Pixar’s latest movie, Up, which is  out on DVD, is Up for five Oscars and has made a staggering $750 million at the box office since its cinema release.
To celebrate, the film-makers here reveal 15 clever clues and in-jokes to look out for . . .

1. In every Pixar film, spot the Pizza Planet Truck. In Up, you can see it when Carl’s house flies above his neighbourhood. Though originally a fictional restaurant, since its appearance in the Pixar movies there are now Pizza Planets at Disneyland Paris and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

2. John Ratzenberger, best known as Cliff in Cheers, has a cameo as the voice of Tom, a construction worker who asks main character Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) if he’s ready to sell his home. Ratzenberger is the only actor to voice a role in all Pixar’s ten films – from Hamm the piggy bank in Toy Story to P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life.

3. A113 the classroom number at the California college which Up co-director Pete Docter attended crops up in every Pixar film. In Up it’s the courtroom number where Carl makes an appearance.

4. Dug The Dog  made his debut in the 2007 film Ratatouille – as a shadow on a wall that barks at Remy, the film’s star rat.

5. The Luxo Ball – a yellow ball with a blue stripe and red star – also crops up in several Pixar films and can be seen on the floor of the little girl’s bedroom as Carl’s house flies past her window.

6. The Buy n Large logo – from the 2008 hit WALL-E – features on the construction site equipment surrounding Carl’s house.

7. In the scene where Carl meets his hero, explorer Charles Muntz, he is served a scallop dish for dinner which is the same one served up in Ratatouille.

8. Carl is the most complex human character ever created by Pixar. His design is symbolically and literally square.

9. Russell, boy scout trying to earn his last merit badge, has more layers of clothing than any other Pixar character – a shirt, a sash covered with badges, a neckerchief and a backpack.

10. Bob Peterson, the film’s co-director and the voice of Dug The Dog, says of all the voices he has provided for Pixar movies, Dug is the most fun. ‘Dug is a labrador because they’re extremely cuddly and friendly.’

12. Pixar brought a live ostrich to the studio to help inspire the legs of Kevin the bird. Kevin was also based on a cassowary for feathers, a pheasant for iridescence, a heron for behaviour and a toucan, quail and peacock for beak and wattles.

13. Paradise Falls is based on the famous Angel Falls in Venezuela. Up’s version is 1.8 miles high – almost three times higher than the real Angel Falls.

14. Muntz’s jacket is made of fur, the first time in Pixar history that a piece of clothing is made from an animal. They insist no CG animals were harmed!

15. Watch Up closely and you’ll see a pink teddy bear on the floor of the girl’s bedroom when Carl’s house goes floating by. The bear’s name is Lotso and it is said to be one of the new characters in Pixar’s Toy Story 3, due out this summer.

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