When Pixar first revealed the premise of Up, some moviegoers thought the animation house was finally jumping the shark. An old man using a bunch of helium balloons to make his house take flight does sound like a crazy idea for a movie. However, this imagery is symbolic. You’re not supposed to think about the logistics of a house being flown by balloons.

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Pete Docter’s film is a beautiful study of grief, as Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his late wife’s lifelong dream to travel to Paradise Falls. Here are 10 details from the making of Pixar’s emotionally resonant masterpiece Up.

There Are 10,000 Balloons Attached To Carl’s House When It Takes Off

Carl and Russell in Up

According to the director’s commentary on the home media release of Up, the Pixar animators attached 10,297 balloons to Carl’s house when it first takes off. In reality, the team calculated that to make Carl’s house fly, he would require more than 26.5 million balloons, but this just wasn’t practical for the movie.

For a professional balloon salesman like Carl, it takes about nine seconds to inflate and tie off a helium balloon. If Carl actually blew up the millions of balloons he’d require for lift-off, it would take him approximately seven years without stopping to eat or sleep.

The End Of Charles Muntz’s Arc Went Through Many Different Incarnations

Charles Muntz stands in candlelight

The creative team cracking the story of Up went through a few different versions of the end of Charles Muntz’s arc. Originally, he was going to work out his differences with Carl using words, but this was considered too boring.

In one version, his obsessive search for Kevin led him into a maze where he got lost and eventually died, like Jack Torrance in The Shining. In another ending, he was lifted into the sky by balloons, but this was deemed too ambiguous.

The First Draft Included A War Between Sky People And Land People

Russell and Carl fall in Up

An early draft of the script for Up was set against the backdrop of a war between the residents of a floating city and the land-dwelling communities.

The protagonists of the story would’ve been two brothers who put their differences aside when they fell to the ground and discovered a magical bird.

Up Is The First Disney Movie To Allude To Divorce As A Reason For Single Parenthood

Russell in Up

Disney movies often feature single parents. Belle, Pocahontas, and Jasmine all have dead or absent mothers. Andy’s dad is inexplicably out of the picture in the Toy Story franchise.

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But Russell’s indirect reference to his parents’ divorce (“Phyllis isn’t my mom”) is the first time a Disney movie has ever even hinted at divorce being the reason for a character having a single parent.

Young Ellie Was Voiced By Director Pete Docter’s Daughter

Young Ellie and Carl in Up

In the opening scene of Up, we see how Carl met Ellie. The younger version of Ellie was played by director Pete Docter’s daughter, Elie Docter.

The younger version of Carl doesn’t actually say anything in this prologue. Ellie does all the talking and then passes away during the heartbreaking montage, meaning that Carl never actually speaks to Ellie throughout the whole movie.

In The Original Outline, Carl Was Practically Suicidal

Mr. Fredricksen alone at his home in Up

In the original story outline for Up, Carl didn’t want to fly his house to South America to achieve his late wife’s childhood dream. Instead, he just wanted to float up into the sky to feel closer to her. There was a sort of suicidal tone to Carl’s motivations. This was obviously deemed much too dark for a kids’ movie.

The writers decided that Carl should have a destination, which is where the Paradise Falls storyline came from. Director Pete Docter chose this location because he loves tropical places, and also wanted to place Carl somewhere where he couldn’t just hand over Russell to a social worker or a cop.

This Was The Second Animated Movie To Be Nominated For Best Picture

Russell and Carl with Dug in Up.

Up was the second animated movie in the history of the Academy Awards to receive a nomination for Best Picture. The first was Beauty and the Beast in 1992. Nominated alongside such movies as Avatar and Inglourious Basterds, Up ended up losing out on the award to Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker.

This list was later joined by Pixar’s own Toy Story 3 in the following year. To date, these are the only three animated movies to ever receive a nod for Best Picture at the Oscars.

An Excised Subplot Involved Carl Keeping One Of Kevin’s Eggs

Kevin the Snipe Up - Pixar Spinoffs

There’s a bonus feature on the Blu-ray release of Up called “The Egg,” where the filmmakers talk about their original plans for the storyline revolving around Kevin’s eggs. Initially, her eggs were going to be discovered to contain an elixir of youth that could reverse the aging process.

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There was a subplot in one draft of the script that got dropped in which Carl was going to take one of these eggs from Charles Muntz’s collection. When he got home, the egg would start making him younger. Director Pete Docter dropped this element when he realized that it would be too strange.

Jordan Nagai Wasn’t Supposed To Audition To Play Russell; He Just Went Along For His Brother’s Audition

Up was the film debut for Jordan Nagai, who provided the voice of Russell. Nagai wasn’t actually supposed to be auditioning for the role. His older brother, Hunter, was auditioning, and Jordan just went along to give him some companionship.

Out of the 400 or so children who auditioned for the part, Jordan Nagai stood out to the casting people because he wouldn’t stop talking. They realized he shared all of Russell’s personality quirks.

Even The Storyboard For The Opening Montage Made People Cry

Ellie and Carl in Pixar's Up

The opening montage in Up is enough to make even the most cold-hearted viewer cry. Apparently, this was the case even when it was in storyboard form.

The storyboards of Carl and Ellie’s married life, and the decline in Ellie’s health, brought a few members of the animation team to tears during the production process.

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