Ed Asner

 Director/screenwriter Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera noted Ed Asner's television alter ego, Lou Grant, had been helpful in writing the character of Carl in "Up" (2009) because it guided them in balancing likable and unlikable aspects of the curmudgeonly character. The appearance of Carl was designed to resemble Spencer Tracy as he appeared in his final film, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967).

When they met Asner and presented him with a model of his character, he joked, "I don't look anything like that." They tailored his dialogue for him, with short sentences and more consonants, which "cemented the notion that Carl, post-Ellie, is a disgruntled bear that's been poked awake during hibernation."

Docter revealed the filmmakers' first story outline had Carl "just want[ing] to join his wife up in the sky. It was almost a kind of strange suicide mission or something. And obviously that's [a problem]. Once he gets airborne, then what? So we had to have some goal for him to achieve that he had not yet gotten." As a result, they added the plot of going to South America. The location was chosen due to both Docter's love of tropical locations, but also in wanting a location Carl could be stuck with a kid due to the inability to leave him with an authority such as a police officer or social worker. They implemented a child character as a way to help Carl stop being "stuck in his ways."

Carl Frederickson, is supposed to be 78 years old. Asner was 78 when he recorded Carl's lines for the movie.

Happy Birthday, Ed Asner!