We have two things happening at the end of Up. Let’s start with the easy one: Carl and Russell eating ice cream on the curb, counting red and blue cars.

This is a callback to the story that Russell told Carl about his dad. They had a post-Wilderness Lodge meeting ritual: head to Fentons, load up on chocolate and butter brickle, and count cars. Whoever spots the most, wins. The fact that Carl is subbing in for Russell’s AWOL dad and the end of Up cements Carl’s new role in the kid’s life. In short, he’s going to be there for him through thick and thin and lots of delicious frozen calories.

The other part of the ending is far more mysterious. In the last shot of the film, we see Carl and Ellie’s house sitting next to Paradise Falls, just like in Ellie’s childhood drawing. How did that get there?

We’d posit that Ellie nudged it there, and here’s why.

The balloons that kept the house afloat symbolize Ellie’s buoyant personality. Just like Carl fills in for Russell’s dad, those bright, vivacious balloons are a stand-in for Ellie. Furthermore, Carl talks to Ellie repeatedly throughout the movie. She may not be part of the jungle journey, physically, but she’s definitely there in spirit. So when the house gets cut loose in Carl’s climactic battle with Muntz, Ellie guides their home to where it needs to be.

What do you think? Does Ellie steer the house to Paradise Falls, or should we just chalk its perfect placement up to movie magic? Either way, it’s a sweet ending to this chapter in Carl and Ellie’s adventure-stuffed love story.