"We came up with this image of a floating house held aloft by balloons, and it just seemed to capture what we were after in terms of escaping the world.  We quickly realized that the world is really about relationships, and that's what Carl comes to discover."

Pete Docter, Director/Writer

Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios take moviegoers up, up and away on one of the funniest adventures of all time with their latest comedy-fantasy "Up," from Academy Award nominated director Pete Docter ("Monsters, Inc.").
Presented in Disney Digital 3D, "Up" follows the uplifting tale of 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. Their journey to a lost world, where they encounter some strange, exotic and surprising characters, is filled with hilarity, emotion and wildly imaginative adventure.
"I am so proud that 'Up' is Pixar's 10th film," says John Lasseter, executive producer and chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. "I think it's the funniest film that we've ever made, and also one of the most beautiful. We have a main character that is an amazing hero. Carl Fredricksen is 78-years-old and he travels the world in a flying machine of his own design and still has dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon. He's the most unlikely hero you can imagine in an action picture. He is a character who learns that the big adventures in life are all the small things that happen in everyday life. Russell is one of the most appealing and charming characters that we've ever created. Together with Carl, these two characters light up the screen."
The film is directed by Pixar veteran Pete Docter, who joined the studio in 1990--just the third animator to be brought on board. Along with Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, Docter developed the story and characters for "Toy Story," Pixar's first full-length feature film, for which he also served as supervising animator. He was a storyboard artist on "A Bug's Life" and wrote the initial story treatment for "Toy Story 2." Docter made his debut as a director on "Monsters, Inc.," which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. As one of Pixar Animation Studios' key creative contributors, Docter garnered another Academy Award nomination for his original story credit on DisneyPixar's Oscar-winning "WALLE."
"For me personally, what makes a film worth watching is when you go home and you're still thinking about it," says Docter. "You leave the theater and you're still thinking about it not only the next day, but the next year. In order to have a film affect you that way, it has to have real true emotion and resonate in some way with your own life. So even though the stars of the film may be monsters or bugs, you identify with those characters on the screen and you understand what they're going through. It's important to have that foundation of real truth and an emotional attachment to the characters."
"Along with the humor, you have to have heart," says Lasseter. "Walt Disney always said, 'For every laugh, there should be a tear.' I believe in that." Filmmakers found a lot of heart in their latest adventure, exploring the love that Carl and his late wife shared and the friendship that develops between Carl and Russell. In fact, Carl discovers that life's true adventure can be found not in travel or great accomplishments, but in the everyday relationships that we have with friends and family."
"Up" is executive produced by Academy Award-winning filmmakers and Pixar pioneers Lasseter (director of "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story 2," and "Cars") and Stanton (director of "Finding Nemo," "WALLE"). Pixar veteran Jonas Rivera served as the film's producer. The co-director is Bob Peterson, and the screenplay is by Peterson and Pete Docter from a story by Docter, Peterson, and Tom McCarthy ("The Station Agent," "The Visitor"). Oscar nominated composer Michael Giacchino ("Ratatouille," "The Incredibles") lends his musical talents to creating the evocative score that accentuates the emotions, humor and spirit of adventure.
The voice cast for "Up" features legendary actor Ed Asner, a multiple Emmy Award winner, as balloon salesman-turned-adventurer Carl Fredricksen. Nine-year-old Jordan Nagai makes his acting debut as the voice of the determined and eager-to-assist Junior Wilderness Explorer, Russell. Acclaimed Emmy Award-winning actor Christopher Plummer gives a rich and textured vocal performance as the voice of Charles Muntz, a faded hero with an obsession to restore his good name. John Ratzenberger, Pixar's "lucky charm"--the only actor to lend his voice to all of the Studio's feature films, provides the voice of a construction foreman named Tom, who tries to encourage Carl to sell his home. Muntz's dog pack includes vocal performances by Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo and Jerome Ranft.
"Up" is the 10th film from DisneyPixar, which has gone nine for nine with an unprecedented streak of hugely successful films, including "WALLE," "Ratatouille," "Cars," "The Incredibles," "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc.," "Toy Story 2," "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story." Pixar now has nine of the 25 top grossing animated films of all time domestically, and all nine have been #1 at the box office on their opening weekends of wide release. "WALLE," "Ratatouille," "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo" all earned Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, an award that was introduced in 2001.
Docter says he's learned a lot over the course of Pixar's 10 films. "It never gets easier," he says. "There are always new ways that the story conspires to trick us, to fool us into thinking we have the right solution. It's only with a lot of reworking--and reworking and reworking--that you get good stuff.
"We still don't know everything," he continues. "But we allow ourselves to make mistakes. As Ed Catmull says, 'if you don't make mistakes, you're not taking enough risks.' I hope we never think of ourselves as experts--we learn something new on every film."

