Onward is a 2020 American animated fantasy adventure film directed by Dan Scanlon and written by Scanlon, Jason Headley, and Keith Bunin. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, it stars the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer. The film, set in a suburban fantasy world for the modern day, follows two elf brothers named Ian and Barley Lightfoot (Holland and Pratt, respectively) who set out on a quest to find an artifact that will temporarily revive their dead father, Wilden (Kyle Bornheimer) for twenty-four hours.
After directing Monsters University (2013), Scanlon was encouraged to develop personal stories. The concept of Onward is based on the death of Scanlon's father, who died in a car accident when Scanlon and his older brother were very young children, and their relationship with each other. He began to write the story after hearing an audio clip of his father. The film was announced at D23 Expo in July 2017, with the title being revealed in December 2018, alongside the voice cast. The animation team chose to give the film's magic a unique style after studying several animated films featuring magic in order to fit with its suburban setting. Development on Onward lasted for six years. Composers Mychael and Jeff Danna were hired to compose the film's musical score, with Brandi Carlile contributing an original end credits song for the film.
Onward premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2020, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 6, 2020. The film received positive critical reception, but underperformed at the box office, grossing $141 million worldwide against its between $175–200 million budget. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to its financial shortcomings, due to the widespread closure of theaters. Like several other films released in the early months of 2020, it found far greater success on VOD. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 78th Golden Globe Awards and 93rd Academy Awards. Onward was the last Pixar film released in theaters worldwide until Lightyear in 2022.
Plot
Long ago, in a world inhabited by mythical creatures, magic was commonplace, although it was difficult to master. As technology progressed over the centuries, magic became obsolete and eventually fell out of use.
In the modern day, Ian Lightfoot is a teenage elf struggling with self-confidence; his older brother Barley is an enthusiastic and impulsive role-playing gamer. Their father Wilden died shortly before Ian's birth, and their mother Laurel has a new boyfriend, centaur police officer Colt Bronco, whom the brothers dislike. On Ian's 16th birthday, Laurel gives the boys a gift from Wilden: a magical staff, a rare Phoenix gem, and a letter describing a "visitation spell" that can resurrect Wilden for one day. Ian succeeds in casting the spell but is interrupted by Barley before completing it; consequently, only the lower half of Wilden's body reforms before the gem disintegrates. The brothers embark on a quest to acquire another gem and finish the spell before sunset, taking Barley's beloved van "Guinevere". Laurel discovers the boys have gone missing and sets out after them.
Seeking a map to the gem, the brothers visit the Manticore's Tavern with Wilden in tow. The tavern, once a gathering place for would-be adventurers, is now a family restaurant managed by the Manticore ("Corey"). During an argument with Ian over the map, Corey realizes how mundane her life has become and drives out her customers in a fit of rage, accidentally setting fire to the map and the restaurant. The only remaining clue to the gem's location is a children's menu suggesting Raven's Point, a nearby mountain. Soon after the boys leave, Laurel arrives and befriends Corey; Corey warns her that the brothers' journey may awaken a curse that can only be defeated by her special sword, which the women steal from a pawn shop.
Ian, Barley, and Wilden travel to the mountains, narrowly escaping encounters with the police and a motorcycle gang of sprites. Officer Bronco catches up to the group and orders them to return home; Ian appears to comply but unexpectedly drives away, leading to a wild police chase. Barley sacrifices Guinevere to cause a landslide, blocking their pursuers. "Raven's Point" is revealed to be a series of raven statues leading down into a cave. While exploring, Barley confesses that he was too afraid to say goodbye to Wilden on his deathbed. The party make their way through the cave, evading a series of increasingly dangerous traps, and emerge on the other side, only to find themselves back in town in front of Ian's high school. Believing their quest has been in vain, Ian lashes out at Barley and calls him a screw-up before leaving with Wilden.
As the sun begins to set, Ian sadly reviews his list of things he always wanted to do with his father and realizes that Barley has been a father figure to him throughout his life. Meanwhile, Barley discovers the gem inside a historic fountain and retrieves it, unknowingly triggering the curse. Pieces of the high school and other nearby objects combine to form a dragon-shaped golem, intent on retrieving the gem. Corey flies in with Laurel, who drives the magic sword into the dragon's heart, giving Ian enough time to recast the visitation spell. As Wilden's upper body regenerates, Barley volunteers to distract the dragon so Ian can meet their father. Instead, Ian sends Barley ahead, acknowledging the role his brother played in his upbringing. With help from Laurel, Ian manages to fight off the dragon and destroy it, granting Barley the opportunity to find closure with their father. After Wilden dissipates, Barley tells Ian that their father is proud of him, and the brothers share a hug.
Some time later, Ian's confidence and spell-casting abilities have improved. As the world begins to rediscover magic, Ian and Barley set off on a new quest together.
