BACKGROUND
By the beginning of 2020, Disney were riding high on the commercial success of Frozen II, which had been released to theatres in November 2019, in time for the holiday season.
Meanwhile, Pixar were gearing up for their first movie release of the year. Onward was going to be Pixar’s first-ever March release. But there wasn’t too much concern. After all, there doesn’t tend to be too much competition in the cinemas in March, and Disney had been very successful with their most recent March release Zootopia in 2016.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, we all know what happened in March 2020. As the world watched the ongoing situation with concern, some of us were determined to go about our normal lives while we could, whilst others were being more cautious, so a trip to their local movie theatre probably wasn’t part of their plans. This would’ve been a concern to Pixar.
I did watch Onward in the cinema with my family prior to the UK lockdown. It was one of the last things any of us did before everything descended into chaos, and we will always remember Onward for that reason. Although Onward was not met with critical acclaim, despite Pixar’s current standing as one of the top animation studios, I did like Onward, as did my family. It was a personal connection to the emotional story that touched me.
Sadly, it didn’t even matter that we and some others turned out to the movie theatres to watch Onward because three weeks after its release, much of the world was living with restrictions, and one of those was to close non-essential businesses, including movie theatres. Pixar’s hopes of financial success for Onward were shattered.
It might be slightly inaccurate to blame COVID-19 for the downfall of Onward because it was claimed that box-office takings weren’t hugely different compared to what was expected at that point in the year. Onward did not get amazing reviews so perhaps that was the issue. It was quite a different type of story from the studio and the movie’s trailer didn’t help audiences understand what it was about.
For whatever reason, Onward remains as one of Pixar’s “flops”. Not necessarily through any fault of its own, but that is what it is remembered for, if it’s even remembered at all. If you weren’t aware of Onward before the lockdown, you probably wouldn’t have been interested in watching it afterwards. Unlucky timing had destroyed yet another movie.
PLOT
Onward begins with a narrator telling the audience that long ago, this world was full of wonder, adventure, excitement – and magic. Because it was difficult to master, magic faded away from the land, as new discoveries, such as electricity, made life easier.
In present day, we see that this area has become a suburban world very similar to our own but with the presence of fantasy creatures, like unicorns, centaurs, dragons, and elves. And it is an elf’s sixteenth birthday that begins this story. This elf is called Ian. He is socially awkward, struggling to make friends at school, and is quiet and shy. His older brother, Barley, on the other hand, is loud, brash, and overly confident. Barley is also obsessed with a role-playing board game, kind of like Dungeons & Dragons, called Quests of Yore, which references the magic that used to exist in this town, New Mushroomton.
On his birthday, Ian has plans for the day, like finally inviting that group of kids from his class to come to his house for a party, and being able to overcome his fear of driving during a driver’s ed class. But that doesn’t exactly work out…Plus, Barley comes to pick him up from school in his unicorn-emblazoned van called Guinevere, wanting to perform a special birthday ritual, which just embarrasses Ian further and he rushes back home.
At home, Ian listens to an old tape of his dad talking. Barley and Ian’s father is no longer with them, having passed away when Barley was just three years old and before Ian was even born. Ian and Barley’s mother gives them a gift from their father, which was to be handed to them when both of them had turned sixteen. They open it to find a wizard staff. Barley is ecstatic to find that their father dabbled in magic and wizardry, reading the gift’s accompanying letter which has a spell written on it; a visitation spell that will allow the boys to have 24 hours with their dad. Barley locates the phoenix gem in the package that is necessary to assist the spell and begins to recite the spell… Nothing happens. Barley tries again, and again, and again. Still, nothing happens. Disappointed, Ian wants to be left alone, all his hopes of finally meeting his dad and making his birthday worthwhile crushed.
Ian then starts to recite the spell alone in his room. To his surprise, it works and the staff begins to slowly reveal their father to him. Barley comes in to the room and sees Ian struggling with the power of the magic. Trying to help, he rushes towards the staff, only for the phoenix gem to shatter. Barley and Ian don’t see their dad in the room, however, a pair of legs in trousers make their way out of Ian’s wardrobe. They only managed to make half of their dad appear, so he can’t see or hear them. Barley says they should just find another phoenix gem and do the spell again since Ian has the gift of magic. Ian needs some convincing but wanting to see his dad – all of him – he agrees to go along with Barley’s seemingly crazy plan. Using Quests of Yore as a reference, Barley takes them to the Manticore’s Tavern to begin their quest.
At the Manticore’s Tavern, they discover that it is just a medieval-themed restaurant now, run by the overworked, stressed-out manticore Corey. Barley and Ian ask for the map to the phoenix gem. They are promptly passed one of the kids’ menus, but Barley wants the real map, seeing that it is still on the wall of the tavern. With all this talk of magic and quests, Corey is sad about what she has become, seeing her own quote on the wall about having to take risks in life to have an adventure, and starts to go wild, ripping the head off her restaurant’s walkaround mascot, kicking all of her customers out, and setting fire to the place. The map catches on fire, and Barley and Ian rush away from the chaos, with Ian managing to use a levitation spell to save their father’s legs from perishing in the fire, this spell needing your “heart’s fire” in order to be successful.
Outside, back at the van, Ian thinks their quest is all over without the map, but Barley has picked up one of the kids’ menus, where someone has finished the puzzle on it, which states they need to go to Raven’s Point to find the gem. Ian wants to take the expressway there, as he wants more time with their dad, but Barley says they should take the Path of Peril so it is like a real quest. Ian wins on this one and they get on the expressway.
