Onward

Theatrical release poster

***Onward*** is an 2020 American computer-animated urban fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film is directed by Dan Scanlon, produced by Kori Rae from a screenplay written by Scanlon, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin, and stars the main voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, Ali Wong, Lena Waithe and Mel Rodriguez. It was released on March 6, 2020.

## Voice cast

* Tom Holland as Ian Lightfoot, a teenaged elf who is Barley's brother and Laurel's son.
* Chris Pratt as Barley Lightfoot, Ian's brother and Laurel's son who longs for a magical quest.
* Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Laurel Lightfoot, the widowed mother of Ian and Barley.
* Octavia Spencer as Corey, a manticore and restaurant owner who Ian and Barley go to for help on their quest.
* Ali Wong as Gore, a faun cop
* Lena Waithe as Specter, a cyclops cop
* Mel Rodriguez as Colt Bronco, a centaur cop.

### Additional Voices

* Carlos Alazraqui
* Bob Bergen
* Charlet Chung
* Chris Cox
* Terri Douglas
* Dave Foley
* Arya Hora
* Karen Huie
* Arif S. Kinchen
* Jennie Kwan
* Christian Lanz
* Kelsey Mann
* Spencer Mann
* Cullen McCarthy
* Allan McLeod
* Scott Menville
* Cristina Milizia
* Melanie Minichino
* Kamali Minter
* Jack Wade Nadler
* Arnie Pantoja
* George Psarras
* Kori Rae
* Michael Ralph
* Dan Scanlon
* Jessika Van
* Kari Wahlgren
* Diamond White
* Shondalia White
* Cedric L. Williams
* Debra Wilson
* Fryda Wolff

## Production

### Development

In July 2017, Pixar announced a "suburban fantasy world" film at the D23 Expo, with Scanlon directing and Rae producing. The film's inspired by Scanlon's father's death when Scanlon and his brother were younger, and their relationship. He decided to write the story after hearing an audio clip of his father. On December 12, 2018, the title was revealed. In 2019, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin were hired to rewrite the screenplay.

### Casting

On December 12, 2018, 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 did some of their recording sessions together since, according to Scanlon, "they've worked together before and hung out together". On December 17, 2019, Ali Wong, Lena Waithe and Mel Rodriguez joined the cast of the film.

### Music

On April 16, 2019, Mychael and Jeff Danna, who previously composed the score for Pixar's *The Good Dinosaur*, were revealed to be composing the film's score.

## Release

*Onward* was released on March 6, 2020 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

### Marketing

On May 29, 2019, two stills from the film, featuring Barley, Ian and their mother, were revealed. The following day, the film's teaser poster was released, and the teaser trailer debuted during ABC's broadcast of the 2019 NBA Finals. The trailer was also shown with *Toy Story 4* and *Spider-Man: Far From Home*. An official trailer was released on October 10, 2019. Another trailer was released on December 17, 2019.

## Lawsuit

On January 27, 2020; a lawsuit was filed by San Francisco tattoo artist named Sweet Cecily Daniher claiming that Pixar plagiarized her Unicorn Van design for the Van owned by Barley Lightfoot in the film. According to court documents Daniher has since 2014 owned a "tremendously cool, dark blue and/or purple 1972 Chevrolet G10 van, with red shag carpeting, red velour walls and seating, and a white shag carpet roof" with a unicorn mural painted on the side. Christened the "Vanicorn", Daniher claimed that after it was a feature in a "*The Best of San Francisco Magazine"*(published in July 2017) she was contacted in September 2018 by a Pixar representative who wished to rent the van for use in a one day music festival for Pixar employees and their families. She was assured that the "Vanicorn" "would just be a show piece and not used in any way other than a visual prop." On May 31, 2019 Daniher discovered the first promotional artwork that featured the van that looked suspiciously identical to her "Vanicorn". Daniher is currently suing Pixar for Copyright Infringement, violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, violation of the Visual Artists Rights Act and violation of the California Artists Protection Act. As of February 2020, the lawsuit is still pending.