Pixar Announces New UP Short Film CARL'S DATE - New Adventure. Same Wingman.

Pixar has announced a new animated short film that is based on the 2009 film Up. It’s titled Carl’s Date and it comes with the tagline “New Adventure. Same Wingman.” You can check out a poster that was released for the short below, and the film was also recently screened for some members of the press and it sounds like it was quite the emotional experience.

The short was written and directed by Bob Peterson, who’s also the voice of Dug. The story follows “a day in the life of Carl and Dug; it brings things full circle to see how a dog’s love can change you for the better.” According to io9, “Dug emotionally supports Carl when he agrees to go on a date with a lady friend—which is a really big step for him.”

The director shared during a Q&A: “No one will ever replace Ellie for Carl. This is just friendship. This is just honoring her, Ellie saying ‘go have a new adventure’. And this really puts it to the test. Should he do this or not?It just seemed like the logical next step, and a closure for the story is that he’s finally committed to doing what Ellie wanted.”

The movie also pays homage to the Ed Asner, who voices the character Carl Fredricksen. When talking about working with Asner, the director: “He’s hilarious, man. The guy is Carl Fredricksen. It’s just so fun to work with him. You know, I grew up with The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It just was a treat to be with him. He’s grouchy, but had this amazing heart and [was] very, very funny. We feel blessed to have been with him toward the end of his career, and I feel like this honors him pretty well.”

Carl’s Date will be released with the upcoming Pixar movie Elemental on June 16th.