Meanwhile, Ian and Barley’s mother, Laurel, has found they are not at home, and goes out to try and find them. She gets to the Manticore’s Tavern and speaks to Corey. Corey calms their mother down, saying she sent them on a quest – but then she realises she forgot to tell them about the curse! Laurel says they have to get to them quickly, but the police want to speak to Corey about how the fire started. Laurel manages to lie to the police and gets Corey into her car so they can follow the boys.
Back with Ian and Barley, the van has run out of gas, so they pull off the road to fill up, but Barley only has a few drops of fuel left in his jerrycan. Barley gets an idea, that Ian should do a spell to increase the size of the petrol can so the few drops in it will become bigger. Barley gets Ian into the right stance to do the spell and says he has to focus. As Ian tries to do the spell though, he becomes distracted by all Barley’s comments and the can doesn’t increase in size. Instead, Barley ends up shrinking… Fed up with this delay, Ian takes Barley and their dad to the nearest gas station to get more fuel. At the gas station, a motorbike gang of sprites have arrived. Ian tries to ignore them so they can just pay for the fuel and get out of there without any trouble. But Barley, still sprite-sized, decides he has to tell the sprites that they can actually fly so don’t need bikes. The sprite leader accuses Barley of calling them “lazy” and a chase ensues. Because of Barley’s tiny stature, Ian has to drive the van. Ian is anxious but he knows they have no choice as the sprites attack them. At one point, the sprites get inside, but using Barley’s van’s incredibly powerful air con unit, the sprites are blown away. Ian then crosses three lanes of traffic and gets to the exit. The sprites almost crash their bikes, but instead of crashing, they discover they really can fly!
Corey and Laurel are on their way to a pawn shop to retrieve Corey’s enchanted sword, the Curse Crusher, since that is the only way the boys will be able to defeat the curse. The curse will take the form of a dragon to fight them after they touch the phoenix gem. At the pawn shop, Laurel is about to pay for the sword when Corey starts explaining about how rare and powerful it is. The shop owner then raises the price so Laurel can no longer afford it. Corey decides instead of wasting their time negotiating the price, she’ll just sting the owner, paralysing them, so they can get out of there. Laurel throws some money on the desk and apologies, as Corey takes the sword and rushes back to the car.
Meanwhile, Barley and Ian have been pulled over by the police. Their father, with a top-half fashioned out of clothing by Ian, comes out of the van, immediately raising suspicions. Barley, who has returned to normal size, wants Ian to use a disguising spell, but to keep it working, Ian cannot lie. The spell is enacted and they become Officer Colt Bronco, who happens to be their mother’s boyfriend. Ian, pretending to be Officer Bronco, manages to get them out of trouble by saying he was on a driving lesson with Ian. However, as the officers are about to let them go, one of them calls Barley “a screw up” and when Ian tries to say that isn’t true, he is shown to be lying as part of the disguise slips.
They drive away again. Barley pulls over suddenly, upset. The two argue, with Ian trying to make things right again for what was said, but they are distracted by their dad who has started dancing to music that is playing on the van’s radio. They discover their dad was a really terrible dancer! After that brief interlude, Ian asks Barley where he thinks they should go next. Barley wants to go on the Path of Peril so they do. Unbeknownst to the boys, the officers from earlier contacted Officer Bronco as he seemed to be acting weird. Bronco knows it must be something with the boys so he drives around looking for them. He then sees a bumper sticker from the van at the entrance to the Path of Peril and follows it.
In the morning, Ian and Barley find themselves stuck as they come to a bottomless pit with a drawbridge that can only be lowered on the other side. You know what that means; time for another spell! Barley tells Ian to use a spell to make an invisible bridge, but the catch with this one is that he has to trust the bridge is there or the spell won’t work. Ian isn’t sure about this, so insists a rope is tied around his waist. Sure enough, when Ian tries to use the spell, he falls into the pit. Thanks to the rope, Barley pulls him back up. He warns Ian he needs to trust himself but the rope is a good safety measure. Ian tries again – and it works. He makes his way over the canyon, however, midway through, Barley sees that the rope has slipped off Ian. He tries to hurry Ian over the gap without alarming him, but one step from the end, Ian notices there is no rope and panics. He falls, but luckily, he grabs on to the side of the cliff and pulls himself up. Ian then lowers the bridge. Phew, that was a close one.
On the other side of the bridge, Barley notices a raven statue. He wonders if “raven’s point” actually means they need to follow where this raven is pointing. Before they can go on though, Officer Bronco shows up and tells them they need to get home. Ian pretends to follow his orders, but swiftly drives away, so the police pursue them. At the end of the road, they find themselves trapped. Barley tells Ian to use arcane lightning to block the road with rocks. Ian tries but is too flustered to make it work. Barley puts a rock on the accelerator of his van and launches it at the rocks instead, with Guinevere’s sacrifice saving them from being forced to go home as the police cars are stopped in their tracks.
Ian and Barley continue with their dad following various raven statues. Eventually, they get to a raven that is pointing down. Barley believes they have to go underground, but Ian spots a piece of rock with an engraving on it. Barley says that means they have to get to the end of the water. They don’t have much time, so hurry towards a cave with a long river flowing through it. Ian wants to speed this up, so he enlarges a cheese puff which the three ride down the river. Barley then confesses to Ian that instead of having three memories of their father, he actually has four, but the fourth is of Barley attempting to say goodbye to his father in hospital, but being too scared of all the tubes and wires that he never managed to go into the room. From that point on, Barley vowed to never be scared again.
