As you know, both Dan and I (and Tyler Riggs) loved Disney/Pixar’s “Up” that debuted in theaters last weekend. I received an email from our friendly neighborhood Disney rep regarding some interesting tidbits about the movie. Take a gander at the list below and make sure to take your kids to see the show, it’s 1,000 times better than the “Night at the Museum” sequel.

• Supervising Technical Director Steve May and his team created a canopy of 10,297 balloons to float Carl’s house throughout much of the film.  That number more than doubles to 20,622 for the dramatic scene in which the house lifts off from its foundation for the first time. May and his team calculated that about 26.5 million balloons would be needed to lift a real house.
• When Russell and Carl are served dinner by Muntz, Carl is actually served the scallop dish from “Ratatouille.”
• The average amount of time required to render a single frame of film for “Up” was between five and six hours.  Some complicated frames took up to 20 hours.  For every second of film, 24 frames are required.
• Co-Director/Screenwriter Bob Peterson provides the voice of Dug, Charles Muntz’s misfit dog who befriends Carl, Russell and Kevin.  He also is heard in the film as Alpha, the leader of the pack whose collar translates his thoughts into speech.  Peterson previously voiced Roz, the sluggish dispatcher in “Monsters, Inc.,” and Mr. Ray, the determined teacher in “Finding Nemo.”
• The Pizza Planet Truck, which first made an appearance in “Toy Story,” has made a cameo in nearly every Pixar film.  In “Up,” the Pizza Planet truck can be seen at the intersection when Carl’s house flies over the town. It’s also in the Fentons Creamery parking lot at the end of the film.
• John Ratzenberger is the only actor to voice a role in all 10 of the Disney•Pixar films. In addition to his latest role as Construction Foreman Tom in “Up,” he provided the voice of the charming and witty Hamm the piggy bank in “Toy Story” (reprised in “Toy Story 2” and the upcoming “Toy Story 3”), P.T. Flea in “A Bug’s Life,” Yeti the snow monster in “Monsters, Inc.,” a school of Moonfish in “Finding Nemo,” a philosophical character named Underminer in “The Incredibles,” a Mac-truck in “Cars,” Mustafa, the head waiter in “Ratatouille,” and John, a human living aboard the spaceship Axiom in “WALL•E.”
• Paradise Falls, Carl’s dream destination in the film, is based on Angel Falls in Venezuela (the tallest waterfall on Earth at 3300 feet).  In the film, for artistic reasons, Paradise Falls is far taller at 9700 feet.