10 Subtle Pixar Movie Details You Definitely Didn't Notice

6. The City Grows - Up

There are two major anxieties at play in Pixar's beautiful Up. The first is the idea of mortality and the terror of growing so old that you outlive your ability to follow your dreams (which is proven to be unfounded) and the second is that the unrelenting march of progress will leave no room for older, quainter generations.

That's why Carl so fiercely defends his house as the city springs up around him, and if we didn't get the message at that point that corporate expansion was bad, it's highlighted in the prologue as well. As Carl and Ellie age and their happiness is replaced by the sorrow of her death, the background of the shot of them walking up the hill shows how much the city has changed in their lifetime there.

It's no accident that it just doesn't look as happy.