At the end of the water, Barley tells Ian there will likely be traps here. Sure enough, one shows up – a gelatinous cube, something Barley has been talking about on this whole quest! Ian uses spells to get them away from it, but they fall into a cave that is filling with water. The only way to get out is to keep pressing a rock on the cave floor so the opening at the top will appear, but no-one can hold their breath underwater for that long… Except they have half a dad who they can use! Ian leads their father onto the rock with the cable they’ve attached him to and the opening appears. All three get out – and find themselves at Ian’s school, with no sign of a gem anywhere. Ian is distraught, believing it must’ve been at Raven’s Point in the mountains like he first thought, not where Barley said. Ian walks away with their dad to salvage what is left of the day. Feeling guilty, Barley searches around the fountain they appeared from, not wanting to be a screw up like everyone thinks he is.
Ian sits with his father, looking at a checklist of plans he hasn’t achieved. Ian then realises that actually, he did do all of these things, but with Barley who has always been there for him. Ian rushes back to be with Barley, and they find the phoenix gem in the fountain. As they touch it, red smoke pours out of the fountain and a dragon is constructed from pieces of rock and cement from the school building. Corey and Laurel soon arrive, with Laurel riding on Corey’s back, using her wings for the first time in ages, after Laurel’s car is totalled having crashed into a sprite. They try to defeat the dragon, telling Ian and Barley to go and finish the spell. Laurel manages to pierce the “heart” of the dragon with the Curse Crusher, but it is too powerful and isn’t fully defeated; the sword comes out and the dragon begins to pursue Ian and Barley again. Barley and Ian’s dad has not fully regained his form, so Barley says he’ll go and defeat the dragon so Ian can finally meet their dad. Ian says he’ll distract the dragon since he never knew their dad and he’s always had Barley. Barley should be allowed the chance to finally say goodbye to him.
Using magic, Ian sets about destroying the dragon. Although the wizard staff shatters at one point, Ian manages to use a splinter of it to recraft a new one. Laurel then throws the Curse Crusher at Ian who uses it to fully destroy the dragon. It crumbles into rubble with Ian at the centre of it. He finds a gap in the rubble to see their dad. Ian can only see the back of him, and can’t get out of the rubble in time. At sunset, their father disappears forever. Barley tells Ian that their dad is very proud of the people they have become. Ian says he is who he is because of Barley. Barley then gives Ian a hug from their dad.
Sometime later, Ian says that magic has returned in small ways to their town, as sprites can now fly, and Officer Bronco, a centaur, has learnt to run again. Ian even has some new friends now, and to make up for Guinevere, Ian gets Barley a new van and paints another unicorn on to it. The two head off on their next adventure together.
CHARACTERS & CAST
The story of Onward really focuses on four main characters. The first of which is Ian Lightfoot, the sixteen-year-old elf. At the beginning of the movie, Ian is quiet, shy, nervous, and awkward. He doesn’t have many friends and he struggles to speak up for himself at school, leading him to be mostly ignored or forgotten by his classmates. Amongst all of the usual teenage troubles, Ian is also very aware on his birthday that his father isn’t there, and that Ian has no memories of him because he died before Ian was born. This makes Ian wonder who he is supposed to be and whether he is anything like his father at all. Although Ian speaks to one of his dad’s old college friends, and has a checklist of actions to be more like him, it doesn’t work out and it’s not until Ian learns he has the gift of magic, when trying to resurrect his father, that Ian figures out who he is meant to be. Magic makes him special and the quest, as well as mastering the spells, shows Ian all the ways that he has become a great person, someone to be proud of, someone his dad is proud of.
Ian was voiced by Tom Holland, best known for being the current Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Holland first made his appearance as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War (2016), but his first Spider-Man movie was Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Holland appeared as the character in other Marvel movies including Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Endgame (2019). Holland has won awards for his performance as Spider-Man, including Saturn Awards for Best Performance by a Younger Actor from 2017 to 2019, and Kids’ Choice Awards in 2020 and 2022. Outside of Marvel, he starred as the title character in the movie Cherry (2021) and is set to star in The Odyssey, a 2026 film to be directed by Christoper Nolan. Holland also recently performed the part of Romeo in Romeo & Juliet on the West End in Summer 2024, with the show reportedly heading to Broadway.
Despite Ian growing up without a father, he has always had his older brother, Barley, by his side. Barley is the complete opposite of Ian, being loud, brash, and overly confident. But he is proud of his little brother and wants him to succeed. For example, Barley’s entire life seems to revolve around the board game Quests of Yore, which is all about magic, so when it is discovered that Ian can do magic, you might expect Barley to be jealous that Ian has the gift and Barley does not, but in actual fact, Barley uses all of his knowledge of magic to help Ian learn how to master his new gift. Barley might barrel into situations without thinking and might be too spontaneous, but he always means well.
Chris Pratt voiced Barley. He used to be known for his comedic roles, such as his casting as Andy Dwyer in the sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009-15), which also starred Amy Poehler. He then went on to be cast as Peter Quill / Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and its 2017 and 2023 sequels. Much like Tom Holland, Pratt has reprised his Marvel characters in other Marvel movies, such as Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Pratt is also known for his role as Owen Grady in the Jurassic World trilogy alongside Bryce Dallas Howard. He is no stranger to voice acting either, having voiced the character Emmet Brickowski in The LEGO Movie (2014) and its 2019 sequel, as well as voicing Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). When Pratt was cast as Barley in Onward, he excitedly called Tom Holland to say they were going to be Pixar brothers as well as Marvel brothers. It also seems that they got to record some of their lines in the same room as each other, which isn’t overly common in animated movie production[1].