"UP" AND RUNNING: How "Up" Got Off the Ground
Following his directorial debut on the 2001 blockbuster film "Monsters, Inc.," Pete Docter began searching for his next project. The notion for his first feature derived from his childhood curiosities and fears about the monsters under his bed. After spending some time developing the story for "WALLE" and a few other projects, Docter once again turned to lessons from his own life to craft the idea for "Up." With co-director/writer Bob Peterson on board, the duo began playing with some fantastic new ideas.

"Bob and I started having some fun thinking about an old man character like the ones we love from the George Booth cartoons and all those great Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau type of guys who are grouchy but you still like them."

Pete Docter, Director/Writer

"Sometimes, at the end of a tough day at work when you're just so overwhelmed with people and the chaos of the world, I would have this fantasy of being shipwrecked on a desert island in the Pacific," says Docter. "Bob and I began playing with that idea and started having some fun thinking about an old man character like the ones we love from the George Booth cartoons in The New Yorker, and all those great Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau type of guys who are grouchy but you still like them. We came up with this image of a floating house held aloft by balloons, and it just seemed to capture what we were after in terms of escaping the world. We quickly realized that the world is really about relationships, and that's what Carl comes to discover."
Peterson explains, "Pete was the first one to put down on paper the idea of a grouchy old man holding a bunch of happy, fun, colorful balloons. We started brainstorming because we both liked the idea of having an older character. It's something you don't see very often, and we think that old people have great stories to tell."
Docter credits much of his creative influences to some real-life "old men"--animators who worked on the Disney classics. Though not one of the legendary "nine old men," Joe Grant was part of the 1937 team that created "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and has served as a source of inspiration to Docter who names Grant in the film's dedication to the "real life Carl and Ellie Fredricksens who inspired us to create our own Adventure Books."
"I got to know Joe when he was in his 90s. He was a friend of mine--this great old wise guy," says Docter. "Every time I would show him something we were working on he'd say 'what are you giving the audience to take home?' That was his way of telling me it's the emotion--the character-based emotions that people are going to remember."
Docter says he finds some of that emotion in personal experiences, such as the family trips he takes annually with his wife and two children. "Every year, we take a road trip," he says. "For about two weeks, we set out on the road and head off to National Parks and other interesting places to see this amazing country that we live in. It's great to see the world, but spending time together as a family is equally if not more important.
"A few years ago I went to Europe with my wife and kids," Docter continues.  "We stayed in fancy hotels, ate amazing food, visited castles and had this big adventure. One night we were having hot chocolate at a small department store cafe in Paris, nothing special, and I was laughing and joking with my kids. It was an amazing trip to a fantastic place, and what I remember most is the small stuff."