Voice cast Tom Holland as Ian Lightfoot, a teenager elf who longs for his deceased father. Chris Pratt as Barley Lightfoot, Ian's older brother, who longs for a magical quest. Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Laurel Lightfoot, the widowed mother of Ian and Barley Octavia Spencer as "Corey" The Manticore, a manticore who is the proprietor of the Manticore's Tavern. Kyle Bornheimer as Wilden Lightfoot, Ian and Barley's late father. Ian and Barley's objective is to resurrect him for 24 hours. Mel Rodriguez as Colt Bronco, a centaur police officer and Laurel's boyfriend. Lena Waithe as Specter, a cyclops police officer. Ali Wong as Gore, a faun police officer. Grey Griffin as Dewdrop, a pixie and the leader of the Pixie Dusters biker gang. Tracey Ullman as Grecklin, a goblin pawn shop owner. Wilmer Valderrama as Gaxton, an elf and college friend of Wilden. George Psarras as Avel, an elf police officer. John Ratzenberger as Fennwick, a cyclops construction worker. This was Ratzenberger's final role in a Pixar feature film until Inside Out 2 (2024), having voiced a character in every prior feature film.
Production
Development While directing Monsters University (2013), Dan Scanlon was encouraged to develop personal stories. He did not talk to his brother about the film, because he wanted to keep him in the dark as these movies take so long to make. In July 2017, then-studio head of Pixar John Lasseter announced that a "suburban fantasy world" film at the D23 Expo was in development, with Scanlon directing and Kori Rae producing. The film was inspired by the death of Scanlon's father, when he was just a year old and his older brother only three, and their relationship with each other. They had seen home videos about their father, but there was no audio. Scanlon became inspired to write the story after a family member found an old cassette with his father's voice on it. He listened to it along with his brother and mother, and at the very end just two words from the father could be heard; "Hii" and "Goodbye", which Scanlon described as "magical".'Onward' Director Breaks Down How Pixar Makes Movies & Debuts New Footage at CCXP - Collider On December 12, 2018, the title was revealed. In 2019, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin were hired to rewrite the screenplay and story. According to Scanlon, Onward spent six years in development.
Casting On December 12, 2018, Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer were announced as starring in the film. While having recorded most of their lines separately, Holland and Pratt had some of their recording sessions together since, according to Scanlon, "they've worked together before and hung out together." Rae stated that Holland and Pratt improvised some of their lines while recording together. On December 17, 2019, Ali Wong, Lena Waithe and Mel Rodriguez joined the cast of the film. On February 18, 2020, Wilmer Valderrama, Tracey Ullman, Kyle Bornheimer, and George Psarras were revealed to have voice roles as well, and John Ratzenberger's appearance was officially confirmed.
Deleted scene One storyboard scene featured Ian, Barley, and Wilden joining with a goat girl in the journey. Ian and the goat girl come across a booth hosted by three evil mermaids. The mermaids sing their mesmerizing song to lure the two into staying in one of three houses put for rent. Ian tries to silence them with the staff but the spell is too weak. When Ian and the goat girl are finally in a trance, the mermaids place them in one of the houses. The house they are in starts to sink into the ground.
The goat girl was omitted because the filmmakers wanted the film to focus on the relationship between Ian and Barley. The scene itself was removed because the filmmakers felt it was too grim.
Animation According to effects supervisor Vincent Serritella, the animators wanted the spells to be "something that's abstract" but also "personify it", so they "had to converge on the idea of an image of magic, go back to the base level of the sequences and the spells, and what level [of complexity] would be given, and how it affects the environment". Director Dan Scanlon said that Ian's arc "was helpful to [the animators] because [they] could use that for all of the magic we designed". The animators chose to give the film's magic a unique style after studying several animated films featuring magic such as Fantasia, Aladdin, and Hercules. Animators wanted the film's magic to fit with its suburban setting.
Animators first developed the film's magic using hand-drawn animated drawings, before turning them into computer-animated effects, with Serritella saying that "[they] made shapes and graphic elements that really lend themselves to what's happening in a 2D environment". Serritella also said that "the key" was mixing hand-drawn and computer animation, arguing that "[g]oing one way or the other didn't work. Going too graphic didn't fit into the world that the background and the characters were created in. And going too physical in an animated world seemed too real", so "[they] found the right balance" by turning hand-drawn animated graphics into "light objects" and giving them "[a] true volumetric, glowing atmosphere". He further added that the choreography during the "visitation spell" sequence "came directly from 2D", while the CGI animation and lighting provided "depth perception". The film was completed on November 21, 2019.
Music
On April 16, 2019, Mychael and Jeff Danna, who both previously worked with the studio on The Good Dinosaur (2015), were revealed to be the film's composers. On February 12, 2020, Brandi Carlile revealed she recorded the song "Carried Me With You" for the film's end credits, co-written with Phil and Tim Hanseroth. The film's soundtrack was released on February 28, 2020, seven days ahead of the film's release.
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