Outside of the escapades of the two brothers, we also get to see their mother, Laurel, go on her own quest – to find them. Laurel is a loving mother, clearly having some misplaced guilt that her children didn’t get to grow up knowing their father, and being especially sad that Ian never got to meet his dad at all. However, Laurel is also tough; she knows how to handle her boisterous son, Barley, and she isn’t scared to fight a stone dragon for instance. Laurel actively gets involved in the quest to protect her sons from the curse that awaits them should they find the phoenix gem, but, despite the danger, she doesn’t want to stop them searching for it. Laurel is eager for her sons to reunite with their father; she wants to protect them from the curse and ensure they get to spend some precious time with their dad.
Laurel was voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who previously voiced the character of Princess Atta for another Pixar movie: A Bug’s Life (1998). Louis-Dreyfus is known for her more comedic roles, being cast as Elaine Benes in the sitcom Seinfeld (1989-1998), and, from 1982 to 1985, being a cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975-present). In recent years, she was cast in the lead role of Selina Meyer in the hit political comedy series Veep (2012-19), winning numerous Emmys and SAG awards for the performance. She has also had her own experience with Marvel like her on-screen sons, being cast as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including in the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
Helping Laurel find her sons is Corey the Manticore. Corey initially is shown to be an overworked, stressed-out manager, having turned her fabled tavern into a restaurant. After Ian and Barley show up looking for the map to the phoenix gem, and for some help with their quest, Corey realises she has become tame and boring. With all that pent-up anger inside her, Corey sets fire to her tavern and in the chaos, the boys flee, not allowing Corey time to tell them about the curse. Luckily, Laurel shows up looking for them and Corey tells them everything she knows about the curse. They go and get Corey’s sword, the Curse Crusher, this being the only way to defeat the curse, and then work together to defeat the dragon. They don’t end up being the ones to vanquish the dragon – that was Ian – but they showed that they are brave, strong women anyway.
Corey was voiced by Octavia Spencer, who voiced the character of Mrs. Otterton, the wife of the missing Emmitt Otterton, in Disney’s Zootopia (2016) prior to her casting in Onward. In live-action movies, Spencer won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and the BAFTA, for her role as Minny Jackson in The Help (2011), and was later cast as Johanna Reyes in the last two Divergent series movies, Insurgent (2015) and Allegiant (2016). Spencer was also cast in other notable movies, such as The Shape of Water (2017), where she played Zelda, and Hidden Figures (2016), playing Dorothy Vaughan. More recently, Spencer played Poppy Parnell in the AppleTV+ series Truth Be Told (2019-23).
A couple of other characters to mention are Officer Colt Bronco, a police officer as well as Laurel’s boyfriend, and Wilden Lightfoot, Laurel’s husband and Barley and Ian’s father. Ian and Barley have gotten used to Officer Bronco being their unofficial stepfather, however, they do still find it a bit weird, especially as Officer Bronco is frequently being hounded about Barley’s constant protests, protesting against the demolition of the town’s magical artefacts and locations. Bronco is also searching for the boys at the same time as Laurel, and he does track them down on the Path of Peril, but instead of being understanding about the boys’ wish to complete the spell to see their father, Bronco orders them to come home straight away. The boys defy him, but Bronco doesn’t seem to be too bothered about it by the end of the movie. They are a more cohesive “family” by then, with Bronco even learning to run like centaurs used to, as Barley told him they did. Bronco was voiced by Mel Rodriguez, who was cast as Todd Rodriguez in the FOX series The Last Man on Earth (2015-18) before appearing as Hugo Ramirez in CSI: Vegas (2021-24).
Wilden Lightfoot mostly only appears in the movie as two legs, meaning that he cannot see or hear his sons. They try to communicate with foot tapping, either Wilden tapping the floor, or Barley and Ian tapping his shoes, but it can’t have been what Wilden was expecting when he gifted the boys the Visitation Spell. He spends much of his time being attached to Ian with some sort of cable, being dragged along on this quest. To animate this, the Pixar team used live-action reference material, dressing someone up in a green screen suit so that only their legs were showing, so that they could figure out how to make half a body communicate and feel like a whole person. Ian tries to fashion a “top half” for Wilden’s legs, but it’s not the same for any of them. Wilden wants to see his sons, and to meet Ian, just as much as the boys do – it must also be quite disconcerting not having a head – so he wants the spell to be re-enacted. When it is, though, because of the curse, Wilden only gets to see his son Barley. It’s a touching few moments for the two, as the sun is about to set, with Barley getting to hug and say goodbye to his father, something he never managed to do when his father was dying in hospital. Barley passes on the information to Ian, but it’s a bittersweet moment, for all three of them. But they do get a laugh out of the fact Wilden’s “wizard name” was Wilden the Whimsical. Ian and Barley’s love of magic made them feel close to him even though he is not with them.
