Up (animation)/Tear Jerker

Pixar already had a reputation for being good at getting viewers to cry, but even then, Up is considered one of its most tear-jerking movies yet.

"Russel: Cross your heart? Carl: *pauses* ... Cross my heart."
 * The intro.  The creators were worried that the old man's reasons for going on his fantastic voyage would appear to be.
 * Ellie only cries once in the movie. It's when she's given the bad news by the doctor, just as she and Carl were painting a spare room with a nursery mural. From what we saw, Ellie wanted lots of babies, gesturing during a picnic that she sees a sky full of them. Carl fortunately has an idea to cheer her up: save for a trip to Paradise Falls!
 * Note that Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, who thought WALL-E could stand to be half an hour shorter, was pretty much blown away by that intro.
 * It got worse when I saw it in theaters: Right after Carl left the church and went home after the funeral, a little kid in the audience started crying and asked his mom "Why is the old man so sad?".
 * There is a reason why Michael Giacchino won the Oscar for Best Score that year...
 * The first ten minutes, as well as anytime the plot turns to Carl and Ellie.
 * Ellie as her dying wish gives her scrapbook to Carl, after taping in some new pictures. We find out later that she wanted to show him how their life was her biggest adventure, releasing him from the promise and she doesn't regret any minute of it.
 * "Stuff I'm Going To Do." Dear lord, I lost it.
 * The image of Carl sitting at the funeral, just holding a balloon and looking like he has no clue what to do. That just completely destroyed any semblance of composure that I had.
 * Notice that the church that Carl's sitting in? It's the same church that he and Ellie got married in.
 * Speaking of promises:

"Carl: Phyllis? You call your own mother by her first name? Russell: Phyllis isn't my mom."
 * When Dug gets called "bad dog" by someone he loves so much. Dug's heart is visibly broken.
 * The saga of Russell's parents.

"Dug: Can I stay? Carl: Of course you can, you're my dog, aren't you? And I'm your master! Dug: You are my master?! Oh boy, oh boy!"
 * Somewhere halfway between Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and Epic Tearjerker. The scene at the end, where it shows the house on the cliff... It's mighty powerful.
 * Many of the key Tearjerker moments can easily be attributed to Michael Giacchino's wonderful score during those dialogue-less moments. Hell, just listening to certain tracks ("Married Life", "The Ellie Badge" and "Things We Did" for those following along at home) makes those tears well up all over again.
 * What struck me was the fact that the house seemed so insignificant when he first gets it there, but when it lands there by chance, it was as big as it was in the picture that Ellie had made as a child. This might even be a metaphor for Carl's heart, as it seemed to grow since the first time the house landed.
 * After everything Russell did to get his badge, his father still didn't show up for the ceremony. He went to another country, navigated a house through a storm, and risked his life to save an innocent bird friend from a scientist. Russell takes it well, but you can see how much of an effort it is until Carl comes, and says that he'll be standing with Russell on the stage.
 * Another one that can be interpreted as heartwarming and sad at the same time: "Russell, for assisting the elderly, and for performing above and beyond the call of duty, I would like to award you  After watching the movie, we all know how much this means for both Russell and Carl.
 * Speaking of Russell, his story of his father and him would sit at the corner and count cars while eating ice cream ending it with "I know that sounds dull, but the dull moments are the ones I miss the most." Thinking of the times I spent with my dearly departed, yeah.
 * After finally making it to Paradise Falls, and settling the house, Carl sits in his chair. He's lost for a moment. Then he has Ellie's scrapbook in his hand. Forlornly, he turns the pages, stopping at the Stuff I'm Going To Do. He looks up to the ceiling, tears in his eyes. Then he sees something on the next page, and turns it. It's a photograph of their wedding; revealed Ellie filled the section with notes and photos from their married life. Carl can't stop reading, with a new sense of wonder.
 * "Thanks for the adventure! Now go have another one."
 * If you can see those nine words in context without bawling like a baby (or at a bare minimum Manly Tears), you have a heart of stone.
 * I didn't cry during the first ten minutes, but after those words I SOBBED and I've made it through the Toy Story series without tears.
 * Dug being thrown from the cliff by Alpha and whimpering in pain.
 * Kevin calling desperately to her babies after being injured, and making it just a few steps towards them before collapsing.
 * When Carl accidentally hits the construction worker with his walking frame; you can tell by the look on his face he didn't want to hurt the guy who was actually being somewhat nice to him. It made this troper tear up.
 * The look on Dug's face when he says "I do not like the cone of shame".
 * The Dug hiding under the porch scene was both this and a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming:


 * "I was hiding under your porch because I love you!"
 * To see Carl, after repetitively telling Dug "I'M NOT YOUR MASTER!" and even insulting him unfairly earlier on, accept and give back the retriever's affection (and giving us the final proof he's finally moving on), made me almost weep with happiness.
 * Dug's line immediately afterwards is made of this too. He just gets the happiest look he's ever had (which is quite a feat, since "happy" is his default expression) and joyfully cries out "YOU'RE MY MASTER?!" before jumping up and licking Carl's face.
 * Listen to Muntz's theme song from the credits, and keep in mind Carl and Ellie's relationship. Then try not to hear it as a love song from Carl to Ellie: "My spirit of adventure is you..." *sniffle* Again, a very good reason the score won the Oscar...
 * If you believe that Ellie's spirit was watching over the house and her husband, which certain scenes imply, that adds a whole new layer of sadness to the movie. Carl fights to keep the last remnant of his wife alive, while talking to her on a regular basis. Then he has to let her go to rescue Russell and Kevin, by using the house to storm the Spirit of Adventure. In the climax, the house hose comes off just in time for Carl, Kevin and Dug to grab on, and several balloons latch onto Charles Muntz before he can shoot them. After doing so, the house gracefully floats down to Earth, and lands just in the spot where Ellie wanted it to be. You can interpret it as Ellie pulling a Heroic Sacrifice to keep a child and innocent creatures alive, which is in-character.
 * The fact that Carl kept 'The Ellie Badge' after all those years.
 * A meta example is how a 10-year-old cancer patient had very much wanted to see the film, but was bed-ridden and hooked up to life support. Her mother contacted Pixar, and Pixar sent representatives to screen a DVD copy of the film for the girl, and give her some movie tie-in merchandise for free. At that point, the girl was unable to open her eyes, and so her mother described every scene to her as she watched the movie. She passed away several hours afterwards - but she left happy, having seen Up.
 * What's so awesome about this was how Pixar took no credit for this; they didn't hype it up as "Hey, look, we're helping this girl." They did it simply because it was the right thing to do.