Disney+ Dug Days (from Up) (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

Disney+ will premiere Dug Days on September 1. This is a series of shorts which of course spun off from Up.

Unlike Monsters at Work which is currently airing, Dug Days is produced by Pixar. The director is Bob Peterson, who co-directed the film and also voiced Dug. More recently, he also directed the Toy Story 4 spinoff series Forky Asks a Question. In a bit of a departure for Disney+, all of the Dug episodes will drop simultaneously next week.






I think this looks delightful and I can't wait to watch.

 

[TravisR]

This news just made my day! And they got Ed Asner.

 

[Jake Lipson]

And they got Ed Asner.

I think they sort of had to get Ed Asner. I wouldn't be interested in something featuring Carl that didn't have Ed Asner voicing him. That being said, he's returning to a beloved role from a Best Picture nominated film. I don't know him and can't speak for him, but it doesn't seem like Pixar would have to do too much convincing.

That being said, I wonder what they're doing with Russell's voice. Jordan Nagai, who voiced Russell in the film, would seem to have aged out of the role. Also, he hasn't done any acting since Up except a single episode of The Simpsons which was also from 2009. But the couple seconds of Russell speaking in this trailer sound just like him. Either the casting director found a really perfect soundalike or, perhaps, if he's not in it too much, maybe they pieced together Russell's dialogue from outtakes and unused lines. Pixar has done that before with Randy Newman for Cars 3 and Don Rickles for Toy Story 4.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The previously scheduled timing of Dug Days release this week is now going to be bittersweet.

Ed Asner Dies: TV Icon Who Played Lou Grant Was 91

Ed Asner, the legendary Lou Grant actor, activist and philanthropist, passed away peacefully Sunday. He was 91.

deadline.com

 

[Jake Lipson]

This statement just went out from the official Pixar Twitter account:



And a longer version on Facebook:

Ed was our real life Carl Fredricksen: a veneer of grouch over an incredibly loving and kind human being. Russell, Dug, and all of us at Pixar will miss him terribly. Ed loved voicing Carl, and our time working with him will remain some our most beloved memories. His adventure was ours for a moment in time.

I wonder if they have time to edit the show to add a dedication card for Anser or not. It is supposed to release on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning 12:01am PST, so that would really be cutting it close.

I don't know if Dug Days was viewed as something renewable or as a one-off project, but I think Asner's passing ensures that it will turn into the latter. I'm not interested in hearing anyone else as Carl, and I'm definitely not interested in seeing Dug without Carl.

I'm sure I will watch all of the episodes on Wednesday because I won't be able to resist, but I almost wish they were going with weekly releases for this now, just to have new stuff with Asner as Carl coming out a little bit longer.

 

[TravisR]

I just watched the first one and it was as good as any comedic Pixar short.

 

[TravisR]

I wonder if they have time to edit the show to add a dedication card for Anser or not. It is supposed to release on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning 12:01am PST, so that would really be cutting it close.

I didn't see it but on Sunday, Al Jean (showrunner of The Simpsons) said on Twitter that that's night rerun was going to have a dedication card to Asner (who was in an episode in the late 90's) so if they can do it in a few hours, Disney + could do it by today if they choose to.

 

[Jason_V]

Got to watch the first episode this afternoon. It's 100% cute and I enjoyed it. In the span of ten minutes, my sympathies shifted from one character to another. I love when that happens and I don't really notice it until the story is over. Looking forward to watching the other four currently available.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Looking forward to watching the other four currently available.

Disney+ decided to drop the entire season at once like Netflix, so that's going to be it; there's no second batch in the future.

I think that in the light of Mr. Asner's passing, the series is basically unrenewable. I would not be interested in hearing anyone else play Carl, and I wouldn't want to watch Dug without Carl either.

I binged them all at midnight and thought they were great, but I kind of wish Disney had done one episode per week drops to be able to give us new Ed Asner material for just a little bit longer.

 

[Jason_V]

I think there is a way to keep this going, if they want to, without Carl's voice. This is a show about Dug and Carl is a side character, at least in the first episode. Would it be weird to have Dug running around by himself? Sure, maybe. But squeezing out a few episodes with minimal to no dialogue from Carl should be doable.

 

[TravisR]

Looking forward to watching the other four currently available.

I think I might stretch them out and watch one or two a day.

Disney+ decided to drop the entire season at once like Netflix, so that's going to be it; there's no second batch in the future.

I think that in the light of Mr. Asner's passing, the series is basically unrenewable. I would not be interested in hearing anyone else play Carl, and I wouldn't want to watch Dug without Carl either.

And Ed Asner has a pretty distinct voice so it'd be very hard to get a soundalike but MAYBE they could do something with existing clips of Carl? There was the movie, the Blu-ray short, this series of shorts, and I assume a video game so there could be enough material to make something else with. Even if they could do one more as a tribute to Carl/Ed Asner and release it in conjunction with a new Pixar movie.

...I kind of wish Disney had done one episode per week drops...

Me too but I guess since they're only about 10 minutes on average, Disney must have decided to release them all at once.

 

[Malcolm R]

They must have a bunch of unused recorded outtakes related to Up and this series. They can probably do something if they wanted to continue with Asner's voice. Though I still say no actor is irreplaceable in any role and if people enjoy the Dug series I doubt Asner would want it to end just because he's not around to continue.

 

[TravisR]

I think I might stretch them out and watch one or two a day.

That idea lasted for a few hours and I've just finished watching them all. As expected from Pixar, they're legitimately fun and sweet. The last scene is

Spoiler

a lovely ode to dogs/pets and a nice note for Carl and Ed Asner to go out on.

 

[Sam Favate]

Watched the first one - it was fun. Great animation and nice use of Dug, who has long been a fun character in the Pixar library.

 

[joshEH]

Noticed this as I was scrolling through Disney+ yesterday (literally just a couple of days after Asner's passing), and absolutely loved it. It's always great when you uncover unexpected little treats like these shorts.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The Disney+ ad for 2023 shows a really couple of shots of Carl from something called "Dug Days: Carl's Date."



This is a genuine surprise. Because Ed Asner passed away prior to the release of the previous season, I thought that would be all.

I hope that this is something Asner recorded before his death. I don't want to hear anyone else but Ed Asner voice Carl Fredericton. And because it is the new one is "Carl's Date," it seems impossible to do it as a Dug short without Carl in it.

 

[TravisR]

I hope that this is something Asner recorded before his death. I don't want to hear anyone else but Ed Asner voice Carl Fredericton. And because it is the new one is "Carl's Date," it seems impossible to do it as a Dug short without Carl in it.

On Twitter, Bob Peterson said it's Ed Asner. My guess is that it's a Carrie Fisher situation where they looked at what they had to use and wrote around that.

 

[Jake Lipson]

On Twitter, Bob Peterson said it's Ed Asner.

Good to know - thanks. I used to follow Bob Peterson, but I left Twitter shortly after Elon Musk took over. I don't like the culture he is building over there. So I'm out.

 

[TravisR]

Good to know - thanks. I used to follow Bob Peterson, but I left Twitter shortly after Elon Musk took over. I don't like the culture he is building over there. So I'm out.

I'm a sucker and stuck around Twitter even though it's now just some pathetic loser who spent $44 billion to make himself the main character of the app and have a group of sycophantic weirdos tell him he's great.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The new episode of Dug Days, "Carl's Date," premieres February 10.

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variety.com