Wilden doesn’t really have many lines in Onward, despite being a very present character. He does narrate the opening lines of the movie, which are paraphrased by Ian at the end of Onward, and there is the conversation that Ian listens to on tape, just to hear his dad’s voice. These few lines were spoken by Kyle Bornheimer. Bornheimer has had roles in movies such as Ted, a lawyer in Marriage Story (2017); Andrew, Lyla’s husband in The Big Wedding (2013); and Joe in Bachelorette (2012). On television, he was recently cast as Doug in the science-fiction comedy series Avenue 5 (2020-22), and appeared in the recurring role of Sergeant Teddy Wells in Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-21).
Finally, it’s always worth spotting the John Ratzenberger cameo in Pixar movies. In Onward, he voiced Fennwick, a construction worker. Ratzenberger had voiced a character in every Pixar movie up until Onward, but would not return as a voice cameo for the studio again until the release of Inside Out 2 (2024).
PRODUCTION
Although Onward was not completed until 2020, the movie had been in development since 2013, when Dan Scanlon, fresh from his Pixar directorial debut on Monsters University (2013) teamed up with two others from that movie, Kelsey Mann and Kori Rae, to begin work on a new story.
Dan Scanlon had previously worked as a storyboard artist for Disney on the direct-to-video sequels, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000) and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure (2003) before joining Pixar in 2001, working on features such as Cars (2006) and Toy Story 3 (2013) as a story artist prior to Monsters University. Kelsey Mann joined Pixar in 2009, working as a story supervisor on Monsters University before moving on to work on the story for The Good Dinosaur (2015), alongside his story work for Onward. He also directed Inside Out 2 (2024). Kori Rae was a producer on Monsters University, having worked as a producer on other Pixar movies previously, such as Monsters, Inc. (2001) and The Incredibles (2004).
Scanlon already had an idea of a personal story he wanted to tell and discussed it further with Rae and Mann. This idea was based on the fact Scanlon’s father had died when he was just one-year-old and his brother was three. Neither of them really reminded their father, however, when Scanlon was 16, he was given a cassette of his father speaking just two words, “hi” and “bye”. It wasn’t much information to be given about what his father was like, but Scanlon and his brother could sense that he was a bit shy and awkward, kind of like them. With this personal experience, Scanlon wanted to tell a story about needing to know your parent to know yourself, to figure out how you are like them or not. But instead of this movie being made in honour of his father, Scanlon felt it was more about honouring his older brother, because he had been there for him his whole life. Scanlon actually didn’t tell his brother about the movie he was developing, wanting it to be a sort of surprise[2].
From this initial point, the story team of three began to ask questions about this experience to pull out more pieces of information that could be used to make a complete story. They eventually came to the idea what if you had one more day with that person; what would you do, what would you say? And that is how the resurrection of Ian and Barley’s father came to be the primary focus of the story, with the return of their father making Ian question many aspects of himself, and how he might be more like his dad[3].
They had the main plot and point of the story, now they had to create the world Onward would be set within. Because of the fact they needed to be able to have Ian and Barley meet their father after his death, it was quickly known that magic would have to be an integral part of the movie, otherwise, how else would they be able to see him again? Pixar are used to making interesting locations for their movies, so Onward was no exception, but in this case, they delved into the world of fantasy story-telling for their setting.
Onward is set in the fantasy town of New Mushroomton, however, this movie isn’t like a Tolkien story, because it is actually a contemporary setting, just with magical elements. New Mushroomton feels like any normal town, with houses, a police department, restaurants, burger bars; it just so happens to be populated by fantasy characters. This modern setting was useful to keep non-fantasy fans on board as they can find similarities within the town in Onward and their own town. It was also a necessary aspect of the story because if everyone in the town still had and used magic, then Ian and Barley’s quest wouldn’t be difficult. Instead, they have to discover the old magical elements and locations of the area and find their own way to the phoenix gem. The Pixar team used a ratio of 70:30 familiar to fantasy in all aspects of their creative process to maintain this balance. As research for this new location, the filmmakers surveyed neighbourhoods around Los Angeles, such as Los Feliz and Frogtown, to look at the most interesting things around there – parking lots and power lines! New Mushroomton had to feel relatable and real[4].
The citizens of New Mushroomton take many forms, for example, Ian and Barley are elves, but many of the police officers, like Officer Bronco, their almost-stepfather, are centaurs. We also spend time with Corey the Manticore, a legendary creature that is a mixture of a lion and a scorpion with wings. The difficulty didn’t come in designing these characters; there are many depictions of fantasy creatures easily viewable. The challenge came in making them fit into this modern world. There were questions over how to design the centaurs. They have human top halves, but their bottom half resembles a horse – does that mean they can only wear a shirt and no pants, or should pants be put on them? In the end, Officer Bronco did not wear pants, and has a belt to separate his two different body types. Another character design decision made for Officer Bronco was to give him a horsey laugh. Corey the Manticore is initially seen wearing a tight shirt and waistcoat, with her paws being squeezed into heels, and her hair neatly tied back. This outfit choice was made to show that she is being restricted in her mundane life working in the restaurant. When she learns to be wild again, her shirt is shredded, to leave her with a vest-like top, her heels are gone, and her hair is wild and messy to match her new personality. The Pixar team saw her as a big, buff lady, kind of like a retired wrestler that cannot be tamed, no matter how hard she tries! Then there are the sprites who are normally depicted as tiny, pretty fairies. In the case of Onward, these sprites have been turned into scary, tough bikers, complete with leathers, mohawks, and piercings. It wouldn’t have made sense in this contemporary world for the sprites to have been flying around, sprinkling fairy dust on people, and the sprites end up being the complete opposite to how we’d expect them to be!
