History YMMV / UP

* Squick: Russel asking Carl if he should dig a hole to go potty in before or after might be hard to look at, depending on how strong your stomach is. Carl is visibly squicked out.

** In a weird way the prolouge of the film can act this way to the rest of the film. It's not uncommon for people to say that the first 10 minutes were so well done the rest of the film can feel disapointing by comparison

* ToughActToFollow: Due to how well-loved this movie is, practically every Pixar film following it is compared to ''Up'', leading to all sorts of reactions along the lines of, "It was good, but not as good as ''Up''."

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: It is all right to grieve your loved ones and the dreams they never got to fulfill. But life is full of adventures, both the mundane and the exciting. After grieving a reasonable amount of time, it's okay to go on a new one and find new dreams. Carl shuts down emotionally after Ellie dies and is plagued with guilt that he never took her to Paradise Falls as he promised. This means he doesn't have any friends in the neighborhood and shoos away one boy who asks for help with a merit badge. It takes [[spoiler:Carl reading Ellie's scrapbook and learning she considered their marriage the greatest adventure to let go of his guilt for not fulfilling the promise, and to pursue a new one with Russell]].

** On a smaller scale, the "married life" sequence serves as one to the rest of the film.

** Biggest one for the film comes when Carl tells one of the construction workers "Tell your boss he can have our house ... when I'm dead.", considering [[Creator/EdAsner Ed Asner is now no longer with us.]]

** Biggest one for the film comes when Carl tells one of the construction workers "He can have it when I'm dead.", considering [[Creator/EdAsner Ed Asner is now no longer with us.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Though Muntz crossed it offscreen before the plot when he started murdering tourists who came to visit Paradise Falls, he cements himself as being beyond redemption when tries to kill Russell in cold blood.]]

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: It is all right to grieve your loved ones and the dreams they never got to fulfill. But life is full of adventures, both the mundane and the exciting. After grieving a reasonable amount of time, it's okay to seen a new one and find new dreams. Carl shuts down emotionally after Ellie died and is plagued with guilt that he never took her to Paradise Falls as he promised. This means he doesn't have any friends in the neighborhood and shoos away one boy who asks for help with a merit badge. It takes [[spoiler:Carl reading Ellie's scrapbook and learning she considered their marriage the greatest adventure to let go of his guilt for not fulfilling the promise, and to pursue a new one with Russell]].

* SuperCouple: Carl and Ellie have become a well known, popular couple, due to the "Married Life" sequence that despite being fast-paced, has shown [[HappilyMarried how united and how loving they have been in their marriage]].

* UnintentionallySympathetic: When Muntz sets fire to Carl's house and makes off with Kevin, Carl ignores the bird and tries to extinguish the blaze. Russell is outraged and yells at Carl for not caring about Kevin before running off on his own. Supposedly, Russell is right to castigate Carl because the ultimate message is that Carl should let the past be the past and focus on continuing his life. But really, this is the house he lived in for fifty years with the love of his life. Yes, protecting Kevin from Muntz still matters, but of ''course'' he's going to focus on the house. Especially since before this point, Kevin was visibly annoying Carl right in front of him. On top of that, saving the house is what allows Carl to go after Muntz and save Kevin later, as opposed to letting it burn when given the option, which would've left Muntz without his bird and Carl and Russell without a means of escape from him.

** Carl's line early in the movie of only giving away his house "when [he's] dead!" has become this as of August 29 2021, now that [[Creator/EdAsner his voice actor]] has passed away. This also applies to his Norwegian actor, Helge Reiss (who'd voiced in many Disney films), who passed away of old age just a few months after the film's release, as well as his Latin American Spanish actor, Tito Reséndiz (best known for [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Krusty The Clown and Diamond Joe]]), who died from lung cancer just over a week before the film's release.

** In the Norwegian dub, Carl's line early in the movie of only giving away his house "when [he's] dead!" becomes this when his Norwegian actor, Helge Reiss (who'd voiced in many Disney films), passed away of old age just a few months after the film's release. This also applies to his Latin American Spanish actor, Tito Reséndiz (best known for [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Krusty The Clown and Diamond Joe]]), who died from lung cancer just over a week before the film's release.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** After seeing Pete Docter's later film ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', it very much comes off like Carl has the opposite problem of that film's Riley: his Sadness is firmly in control and refusing to let Joy have any input.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** In the credits Carl and Russell go to see [[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]. Disney (Pixar's parent company) now owns Star Wars and commissioned more films in the series to be made.
** {{ComicStrip/Garfield}} [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1987/ga870503.gif goes up, too]].

false teeth as a distraction. He actually defends himself well long enough to buy time for him and Kevin to escape]].

* CatharsisFactor:
** Dug delivers a lot of it in the climax. He bites Muntz's leg protectively when the latter is about to stab Carl, and [[spoiler:accidentally leads the dogs away from the subsequent duel so Carl can deal with just one man. He also manages to subdue Alpha with the Cone of Shame, completely surprised that it makes ''him'' the alpha]].
** Muntz and Carl get in a swordfight, with Carl using his cane as an impromptu defensive weapon. [[spoiler:Carl at one point manages to whack him in the head, while whacking himself, and spitting out his false teeth as a distraction. He actually defends himself well long enough to buy time for him and Kevin to escape]].

** Charles Muntz [[spoiler: [[DisneyVillainDeath falls to his death]] by the end of the movie]]. 12 years after the movie, Creator/ChristopherPlummer died [[spoiler: from a blow to the head resulting from a fall near Charles' age]].

** In the Norwegian dub, Carl's line early in the movie of only giving away his house "when [he's] dead!" becomes this when his Norwegian actor, Helge Reiss (who'd voiced in many Disney films), passed away of old age just a few months after the film's release. This also applies to his Latin American Spanish actor, Tito Reséndiz (who voiced [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Krusty The Clown and Diamond Joe]]), died from lung cancer just over a week before the film's release.

** Charles Muntz falls to his death by the end of the movie. 12 years after the movie, Creator/ChristopherPlummer died from a blow to the head resulting from a fall.

** In the Norwegian dub, Carl's line early in the movie of only giving away his house "when [he's] dead!" becomes this when his Norwegian actor, Helge Reiss (who'd voiced in many Disney films), passed away of old age just a few months after the film's release. This also applies to his Latin American Spanish actor, Tito Reséndiz (who voiced for [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Krusty The Clown and Diamond Joe]]), died from lung cancer just over a week before the film's release.

** In the Norwegian dub, Carl's line early in the movie of only giving away his house "when [he's] dead!" becomes this when his Norwegian actor, Helge Reiss (who'd voiced in many Disney films), passed away of old age just a few months after the film's release.
** The scene where Carl hits the construction worker on the head with his cane might be funny for some... until it's given very real consequences and ends up ruining Carl's life.

* HarsherInHindsight: After seeing Pete Docter's later film ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', it very much comes off like Carl has the opposite problem of that film's Riley: his Sadness is firmly in control and refusing to let Joy have any input.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: It has been accused of copying the 2005 french animated short ''[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6LLyheo3ZZU Above Then Beyond]]'' where an old woman turns her house into a hot air balloon after getting an eviction notice.

* AngstAversion: Just ''try'' to the watch the opening sequence between Carl and Ellie without shedding a tear. (Of course, they still spent a wonderful life together, to a decent ripe age. In that sense they're lucky.)