Who voiced Carl Fredricksen in Up?

Who voiced Carl Fredricksen in Up? Ed Asner provided Carl’s voice. His performance gives the elderly widower a distinctive combination of gruffness, dry comic timing and emotional restraint, especially as Carl struggles with the death of his wife, Ellie.

Carl is the central character of Pixar’s 2009 film: a retired balloon salesman who lifts his house with helium balloons and travels toward Paradise Falls. Asner’s delivery helped make Carl believable as both a stubborn, sometimes difficult man and someone capable of deep affection. The filmmakers also drew on Asner’s familiar television persona, particularly the authoritative voice associated with Lou Grant.

The voice cast is easy to mix up because several prominent actors play important characters. Jordan Nagai voices Russell, Bob Peterson voices Dug, and Christopher Plummer voices the explorer Charles Muntz. Asner was primarily known as a live-action actor, including roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant, but he had an extensive voice-acting career. Up became one of his best-known animated performances.