To fully form the mystical quest that Ian and Barley would go on, Pixar looked to their own staff, specifically those that were fans of fantasy stories, movies, and games, a group they called “The Fellowship”. This group were responsible for creating the rules of magic in Onward. Magic in Onward is used to show personal growth for Ian. He has to work hard at the magic to become his best self, so the magic couldn’t just be point, say some words, and something happens; there had to be something specific Ian had to do to help him in his mastery of the craft. The group were tasked with coming up with names for the spells, and to figure out tasks that had to be done to get the spells to work successfully. “Heart’s Fire” was one of the first things Ian had to work on, and that means showing passion and conviction. Another key task was about trust, which features in the bridge scene, where Ian has to believe that the bridge will appear or it won’t. The filmmakers got to experience this scene for themselves via a VR session. All of them said it was a terrifying experience even through a screen. By the end of the movie, Ian has mastered enough spells and dug deep within himself that magic has started to come back to New Mushroomton, because no doubt their battle with that dragon has gone down in local history[5]!
This scene, named “Dragon High”, was a particularly complex scene to animate, as it was the big climatic moment of the movie, the final part of Ian and Barley’s dangerous quest, plus, it involved so many different animation departments. It became a regular occurrence to get all the departments together to constantly review this scene so that it was a collaborative experience. The assembling of the dragon was reworked as different sized chunks of cement were jammed together to make this beast, with the dragon mascot of the school being used as the dragon’s face to give a moment of humour in amongst all that fear and peril. The team used VR once again so that they could stand next to the dragon and feel the size and scale of it[6].
Although the ending of Onward had been decided at a fairly early stage of the movie’s development, and the story was always going to feel like a quest, some story elements did not make it to the final cut of the movie. Some of these story edits included having Ian be a lover of magic from a very young age, with Barley supporting him in his attempts to use spells by helping him train. It was later decided that it would create more tension if Ian was the one to have the gift for magic despite not being bothered by it and have Barley know all the facts about it. There was also a fan-favourite character within the studio, Guinevere, also known as Jenny, who was cut, with elements of her personality being put into the character of Barley. Jenny was a teenage satyr who worked at the Manticore’s Tavern. She was set to go on the quest with Ian and Barley, after saving them and the map from the fire at the tavern. Jenny had asked for a job at the tavern hoping the Manticore would help her be a real warrior, but it never happened, so meeting Ian and Barley was her chance to fulfil her dream. She also had a car, which Ian and Barley did not have at this point. Jenny’s car was called Guinevere and must’ve been the inspiration for Barley’s van[7].
Speaking of the van, a lawsuit was filed shortly before Onward was released to the public by an artist named Sweet Cecily Danihar. She sued Disney and Pixar, accusing them of creating an animated double of her own adorned van without permission. She had hired out her van, complete with a unicorn on the side of it, to Pixar for a one-day special event in September 2018. In May 2019, Daniher discovered that Pixar’s new movie had a van just like hers in it. She claims that the producer of Onward apologised to her a few days later, admitting that they had used her van as inspiration for the movie without her consent. Daniher was suing for copyright infringement. The lawsuit was later dismissed[8].
By December 2018, the basic plot of Onward was revealed along with the cast list. Its release date of 6th March 2020 was also confirmed. Further details of the movie were revealed at the 2019 D23 Expo in August 2019, with clips of the movie being shown to the audience and the cast of the movie speaking about their experience working on the film.
By 2020, Onward was finally ready to be revealed to the public. Scanlon was pleased with the result and felt that the movie-making process had been therapeutic, and not even just to him. During the process, others on the team were also telling their own stories of similar experiences which were added into the movie. The title of the movie Onward references the overall message about moving forward in a positive way. It also hints to the fact that life is always a journey and you have to keep going even when obstacles arise. It’s also a nod to the fact that Barley’s van is not set to “D” for “drive”, but “O” for “Onward”!
Despite the heavy subject matter of Onward, it wouldn’t be a Pixar movie without their usual Easter eggs. Their Pizza Planet truck can be seen at the time that the boys pay to go through a toll bridge, however, the name of the restaurant in Onward is actually Pizza Realm to match the tone of the movie. A113, referencing the classroom of CalArts where many of Pixar’s original artists studied animation, is used as a police code here. There are even references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Barley’s jacket having a patch of the infinity gauntlet on it, and there is a sticker of Thanos’ gauntlet inside his van. Also, in the gas station that they go to, you’ll see Triple Dent gum, the gum with the catchy jingle from Inside Out (2015) on the shelves. Pixar also like to reference their upcoming movies in their films, so Soul (2020), the next Pixar movie to be released, can be seen in a small way, with a Dorothea Williams album sitting on a shelf in Ian and Barley’s home.
MUSIC
Since Onward is about two brothers, doesn’t it make so much sense to have two brothers write the score for the movie?
These two brothers are Jeff and Mychael Danna. They had previously worked for Pixar to compose the score of The Good Dinosaur (2015), and had composed the music for the animated The Addams Family (2019) and its 2021 sequel. Mychael Danna also won multiple awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Score, for his music for Life of Pi (2012). The Danna Brothers were moved by Dan Scanlon’s story, having both lost their father too, but at an older age than Ian and Barley.
