His biggest series of adventures all in his own backyard.
Dug Days is a series of Pixar shorts released on Disney+ on September 1, 2021. It serves as a continuation of 2009's Up, where Carl Fredricksen and his dog, Dug, a canine who can communicate with a special collar, spend their days living in suburbia after the events of the movie, along with featuring Russell and a new character named Squirrel.A Grand Finale to the series, Carl's Date, came out in 2023.
These shorts contain examples of:
- Babysitting Episode: In the second episode, Carl and Dug look after a neighbor's puppies. It starts out adorable, then turns hilarious as Dug realizes how much work puppies are.
- Black Comedy:
- In "Squirrel!", after Dug causes all of Squirrel's nuts to roll down a sewer grate, he crawls up to Dug, opens Dug's mouth, and sticks his head in it.
- Dug also generally hopes Squirrel will die soon, though he doesn't want to be the one to do it.Dug: Do not be afraid of that squirrel. Maybe he will get dead soon. We do not know.
- In "Flowers", Dug has a dream that starts with him floating through a Fluffy Cloud Heaven. One of the beautiful visions he passes is a tree full of dead squirrels (though, since this is TV-G rated, the squirrels just lie there with cartoonish X-ed out eyes rather than anything graphic).
- Call-Back: Naturally, as a spinoff of Up.
- Carl and Dug's new house is a similar shade of yellow to Carl and Ellie's old house, and the nameplate by the door is made to look like the old house with the balloons attached.
- Dug tells the puppies, "I have just met you, and I love you."
- One of the puppies turning a dial on Dug's collar to change the language he's speaking calls back to Russell doing the same thing when they first met.
- Call-Forward: At the end of "Puppies", Dug asks Carl if they can get some puppies of their own. According to the end credits from Up, Dug will eventually get his wish and father a lot of puppies with a female golden retriever.
- Character in the Logo: The logo is a circle with the title and a couple of bone illustrations ringed on the outside, Dug sticks his head through the center.
- Continuity Nod:
- The opening credits starts off with Carl selling Muntz's airship and using the money to buy a new house.
- The weather vane looks like Kevin and her chicks.
- Carl places a picture of him and Ellie on the mantle in the opening credits.
- Dug is still the Alpha.
- Dug finds squirrels "getting dead" funny.
- Muntz is referenced in passing in "Science".
- Russell still has the "Ellie" badge.
- Russell mentions "Mr. Muntz", the villain from Up while reverse-engineering his voice collar.
- Creator Cameo: Pixar animators Jeff Pidgeon and Heather Eisner voice the fly and snail in "Science".
- Cuteness Equals Forgiveness: Lampshaded by Dug during "Puppies".Dug: (after losing his food and his treat) I continue to not be angry because the puppies are nice and cute.
- Disney Acid Sequence: Dug’s Dream Sequence, which initially resembles Dug’s vision of Heaven, turns into one of these when his anxieties bleed into it before he awakens.
- Dogs Love Fire Hydrants:
- Justified in "Smell", when Dug gets distracted by the fire hydrant while investigating the strange smell. He is able to smell the other dogs (and one human) that have peed there recently.
- Exaggerated in "Flowers", when Dug's dream fantasy includes a giant fire hydrant.
- Dramatic Irony: In "Flowers", when Carl mentions the fireworks are starting, any audience member who has ever owned a dog knows exactly what is about to go down.
- Dream Sequence: Dug gets one in "Flowers" after passing out.
- Dude, Not Funny!: In-universe. Dug realizes his jokes about squirrels getting dead are inappropriate when a squirrel with a translator collar can actually understand them.
- Easter Egg:
- Carl and Dug's house number, 333, was a reference to Bob Peterson's grandparents' home.
- The ferris wheel in the distance in "Flowers" is the same one from Toy Story 4.
- The house itself is full of references to Up:
- The baseball cap that hangs on Carl's coat rack has the initials "JR", for Up producer Jonas Rivera.
- One of Dug's chew toys is a reference to the stars from La Luna.
- Everytown, America: Carl and Dug appear to live in a typical suburb near where Carl and Ellie grew up, but a name is never given. Russell is implied to live next door.
- Fake Shemp: Since Jordan Nagai could not directly reprise his role as Russell (due to going through puberty and retiring from acting in general), the animators instead made use of archived and unused takes from his original Up recording sessions.
- Founding Day: In "Flowers", Carl and Dug return from a fair held for the town's 150th anniversary, with candy apples, a school marching band, and fireworks.
- House-Hunting Montage: The opening credits feature one with Dug and Carl.
- Instrumental Theme Tune: The opening theme tune is entirely instrumental and plays over a sequence of Carl selling off the airship, then selecting a new home along with Dug and moving into it.
- Lampshade Hanging: At one point, Carl has a discussion with Dug where he notes that part of Dug's role in life is to say moderately funny things.
- Out of Focus: Russell only appears in the "Science" short, where he shows up at the beginning and end, and is absent from the others, due to Jordan Nagai having aged out of the role and the studio using archived recordings of him.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: Dug wins an award for "Best Joke Told By a Dog". Presumably (given that his thought-translating collar isn't in common use) he was also the only contestant.
- Running Gag: The log pile in Carl's backyard gets knocked down almost Once an Episode.
- Samus Is a Girl: In "Science", the blue jay that appears in the first episode is shown to be female due to Russell's talking collars.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Squirrel is this for Dug. While naturally this falls into Dogs Hate Squirrels, Squirrel notably doesn't like Dug much either. Neither cause each other much harm, merely nuisance.
- Standard Snippet: "Flowers" features one from John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" during the fireworks scene.
- Translator Collar: Dug, naturally. In "Science", Russell figures out how to give other animals talking collars as well, temporarily attaching them to Squirrel, the bird from "Squirrel!", a fly, and a snail.
- Who's on First?: In "Smell" when Dug digs under the fence, he proudly proclaims that he "digged" it, Carl tries to correct him by pointing out that he "dug" it. But Dug thinks that Carl is referring to him by name.Dug: I digged them
Carl: Yeah, I can see that. And it's not "digged". It's "dug".
Dug: Yes?
Carl: No. You didn't "digged". You "dug".
Dug: I am Dug.
Carl: (groans) You're missing my point.
Dug: (points) Point! - What Happened to the Mouse?: While viewers get updates on Carl, Dug, and Russell's lives post-Up no mention is made of what happened to Muntz's other dogs. Carl's Date would later reveal what happened.