WHO'S WHO IN "UP" The Cast of Characters
CARL FREDRICKSEN (voice of Ed Asner) is not your average hero. He's a bit of a grouch, but in the great tradition of Walter Matthau and Spencer Tracy: a grouch you can love. He's a retired balloon salesman who is forced to leave the house he and his late wife, Ellie, built together. But instead of moving into the old folks home, Carl takes action. He may be a senior citizen, but he's not ready to give up; he's going to live the rest of his life on his terms. He ties thousands of balloons to the roof, lifts the house into the air, and sets off toward South America, fulfilling the promise he made to his wife so many years before. Carl's grand plan is challenged with the discovery of an unexpected stowaway, the optimistic, overly eager Russell. Carl's journey tests more than his patience when the duo must survive the extreme weather, treacherous terrain and strange inhabitants of a lost world - as well as each other.
RUSSELL (voice of Jordan Nagai) is an enthusiastic and persistent 8-year-old Junior Wilderness Explorer from Tribe 54, Sweat Lodge 12. Armed with a backpack laden with official Wilderness Explorer camping gear, Russell is ready for the wilderness! There's just one catch: he's never actually left the city. All his knowledge of the outdoors comes from books, and his sole camping experience was in his living room. Russell proudly shows off his many Wilderness Explorer badges, including First Aid, Second Aid, Zoology and Master of Disguise. He's just one Assisting-the-Elderly-badge shy of achieving the goal of his lifetime: the coveted rank of Senior Wilderness Explorer. When he targets Carl Fredricksen as the elder he will assist, Russell ends up as an unwitting stowaway on Carl's porch when the house takes flight, and finds himself on the true outdoor adventure he's been dreaming about.
DUG (voice of Bob Peterson) is a lovable golden mutt living in the wilds of Paradise Falls as part of the dog pack searching for a rare, flightless bird. Like the rest of his pack, Dug is outfitted with a remarkable high-tech collar that translates his thoughts into speech. But Dug is mocked as the nerd of the pack. Sent into the jungle on a "special" mission, Dug accidentally succeeds when he discovers the bird following Carl and Russell. As they're pursued through the jungle by his own pack, the sweet, but simple-minded Dug must decide in which pack he actually belongs.
KEVIN is an extremely rare, 13-foot-tall flightless bird that is hidden from the world in its remote Paradise Falls habitat. With brilliant iridescent colored feathers and a long, flexible neck, Kevin is exceptionally fast and nimble. In fact, the massive bird often gets into some very curious and seemingly impossible positions. Very few know that this scientifically invaluable creature exists, but Carl and Russell stumble upon the bird, which Russell names Kevin after he discovers they share a sweet tooth. Kevin and Russell bond instantly, and despite the bird's propensity to swallow Carl's walker, Kevin joins the jungle's latest and most unlikely pack, along with Carl, Russell and Dug.
THE PACK refers to Muntz's compelling pack of dogs, who are sent on a mission to capture the rare bird their master is obsessed with finding. Fun and multifaceted, they are dogs in the truest sense, but just like their rejected comrade Dug, they have high-tech collars that give them unusual abilities specially designed for sinister hunting expeditions, including GPS tracking and translating their thoughts into speech. Alpha (voice of Bob Peterson), the leader of the pack, is a menacing-looking, black-as-night Doberman Pinscher with authority entrusted to him by their master that no one dares question. Beta (voice of Delroy Lindo), a tough Rottweiler, is Alpha's lieutenant, and Alpha's hench-dog, Gamma (voice of Jerome Ranft), is a rough-and-tumble Bulldog. Nothing will distract the pack from their mission… except maybe a squirrel.
Years ago, clever and handsome CHARLES F. MUNTZ (voice of Christopher Plummer) was a beacon of hope for a down-and-out American public. He inspired his biggest fans, youngsters Carl and Ellie, to parrot his famous mantra, "Adventure is out there!" Traveling the globe many times over in his massive self-designed airship, he discovers the world's treasure: priceless historic relics, amazing scientific discoveries and exotic flora and fauna never before seen. But when Muntz brings home the skeleton of a fantastic 13-foot-tall creature from a remote mountain in South America, he is discredited by scientists. Vowing to prove them wrong, Muntz returns to South America, swearing to bring back a live specimen. And he won't come back until he does!
ELLIE (voice of Elie Docter) is Carl's childhood playmate and soulmate, who later becomes his wife. Her childhood dream of traveling to Paradise Falls, and Carl's promise to take her there, are the motivation for Carl's magnificent journey.
CONSTRUCTION FOREMAN TOM (voice of John Ratzenberger) tries to persuade Carl to sell his home to Tom's boss, a major contractor. Ratzenberger is the only actor to voice a character in all 10 DisneyPixar films.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

