Skip to content
Answering Your Questions About Reactor: Right here.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Everything in one handy email.
When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

News news

Pixar’s Elemental Feature Will Include New Up Short Called “Carl’s Date”

By

Published on March 28, 2023

On the heels of the release of the new trailer for the Pixar film, Elemental, we’ve gotten word that the feature will be preceded by a short with two main characters from the movie Up.

Buy the Book

Untethered Sky

Untethered Sky

The short is called “Carl’s Date” and features one of the last performances of Ed Asner as Carl Fredricksen as well as Carl’s beloved dog, Dug (voiced by the short’s writer and director, Bob Peterson). If you’ve forgotten the beginning of Up, we get a montage of Carl having a wonderful life with his wife, Ellie, who passes away before the events of the movie begin.

“No one will ever replace Ellie for Carl,” said Peterson at a press conference (via /Film). “This is just honoring her and Ellie saying, ‘Go have a new adventure,’ and this really puts it to the test. Should he do this or should he not?”

Here’s the short’s official synopsis:

This year, Pixar Animation Studios resumes the magical moviegoing tradition of pairing their feature film with an animated short—like 2018’s Oscar-winning “Bao” that accompanied Incredibles 2 in theaters. Releasing in front of Elemental is a new short that catches up with Carl Fredricksen (voice of Ed Asner) and his lovable talking dog, Dug (voice of Bob Peterson), who were introduced in Pixar’s Oscar-winning feature Up. Written and directed by Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Bob Peterson and produced by Kim Collins, this all-new short, “Carl’s Date,” finds Carl reluctantly agreeing to go on a date with a lady friend—but admittedly with no idea how dating works these days. Ever the helpful friend, Dug steps in to calm Carl’s pre-date jitters and offer some tried-and-true tips for making friends—if you’re a dog.

You can see the short when Elemental hits theaters on June 16, 2023. If you’re looking for a bit more before then, you can also check out this poster below.

About the Author

About Author Mobile

Vanessa Armstrong

Author

Vanessa Armstrong is a writer with bylines at The LA Times, SYFY WIRE, StarTrek.com and other publications. She lives in Los Angeles with her dog Penny and her husband Jon, and she loves books more than most things. You can find more of her work on her website or follow her on Twitter @vfarmstrong.
Learn More About