Onward (film)

Onward is a 2020 American animated urban fantasy adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Dan Scanlon, produced by Kori Rae, and written by Scanlon, Jason Headley, and Keith Bunin. The film stars the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer. Set in a suburban fantasy world for the modern day, the film follows two elf brothers named Ian and Barley Lightfoot (Holland and Pratt) who set out on a quest to find an artifact that will temporarily revive their deceased 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 inspired by 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, on an approximate between $175–200 million budget. Composers Mychael and Jeff Danna were hired to compose the film's musical score, with Brandi Carlile contributing an original 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 generally positive reviews from critics, but underperformed at the box office, grossing $142 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 June 2022.
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 sixteenth 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.
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". 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In the month of the release of the film, the world builder video game Disney Magic Kingdoms included a limited time "Onward Event" to promote it, with the characters involved in a new storyline unrelated to the events of the film, including Ian, Barley, Wilden (referred to as "Dad"), Laurel, The Manticore, Officer Colt and Blazey as playable characters, in addition to some attractions based on locations of 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. A short film titled Playdate with Destiny, which is centered around Maggie Simpson from The Simpsons, appeared before the feature film. As the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to recede, the film was released in Australia and New Zealand on April 24, 2020, South Korea on June 17, 2020, Italy on August 19, 2020, and Japan on August 21, 2020..
The movie was also released in 3D, 2D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX and ScreenX worldwide and in IMAX and Dolby Atmos in selected theaters.
The film was banned in the Arab countries of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, as one female cyclops police officer character in the film named Specter (voiced by Lena Waithe) briefly indicates that she is a lesbian. The scene in question is a brief scene in which a simulacrum of Colt Bronco is lamenting about how Ian and Barley Lightfoot do not respect him as a father figure. Specter replies to him by saying, "It's not easy being a new parent—my girlfriend's daughter got me pulling my hair out, okay?" Homosexual acts are criminalized in the four countries, which are predominantly Muslim, although Kuwait does not criminalize female homosexual acts. The film was screened in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Egypt, albeit the line was changed in the Arabic dub to "my sister's daughter".
The Russian dub, due to the Russian gay propaganda law officially criminalizing the dissemination of LGBT-related content to minors under 18, changed the line to "my partner's daughter". The Russian dub also avoided referring to Specter with gender-specific pronouns. The scene was also changed similarly in Poland and Hungary.
Onward was released digitally on the night of March 20, 2020, and became available for Disney+ subscribers on April 3, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The digital date was just two weeks after the film's theatrical debut and before the end of the usual 90-day theatrical run. The announcement followed Disney's earlier than planned release of Frozen II on Disney+ as well as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Digital HD in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was later released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on May 19, 2020.
Onward ranked as No. 1 on iTunes and No. 8 on Amazon among all rental offerings as of March 22, 2020. It was the sixth-most watched film on Amazon Prime and second-most on the iTunes as of March 26, 2020. The film claimed the top spot on the U.K. Official Film Chart for the week ending October 21, 2020. It overtook Warner Bros's Scoob!, which had been at the top for four consecutive weeks. It maintained its position at No. 1 on the U.K. Official Film Chart for the week ending October 28, 2020, driven largely by strong DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales, which accounted for 90% of its sales. It finished ahead of Frozen II.
Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, calculated that Onward was watched for 8.3 billion minutes in 2020.
Onward grossed $61.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $80.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $142 million. The gross of the film was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which first reduced movie theater attendance, then forced most to shut down within two weeks of the film's release.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside The Way Back and the wide expansion of Emma, and was projected to gross $45–50 million from 4,200 theaters in its opening weekend. The film held early advance screenings on February 29, making $650,000 from 470 theaters. It then grossed $12.1 million on its first day, the 6th, including $2 million from Thursday night previews. The film went on to debut to $39.1 million, topping the box office but marking the third-ever lowest start for a Pixar film. While the film remained in first in its second weekend, it dropped 73% to $10.5 million (the lowest-ever second weekend for a Pixar film), and was part of the lowest grossing box office weekend since October 1998, with all films combining for just $55.3 million. In the film's third weekend, due to the mass theater closures around the country, it made $71,000 from 135 locations, mostly drive-in theaters.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on 348 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "It may suffer in comparison to Pixar's classics, but Onward makes effective use of the studio's formula – and stands on its own merits as a funny, heartwarming, dazzlingly animated adventure." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale (tied with Cars 2 for the lowest score received by a Pixar film), and PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film three out of five stars, and called it "a likable family comedy that finds an easy rhythm without effort," though he felt that the movie's "attitude towards death" is not as radically powerful as in Coco. In a same star review Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said "It's no Toy Story—but the animation juggernaut's latest, about two elf brothers on a quest, is still worth your while." Reviewer James Berardinelli praised the film's originality and emotional weight and called it "engaging and enjoyable", adding "there's something here for everyone", though concluded it is not the next Disney/Pixar classic. Ben Travis of Empire gave the film five out of five stars, and wrote, "Pixar returns with a great big power-chord of a movie—heart-pumping, resonant, and positively harmonious."
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times called Onward a step back for Pixar, giving it two out of four stars. He said, "The story fluctuates between the uninspired and the just plain weird and then gets even weirder." While he praised the animation and said that the movie "begins with an intriguing premise", he concluded that it "doesn't come close to fully fleshing out the possibilities."
In January 2020, San Francisco tattoo artist Sweet Cicely Daniher filed a copyright lawsuit against Disney, Pixar, and Onward producer Kori Rae. In September 2018, Pixar rented Daniher's "Vanicorn", a van decorated with a unicorn-themed mural painted by a local artist and based on the painting “Moonlight Magic” by Sharlene Lindskog-Osorio, for use at an event on the Pixar Animation Studios lot in September 2018. She learned about the production of Onward in May 2019 and, after seeing images of the van used by Ian and Barley Lightfoot in the film, came to believe that Pixar had copied the design of the Vanicorn in violation of her rental agreement with the company, as well as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Visual Artists Rights Act, and the California Artists Protection Act. She sought in her suit to prohibit distribution of the film and any infringing advertisement or merchandise. The case was dismissed, after Daniher's copyright on the design was cancelled in March 2020 as it was "based on a pre-existing work" and that "she was not the author of the Vanicorn, because she hired someone to paint the unicorn mural". Daniher then attempted to sue Pixar for breach of the Lease Contract, but this second lawsuit was denied in May 2022.