For the composition of the music, they liked the idea of writing “wizard rock”, where Tolkien’s fantastical world met the world of heavy metal. This was the perfect sort of music to be blasting out of Barley’s van, like the pieces “My Mighty Steed” and “Sacrifice”, where Guinevere is a key part of the scene[9]. It’s not exactly to my taste but it certainly suits Barley. They also found there were a lot of options for the music with it being a fantasy movie, as moments need to be vast and epic at times, like the culmination of a great quest or journey, “Battling the Dragon”, or small and quiet to match more emotional moments, such as “Share My Life With Him”, which is played as Ian realises he may not have got to share his life with his father, but Barley was the one always there for him. This is my favourite piece within the score. “Dad” is another quiet piece but it is tinged with sadness as you realise Ian never got to see his father like he wanted to.
Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna won the BMI Film & TV Award for Film Music for their score here, and were nominated at the Annie Awards and the Hollywood Music in Media Awards too, but they lost out to Soul’s soundtrack at both ceremonies.
There is also an original song within the soundtrack called “Carried Me with You”, which plays during the End Credits. It matches the tone of the movie, talking about someone lifting you up and guiding you through life. It was written by Brandi Carlile, and Phil and Time Hanseroth, and was performed by Brandi Carlile. “Carried Me with You” was nominated for Best Original Song at the Grammy Awards and the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, however, it lost to Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell’s “No Time to Die” from the Bond film of the same name at the Grammys, and lost to “Just Sing” from Trolls World Tour (2020) at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.
RECEPTION
Onward was released to theatres on 6th March 2020.
As is typical for Pixar, they released Onward alongside a short film, this being Playdate with Destiny (2020) that was not a Pixar short. It is actually a short from The Simpsons (1989-present), and follows Maggie as she falls for another baby called Hudson. This short came to Disney+ in April 2020.
Pixar are used to receiving critical acclaim for their movies, however, they do not always succeed. Cars 2 (2011) and The Good Dinosaur (2015) are two Pixar movies that failed to reach the usual standard expected of the studio. In this case, Onward didn’t receive too many negative pieces of criticism, reaching a Certified Fresh 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes for example, higher than the other two films I’ve just mentioned, but it didn’t receive huge amounts of praise.
On the negative side, Onward was frequently compared to Inside Out (2015) as both Pixar movies focus on human emotion and feelings. Inside Out was a very highly rated film and it was incredibly creative and clever, so critics complained that Onward lacked the innovation and inventiveness of Inside Out. The pacing was also debated. Some felt it was quicker and more energetic than other Pixar movies, whereas others felt the episodic structure made the story less cohesive. I will agree that Onward felt episodic, in terms of the characters finding themselves with tasks to do as part of their overall quest, kind of like a board game. This didn’t bother me, I tend to like that kind of structure because it means that the focus of the story remains, and the boys were meant to be experiencing a real-life version of Barley’s Quests of Yore game, so it felt right to me. Others didn’t feel like Onward was as funny as they know Pixar movies can be. Again, I agree with this, and I like a good laugh, so it was a bit disappointing, but I did find it funnier than Soul (2020). Some also felt that the story was an after-thought to the big emotional ending of the film, feeling that the filmmakers had built the story around that final moment.
More positive reviews stated that it was a good movie for boys. Although Pixar, I feel, have made more films that appeal to boys, Disney struggle in that respect, for the most part, and with the last movie to come out of Disney before Onward being Frozen II, it was probably more appreciated. Others felt the voice casting of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt as Ian and Barley were the perfect choice, as their brotherly chemistry was easy and natural, with the two making Ian and Barley likeable characters. Onward also felt very poignant to viewers especially if they had lost a parent. It was generally felt that Onward was well-executed, as you’d expect from Pixar, although, even in the positive comments, some still didn’t think it was anything ground-breaking.
I will admit that I was sceptical of Onward after viewing the trailers. I didn’t have a clue what the story was going to be, which is actually quite normal for Pixar; they like to keep you in the dark, although it was clear that the movie was going to be set in the fantasy world, something which doesn’t really appeal to me. I wasn’t sure I was going to like Onward initially, but I really did. I think setting Onward in a contemporary version of a fantasy world helped to keep me interested, as it felt familiar at the same time as feeling different, and I’m all for watching tear-jerkers, although I did have more sad than happy tears with this one.
Another thing that was welcomed by some viewers was the brief moment of LGBT+ representation, which comes during the scene of Barley and Ian talking to two cops disguised as Officer Bronco. Officer Specter states that she is struggling to bond with her girlfriend’s children, trying to reassure “Bronco” that eventually he’ll feel more natural being a parent to Barley and Ian. It was actually the voice artist for Specter, Lena Waithe’s idea to use the word “girlfriend” in this scene. Although this nod to diversity and inclusivity is something that Disney and Pixar are featuring more of in their recent movies, this particular scene did lead to banning and censoring of Onward in certain countries. Onward was not shown in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, however, other Middle Eastern countries, like Egypt, Lebanon, and Bahrain, did show the movie. Russia censored the scene, by changing the word “girlfriend” to “partner” and not referencing the character’s gender[10].
At the box-office, Onward debuted to $40 million, which was enough to top the box-office charts, but was not as much as Pixar would normally expect., however, the $40 million was still within the projections of between $40 and $45 million, even with the potential future of the pandemic weighing on everyone’s mind[11]. Box-office revenues dropped the week after, by 40%, but Onward was still at the top of the box office. It was debated how much the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting box-office results at the time and whether the decline was anything more than what would normally be expected after a movie’s opening week[12]. Movie theatres were closed just a couple of weeks or so later across many countries.
