Dug Days

Dug Days (also known as Up: Dug Days) is an American animated series of shorts created, written, and directed by Bob Peterson and produced by Pixar Animation Studios initially for Disney+. The series is set immediately after the 2009 film Up, following its main characters, dog Dug, voiced by Peterson, and his owner, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen, voiced by Ed Asner in one of his last performances before his death.

The series was announced in December 2020, during Disney's Investor Day, with Peterson pitched the series centering on Dug following his work on Forky Asks a Question. The animators created new animation rigging, textures, and hair for the characters in order to update their original designs due to advances in CG animation ever since the original film's release. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, most of the final results from the animating process were done from the crew's homes, and the cast remotely recorded their dialogue.

The first five episodes of Dug Days premiered on September 1, 2021, on Disney+. They received generally positive reviews for their voice performances, messages, role models, humor and emotional depth.

Carl's Date, the sixth and final episode, premiered exclusively in theaters as a short film with Pixar's Elemental on June 16, 2023.

Premise
After the events of Up, Golden Retriever Dug and his owner, Carl Fredricksen, move to a new house in the suburb after Carl sells the Spirit of Adventure dirigible to afford it. The miniseries revolves around the adventures of Dug and Carl experienced in their house and neighborhood.

Voice cast

 * Bob Peterson as Dug
 * Ed Asner as Carl Fredricksen
 * Jordan Nagai (unused archival recordings) as Russell (episode "Science")
 * Neketia Henry as the Neighbor (episode "Puppies")
 * Simon Helberg as the Squirrel (episode "Science")
 * Jeff Pidgeon as the Fly (episode "Science")
 * Sarayu Blue as the Bluebird/Blue jay (episode "Science")
 * Heather Eisner as the Snail (episode "Science")
 * Moon Choe as Russell's mother (episode "Science")
 * Bob Peterson as Alpha (episode "Carl's Date")

Episodes
All episodes are directed and written by Bob Peterson.

Development
The series was announced on December 10, 2020, during Disney's Investor Day. It was produced by Pixar, with Bob Peterson as its creator, director, and writer. It premiered on Disney+, with five episodes, on September 1, 2021. Peterson pitched the series following his work on Forky Asks a Question, as he wanted to revisit the characters from Up, and felt a short series centering on Dug was the appropriate format. Kim Collins joined as producer after Peterson wrote the series. Up director and Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter was an executive-producer for the series; Docter supervised the series so it would be faithful to the original film.

Writing
Peterson said the idea behind the series was to explore Dug adapting to suburbian life and Carl as he goes througth new, smaller adventures that put in practice what he learned in the film, with Collins describing the series as, ultimately, "about how Carl and Dug take care of each other". Peterson said the episodic format allowed the filmmakers to explore "facets of a dog’s life", such as "territoriality" via having him face a squirrel.

Casting
In addition to writing and directing the series, Peterson reprises his role as Dug from the film. Ed Asner, voice actor of Carl Fredricksen from both the film and the series, died on August 29, three days before the series premiere, making it his first posthumous performance ever released and is dedicated in his memory. Unused archive recordings of Jordan Nagai as Russell were used in the episode "Science", as Nagai had retired from acting by the time the series entered development.

Due to lockdowns product of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cast had to remotely record most of their dialogue, though Asner managed to have a physical recording session a month prior to the lockdown, according to Collins.

Animation
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the series was animated remotely, with approximately 100 animators working on the series, a smaller number than usual for a Pixar production. All episodes were produced simultaneously. The series also had a tighter production schedule than most Pixar productions, due to being released on streaming.

For Carl's new home, animators created a design reminiscent of his old home while also being different. They also used similar design aesthetics for Carl's neighborhood. The animators also created new animation rigging, textures, and hair for the characters in order to update their original designs due to advances in CG animation ever since the original film's release. Carl's animation and movement was altered to reflect the events of the original film.

Music
The score for Dug Days was composed by Andrea Datzman and Curtis Green. Up composer and longtime Pixar collaborator Michael Giacchino was approached to return for the series, but declined due to scheduling issues, and instead recommended Andrea, who in turn contacted Curtis to help with the score. The score references Giacchino's work for the original film. According to producer Kim Collins, the score for each episode features different tones and themes. The score for the series was released in September 1, 2021.

Release
The first five episodes of Dug Days premiered on September 1, 2021 on Disney+. The sixth and final episode, Carl's Date, was originally scheduled to debut on Disney+ on February 10, 2023, but instead premiered in theaters on June 16, 2023, along with Pixar's Elemental. Carl's Date was also released on September 26, 2023 as a bonus feature included on the Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD releases of Elemental.

Critical response
Joel Keller of Decider found the humor of the series simple yet effective and praised the performances of the cast members, claimed that the interactions between the characters manage bring an emotional bond between them, while complimenting the animation. Joly Herman of Common Sense Media rated the series 4 out of 5 stars and complimented Dug Days for providing positive messages such as kindness and loyalty, while praising the depiction of diverse positive role models through the characters.

Accolades
Dug Days' fifth episode, "Science", received a nomination for Best Animated Television Production for Children at the 49th Annie Awards. At the 1st Children's and Family Emmy Awards, the series was nominated for Outstanding Directing for an Animated Program, Outstanding Writing for an Animated Program, and Outstanding Editing for an Animated Program (Torbin Xan Bullock). "Digged" won Best Animation/Family for a TV/Streaming Series at the 2022 Golden Trailer Awards.