PETE DOCTER (Director/Screenplay/Story) has carved out an illustrious career as one Pixar Animation Studios' most prodigious talents. Joining the studio in 1990, he began by animating and directing a variety of Pixar-produced commercials for Tropicana Fruit Juice, Tetra-Pak drink box recycling and Lifesavers.
Along with John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, Docter developed the story and characters for "Toy Story," Pixar's first full-length feature film, for which he also served as supervising animator. He was a storyboard artist on "A Bug's Life," and wrote the initial story treatment for "Toy Story 2."
Docter made his debut as a director on "Monsters, Inc.," which received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. As one of Pixar Animation Studios' key creative contributors, Docter garnered another Academy Award nomination for his original story credit on DisneyPixar's Oscar winning "WALLE."
Prior to joining Pixar, Docter worked as an animator for The Walt Disney Company, Bob Rogers and Company, Bajus-Jones Film Corporation and Reelworks in Minneapolis. Docter's interest in animation began at the age of 8 when he created his first flipbook. He studied character animation at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) in Valencia, California, where he produced a variety of films including "Winter," "Palm Springs" and the Student Academy Award-winning "Next Door."

BOB PETERSON (Co-Director/Screenplay/Story/voice of Dug/Alpha) has been a key player at Pixar Animation Studios since 1994. His first assignment was that of layout artist and animator on "Toy Story." He later served as story artist on "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2," story supervisor on "Monsters, Inc." and was also one of the screenwriters on the Academy Award-winning feature "Finding Nemo."
In addition to his story work, Peterson has voiced several of the company's memorable animated characters: the aged chess-playing hero of "Geri's Game," paperwork-obsessed slug-woman Roz in "Monsters, Inc." and the tuneful teacher Mr. Ray in "Finding Nemo." He also lends his voice talents to Up for the character of Dug the dog.
While studying for a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Indiana's Purdue University, Peterson had his first experience working in a computer graphics lab. It was there that he also received his first cartooning experience, writing and drawing "Loco-Motives," a daily four-panel strip for Purdue University's Exponent newspaper.
Following graduation, Peterson moved to Santa Barbara, California, to work for Maya creator, Wavefront Technologies, and then to Hollywood-based Rezn8 Productions, before joining Pixar in 1994.
Born in Wooster, Ohio, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and Dover, Ohio, Peterson earned his undergrad degree from Ohio Northern University.

JONAS RIVERA (Producer) joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1994 as a production office assistant on the studio's first feature film, "Toy Story." Working on almost every Pixar feature film to date, Rivera's ability and expertise has enabled him to advance in his role on each of the studio's subsequent productions.
Progressing to art department coordinator for "A Bug's Life," Rivera then served as a marketing and creative resources coordinator for "Toy Story 2." His heart always in the art and creativity of filmmaking, Rivera returned to the art department, this time as a manager, on "Monsters, Inc." Rivera then went on to serve as production manager on Pixar's Golden Globe winning feature, "Cars."
For as long as he can remember, Jonas Rivera has always loved films, particularly animated ones. His first childhood memories consist of the Tiki Room at Disneyland and going to the theater to see films like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Star Wars." Inspired at a very young age, Rivera was enthralled with the medium of filmmaking and dreamed of making films himself someday.
Prior to Pixar, Rivera's diverse professional background includes working in music stores, toy stores and playing in hard rock bands - what he jokingly refers to as 'the perfect training for working at Pixar.'
A Bay Area native, Rivera grew up in Castro Valley and graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in film production.

READ AN INTERVIEW WITH:
Writer/director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc) and first-time producer Jonas Rivera

READ MORE:
The "Up" Creative Team Discovers the Lost World of the Tepuis
Filmmakers Call Upon Disney Classics for Inspiration
Stylized Character Animation and Inspired Voice Talent  bring "Up's" Characters to Life
Pixar's Technical Team Reaches New Heights
Taking Computer Animation to a Whole New Dimension
Acclaimed Composer Michael Giacchino Adds Emotion and Excitement with his Thematic Musical Score

THE ART OF ANIMATION

HOME