Released by Pixar in 2009, ‘Up: High Adventures‘ is a film that has the power to win over anyone through a narrative that explores love in a unique way.
The work received two Oscar awards in 2010, in the categories of Best Animated Film and Best Soundtrack, demonstrating its success among both critics and the general public.
Mr. Fredericksen’s captivating journey certainly excites and thrills everyone; however, the film arouses the following curiosity in many viewers: how many balloons were needed to make Mr. Fredericksen’s house? protagonist to fly?
The levitation of the house in ‘Up: High Adventures’
Scene of the takeoff from Mr. Fredericksen’s house in ‘Up’ – Photo: Reproduction/Pixar
Before answering this question, it is worth remembering the reason why Mr. Carl Fredericksen decides to elevate his house with the various balloons.
After years of grieving the death of his wife, Ellie, Carl is faced with a new challenge: resisting the advances of a large corporation that wants to buy the land where his house is located to build a building.
After a disagreement with a worker at constructionCarl is forced to leave his home and move to a nursing home.
In this scenario, he is aware that he has a promise to fulfill: to visit the Paradise of Waterfalls, in Venezuela, to fulfill not only his dream, but that of Ellie, his late wife, who would very much like to visit that place.
Determined to make this journey a reality, Carl transforms his home into a makeshift airship, attaching a series of gas balloons to it to embark on a journey to his dream destination.
But how many balloons were used during production? We’re talking about a total of 20,622 balloons for the opening scene of the house taking off, as reported by Pixar.
However, in the subsequent scenes, in which the house simply floats, “only” 10,297 balloons are used to carry it through the sky.
And in real life, would this be possible?
That’s a lot of balloons, isn’t it? If you’ve ever wondered if it would be possible to do something like this in real life, using balloons to lift a real house, know that this experiment was actually carried out by program ‘How Hard Can It Be?’, from the National Geographic channel.
However, it is important to note that some adaptations were made to replicate this situation in real life.
The house built for the test was only 16 square meters, proportionally smaller than Mr. Fredericksen’s house would be if it were real, and was erected without furniture.
A experience used around 300 giant helium balloons to elevate the house, which “flew” for approximately one hour, reaching an altitude of 10 thousand feet, equivalent to around 3 thousand meters.
Check out the video of the experience below:
The movie ‘Up: Altas Aventuras’ is available on the streaming platform Disney+.
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