Fails the Bechdel test
Up
2009. Directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, written by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson and Tom McCarthy.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
As a boy, Carl Fredricksen wanted to explore South America and find the forbidden Paradise Falls. About 64 years later he gets to begin his journey along with Boy Scout Russell by lifting his house with thousands of balloons. On their journey, they make many new friends including a talking dog, and figure out that someone has evil plans. Carl soon realizes that this evildoer is his childhood idol.
- Released
- 29 May 2009
- Genres
- Animation, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 8.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 88 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 81 wins & 88 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Carl 242 lines, man
- Russell 211 lines, man
- Muntz 59 lines, man
- Dug 49 lines, man
- Young Ellie 31 lines, woman
- Alpha 22 lines, man
- Newsreel Announcer 21 lines, man
- Gamma 15 lines, man
- Beta 12 lines, man
- Voice 8 lines
Full cast, 37 people
- Ed Asner as Carl Fredricksen (voice)
- Christopher Plummer as Charles Muntz (voice)
- Jordan Nagai as Russell (voice)
- Bob Peterson as Dug / Alpha (voice)
- Delroy Lindo as Beta (voice)
- Jerome Ranft as Gamma (voice)
- John Ratzenberger as Construction Foreman Tom (voice)
- David Kaye as Newsreel Announcer (voice)
- Elie Docter as Young Ellie (voice)
- Jeremy Leary as Young Carl (voice)
- Mickie McGowan as Police Officer Edith (voice)
- Danny Mann as Construction Worker Steve (voice)
- Donald Fullilove as Nurse George (voice)
- Jess Harnell as Nurse AJ (voice)
- Josh Cooley as Omega (voice)
- Pete Docter as Campmaster Strauch (voice)
- Mark Andrews as Additional Voices (voice)
- Bob Bergen as Additional Voices (voice)
- Brenda Chapman as Additional Voices (voice)
- Emma Coats as Additional Voices (voice)
- John Cygan as Additional Voices (voice)
- Paul Eiding as Additional Voices (voice)
- Tony Fucile as Additional Voices (voice)
- Teresa Ganzel as Additional Voices (voice)
- Sherry Lynn as Additional Voices (voice)
- Laraine Newman as Additional Voices (voice)
- Teddy Newton as Additional Voices (voice)
- Jeff Pidgeon as Additional Voices (voice)
- Valerie LaPointe as Additional Voices (voice)
- Jan Rabson as Additional Voices (voice)
- Bob Scott as Additional Voices (voice)
- Jeff Bennett as Dogs (voice) (uncredited)
- Corey Burton as Dogs (voice) (uncredited)
- Robert Clotworthy as Dogs (voice) (uncredited)
- David Cowgill as Dogs (voice) (uncredited)
- Tom Kenny as Dogs (voice) (uncredited)
- Paul Pape as Dogs (voice (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 182
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 4 | 27 |
| 5 to 8 | 14 | 0 |
| 9 to 12 | 17 | 3 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 16 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 43 |
| 53 to 56 | 2 | 1 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 7 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 1 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 19 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 14 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 6 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 7 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 8 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 35 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 64 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 88 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 4 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 53 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 36 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 59 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 35 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 12 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 5 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 7 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 5 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 13 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 7 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 9 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 7 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 8 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 4 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 6 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 16 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 1 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 6 |
| 177 to 180 | 0 | 18 |
| 181 to 182 | 0 | 10 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 5 are women's.
37 lines from women, 660 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 29 men in the cast. 2 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 29 of 714.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 587 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (401), men 93% (5,051). Women have 5% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
60
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Pete Docter (man)
- Written by
- Bob Peterson (man), Pete Docter (man)
- Story by
- Bob Peterson (man), Tom McCarthy (man), Pete Docter (man)
- Produced by
- Jonas Rivera (man)
- Shot by
- Jean-Claude Kalache (man), Patrick Lin (man)
- Edited by
- Kevin Nolting (man), Katherine Ringgold (woman)
- Music by
- Michael Giacchino (man)
- Production design by
- Ricky Nierva (man)
- Cast by
- Kevin Reher (man), Natalie Lyon (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
8 women, 25 men, 62 not listed
-
Other crew
5 women, 16 men, 46 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 26 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 6 men, 20 not listed
-
Lighting
2 women, 4 men, 12 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 7 men, 9 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 2 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Men: 52 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Jordan Nagai 9, Jerome Ranft 42, David Kaye 44, Bob Peterson 48, Delroy Lindo 56, John Ratzenberger 62, Ed Asner 79, Christopher Plummer 79
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $175 million
- Box office
- $735 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 182 scenes and 714 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
