Up (animation)/Tear Jerker

Pixar already had a reputation for being good at getting viewers to cry, but even then, Up is considered one of its most tear-jerking movies yet.

• The intro. It's the entire relationship of the old man and his wife, from when they first meet as kids to her unfortunate miscarriage (why they couldn't have children) to when she dies of a heart attack, just before he's able to give her the trip to South America that she's always wanted. The creators were worried that the old man's reasons for going on his fantastic voyage would appear to be suicidal - "he just wants to join his wife".
  • Note that Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, who thought WALL-E could stand to be half an hour shorter, was pretty much blown away by that intro.
  • It got worse when I saw it in theaters: Right after Carl left the church and went home after the funeral, a little kid in the audience started crying and asked his mom "Why is the old man so sad?".
    • There is a reason why Michael Giacchino won the Oscar for Best Score that year...
• The first ten minutes, as well as anytime the plot turns to Carl and Ellie.
  • "Stuff I'm Going To Do." Dear lord, I lost it.
• The image of Carl sitting at the funeral, just holding a balloon and looking like he has no clue what to do. That just completely destroyed any semblance of composure that I had.
  • Notice that the church that Carl's sitting in? It's the same church that he and Ellie got married in.
• Speaking of promises:

Russel: Cross your heart?
Carl: *pauses* ... Cross my heart.

• When Dug gets called "bad dog" by someone he loves so much. Dug's heart is visibly broken.
• The saga of Russell's parents.

Carl: Phyllis? You call your own mother by her first name?
Russell: Phyllis isn't my mom.

• Somewhere halfway between Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and Epic Tearjerker. The scene at the end, where it shows the house on the cliff... It's mighty powerful.
  • Many of the key Tearjerker moments can easily be attributed to Michael Giacchino's wonderful score during those dialogue-less moments. Hell, just listening to certain tracks ("Married Life", "The Ellie Badge" and "Things We Did" for those following along at home) makes those tears well up all over again.
  • What struck me was the fact that the house seemed so insignificant when he first gets it there, but when it lands there by chance, it was as big as it was in the picture that Ellie had made as a child. This might even be a metaphor for Carl's heart, as it seemed to grow since the first time the house landed.
• Another one that can be interpreted as heartwarming and sad at the same time: "Russell, for assisting the elderly, and for performing above and beyond the call of duty, I would like to award you the highest honor I can bestow: The Ellie Badge." After watching the movie, we all know how much this means for both Russell and Carl.
  • Speaking of Russell, his story of his father and him would sit at the corner and count cars while eating ice cream ending it with "I know that sounds dull, but the dull moments are the ones I miss the most." Thinking of the times I spent with my dearly departed, yeah.
• "Thanks for the adventure! Now go have another one."
  • If you can see those nine words in context without bawling like a baby (or at a bare minimum Manly Tears), you have a heart of stone.
    • I didn't cry during the first ten minutes, but after those words I SOBBED and I've made it through the Toy Story series without tears.
• Dug being thrown from the cliff by Alpha and whimpering in pain.
• Kevin calling desperately to her babies after being injured, and making it just a few steps towards them before collapsing.
• When Carl accidentally hits the construction worker with his walking frame; you can tell by the look on his face he didn't want to hurt the guy who was actually being somewhat nice to him. It made this troper tear up.
• The look on Dug's face when he says "I do not like the cone of shame".
• The Dug hiding under the porch scene was both this and a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming:

Dug: Can I stay?
Carl: Of course you can, you're my dog, aren't you? And I'm your master!
Dug: You are my master?! Oh boy, oh boy!

• • "I was hiding under your porch because I love you!"
  • To see Carl, after repetitively telling Dug "I'M NOT YOUR MASTER!" and even insulting him unfairly earlier on, accept and give back the retriever's affection (and giving us the final proof he's finally moving on), made me almost weep with happiness.
  • Dug's line immediately afterwards is made of this too. He just gets the happiest look he's ever had (which is quite a feat, since "happy" is his default expression) and joyfully cries out "YOU'RE MY MASTER?!" before jumping up and licking Carl's face.
• Listen to Muntz's theme song from the credits, and keep in mind Carl and Ellie's relationship. Then try not to hear it as a love song from Carl to Ellie: "My spirit of adventure is you..." *sniffle* Again, a very good reason the score won the Oscar...
• The fact that Carl kept 'The Ellie Badge' after all those years.
• A meta example is how a 10-year-old cancer patient had very much wanted to see the film, but was bed-ridden and hooked up to life support. Her mother contacted Pixar, and Pixar sent representatives to screen a DVD copy of the film for the girl, and give her some movie tie-in merchandise for free. At that point, the girl was unable to open her eyes, and so her mother described every scene to her as she watched the movie. She passed away several hours afterwards - but she left happy, having seen Up.
  • What's so awesome about this was how Pixar took no credit for this; they didn't hype it up as "Hey, look, we're helping this girl." They did it simply because it was the right thing to do.