the court deems him a public menace and orders his move to an assisted living facility. However, Carl resolves to keep his promise to Ellie and attaches many helium balloons to his house to fly to Paradise Falls. Russell, an eight-year-old "Wilderness Explorer in Tribe 54, Sweat Lodge 12” scout who visits Carl in an effort to earn his final merit badge for Assisting the Elderly and become a Senior Wilderness Explorer, becomes an accidental stowaway. Before Carl can land and send Russell home, a violent storm from a cumulonimbus propels the house all the way to South America.
The house lands on a mesa opposite Paradise Falls. Thrown out by the impact and unable to climb back inside, Carl and Russell harness themselves to the still-buoyant house and begin to walk it across the mesa. Russell encounters a giant, colorful flightless bird, whom he names Kevin, but who they later realize is female. They then meet Dug, a golden retriever who wears a special collar with a device that translates his thoughts into human speech; he joins them on their trek, despite Carl's objections. Carl learns that Russell’s parents have separated and Russell’s dad has moved away with Russell having very little contact with him.
The party is cornered by a pack of fierce dogs: Beta, a Rottweiler, and Gamma, a bulldog, led by top dog Alpha, a Doberman Pinscher, all wearing collar translators, and brought back to the pack’s master – none other than an elderly Charles Muntz. Dug is placed in the Cone of Shame by Alpha for failing to apprehend Kevin. Muntz invites them aboard his dirigible and talks about his decades-long quest to capture a live bird. Carl realizes that Muntz’s obsession with the bird has driven him mad, to the point of murdering innocent travelers whom he suspected of seeking the bird for themselves. When Russell notes the skeleton’s resemblance to Kevin, Muntz becomes hostile and accuses them of being thieves. Carl, Russell, and Dug flee the dirigible, pursued by Muntz’s dogs; they are rescued by Kevin, who is injured in the process. Hearing Kevin call out to her chicks, Carl agrees to bring her home safely, but Muntz traps Kevin and starts a fire beneath the house, forcing Carl to choose which to save. He opts to save the house, allowing Muntz to escape with Kevin and losing Russell's respect.
Alone and disheartened, Carl looks through Ellie's scrapbook and discovers that she filled in the blank pages with photos of their life together, along with a note thanking him for the "adventure" and encouraging him to have a new one. Reinvigorated, he goes outside, only to see Russell setting out after Kevin using balloons and a leaf blower. Carl quickly lightens his house by throwing out furniture and keepsakes, enabling it to fly again.
Muntz captures Russell, but Carl and Dug board the dirigible and free both him and Kevin. An enraged Muntz pursues the group and traps them inside the house. Carl lures Kevin back to the airship using a piece of chocolate, just as his tether breaks away from the house. Muntz leaps after them but snags his leg in balloon strings, and he falls to his death. Carl watches as the house, having lost too many balloons to stay afloat, drifts away and descends beneath the clouds; he peacefully lets it go, having finally come to terms with Ellie's death.
Carl and Russell reunite Kevin with her chicks before returning home in Muntz's airship. Russell receives his "Assisting the Elderly" badge, and Carl presents Russell with a grape soda bottle cap that Ellie gave to Carl when they first met, which he dubs "The Ellie Badge". Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Carl, the house lands on the cliff beside Paradise Falls, fulfilling his promise to Ellie (“Up With End Credits”).
TRIVIA
Visual Style
The characters in Up were boiled down to their physical essence as simple shapes. Carl was shaped as a brick, weighed down and resistant to change. Russell was shaped like an upside-down egg, innocent, unfinished, and optimistic. Ellie a circle, Dug a teardrop, and Kevin as triangles.
The world of Up began with the thought of escape. From the claustrophobic shapes of an encroaching cityscape to the uncharted wilds of South America, from Muntz's half-mile long dirigible to Carl's uniquely mobile home, the Pixar team employed its newly invented concept of "simplexity" to push the visual envelope while keeping the world believable.
The Pixar team treated Carl’s house like a film character, touring vintage Oakland and Berkeley neighborhoods to cast for the right mix of comfort and familiarity, with just a touch of melancholy.
The film’s setting are inspired by the tepui mountains of Canaima National Park. The massive mile-high plateaus in Venezuela are among the most uncharted places on Earth. Pixar sent a team of artists for a look, and the film's bizarre rock formations, exotic flora, towering waterfall, and fog-shrouded labyrinth can be traced to tepui landscapes.
To animate old people, Pixar animators would study their own parents or grandparents and also watched footage of the Senior Olympics. The directors had various rules for Carl's movements: he could not turn his head more than 15–20 degrees without turning his torso as well, nor could he raise his arms high. However, they also wanted him to grow more flexible near the end of the film, transforming into an "action hero”.
The filmmakers then visited the Sacramento Zoo to observe a Himalayan monal for Kevin's animation.
Technology
New programs were made to simulate the cloth and for Kevin's iridescent feathers.
A 2009 Pixar short Dug’s Special Mission follows Dug prior to meeting Carl and Russell in Up.
A 2021 Pixar series of shorts called Dug Days follows Dug after the events of Up where he now lives with Carl. A special 2023 Pixar short Dug Days: Carl’s Date is also considered a part of this series.