Up: Just how old are Carl and Muntz?

We don't really get any exact dates in Disney/Pixar's Up, but we can extrapolate enough information to determine approximate ages for Carl Fredricksen and Charles Muntz.

First, the dates. In the opening newsreel Charles Muntz's dirigible, The Spirt of Adventure, is described as "longer than 22 prohibition paddy wagons placed end-to-end." Prohibition was from 1920-1933. I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say Up takes place from 1933 to 2009/present day.

Second, the ages. They don't mention Carl or Muntz's ages in the film, so we'll have to do a little detective work and some educated guessing. I think it's safe to assume that young Carl and Ellie are about the same age as the actors who voiced them. I can't find any info on Jeremy Leary, who voiced young Carl, but I learned that Elie Docter, who voiced young Ellie, was only seven at the time. Assuming Carl and Ellie the same age, they were seven in 1933, which makes present day Carl 83 years old. Charles Muntz is actually based on aviator Charles Lindberg. Lindberg was 31 in 1933, but only 25 when he made his famous transatlantic flight. Let's say Muntz was also 25 when he left for South America to give him the best chance of surviving to the end of the film. Even using numbers that give us the smallest window of time, that would still make Muntz 101 years old in the present day!

I don't know about you, but I just can't see how a 101-year-old could do all the things he did in this film. In fact, one of the helmets Muntz is knocking around in his blimp after the dinner scene should have been his own! Jack LaLanne was 93 when he died, so Carl's activity seems quite possible. But Muntz seems highly unlikely. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Up. One of my all time favorite movies. But when I think about the math it gives me a headache.