This is why Onward became available to buy digitally in the US much earlier than usual, on 20th March 2020. It followed that by coming to Disney+ on 3rd April in the US, although it would not be released in other countries on Disney+ until many months later. This was Disney’s way of dealing with the financial blow that the closure of movie theatres had on Onward’s takings. It is difficult to assess the success of a movie once it comes to streaming though, so it is unclear how popular Onward was when it first came to Disney+.
In the end, Onward made around $140 million worldwide before being removed from theatres, which is less than its reported $200 million budget. Onward may’ve been the first Pixar movie to be affected by COVID, but it was not the last. Soul struggled as well, as many cinemas continued to be closed during its theatrical release in December 2020. This is why Soul was given a Disney+ release on 25th December 2020[13]. Because Pixar knew what had happened to Onward, it meant they could have a back-up plan for Soul. With Onward, nobody could’ve guessed how impacted by the pandemic it would be.
Finally, another way of measuring a movie’s success is with its award success – although that should not be the only way because we all know how up-and-down awards season can be. I’m still struggling with the 2025 Oscars. I’ll get over it… one day. Anyway, Onward did not have huge success in terms of awards. It did win the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, and it won the People’s Choice Award for The Family Movie of 2020, but that was mostly it. It was nominated at many major award ceremonies, but it lost to Soul at the BAFTA Film Awards; the Golden Globes; and the Oscars in the Best Animated Feature Film category. At the Annie Awards, which are all about animation, Onward was nominated in many categories, including for Best Animated Feature, Editorial, Character Animation, and Writing, but it lost to fellow Pixar movie Soul once again in all these categories.
LEGACY
Prior to Onward’s theatrical release, the Disney Parks began their celebration of the movie, by showing an exclusive preview of the film. This was at the Tomorrowland Theater at Disneyland and at Walt Disney Presents at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World[14]. This is a normal part of their marketing.
Outside of that, Pixar also recreated Barley’s van, Guinevere, complete with bumper stickers, the unicorn mural, and the “Gwniver” license plate. This van went on a 10-city tour to promote the movie, where visitors could take photos next to the van, and get free merchandise such as posters and stickers. The van journeyed to places like San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, New York City, and Miami during February and early March 2020. Pixar reportedly did something similar for Cars 3 (2017) where life-sized versions of Lightning McQueen, Cruz Ramirez, and Jackson Storm were taken around the US, and for Toy Story 4 (2019) with their RV tour, which also had carnival games[15].
Ian and Barley made their meet-and-greet debut at Disneyland the day before Onward was set to be released in theatres. On 5th March 2020, Ian and Barley were available to meet guests in front of their van as part of the Disneyland After Dark: Pixar Nite special event. They then moved to Pixar Pier in Disney California Adventure Park on 6th March 2020 to meet guests, however, they would not be there long as the Disney Parks closed for the COVID-19 pandemic on 15th March 2020. To make it worse for Ian and Barley, they were meant to be heading to Hong Kong Disneyland for their Pixar Water Play Street Party in Summer 2020, but due to the park’s ongoing closure, this parade was postponed[16]. Ian and Barley did eventually join the parade in 2021.
Ian and Barley then returned with Guinevere the van to Disneyland for Pixar Fest in 2024, running from 26th April to 4th August. They were available to meet guests throughout the day at the Fantasyland Theatre, however, despite characters from Soul (2020), Luca (2021), and Turning Red (2021) all having floats in the Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration parade, with these being three of Pixar’s most recent movie releases, Onward was left out. Onward was lucky to be featured briefly in the Pixar Fest nighttime fireworks show, Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular, after “The World Es Mi Familia” segment from Coco (2017), with the scene of Ian battling the stone dragon being projected onto Sleeping Beauty castle. Outside of this, the only other place where you could find references to Onward is at the Pixar Place Hotel in Disneyland, most likely in artwork.
Many fans currently are lamenting the lack of merchandise that features any of the Onward characters. At the time of the film’s release in 2020, you could purchase clothing, books, plush toys of Ian and Barley, an Onward MagicBand, and Funko POP figures[17]. They did later release a real Quests of Yore board game, but outside of this, there is very little merchandise for them still around, perhaps a couple of t-shirts and some pins. Sadly, this is a scenario that many fans of lesser-known or under-appreciated Disney and Pixar movies have experienced for years. Onward fans, now you get to join the club…
FINAL THOUGHTS
Onward will likely never recover from its reputation as an “uninspiring” Pixar movie, or from its link to COVID-19. It struggled at the box office and received lukewarm reviews. It will unfortunately never be one of Pixar’s best to most people.
Onward has plenty of emotional moments, with the heart of the story revolving around grief and loss. Onward felt very personal to me. Not because I lost a parent at a young age, but because someone close to me did. They were young, but not as young as Ian and Barley, and they didn’t have a sibling to help them through it, but still, some moments felt strangely close to home, such as the guilt and sadness at not having enough memories of that parent, as well as the difficulty in seeing that parent becoming a shell of themselves through illness. It’s something that never leaves you, and the grief can creep up on you at the strangest of times.
It’s unfair to sit through Onward picking up on Pixar’s “lack of innovation or originality” when your focus is meant to be on the subject of grief. Grief and loss are a part of life, and yes, Disney has made plenty of movies that involve the loss of a parent – to the point that, for some reason, people find it comical – but consider this: is it not a potentially necessary way of helping children in particular cope with a similar circumstance?
Maybe watching one movie might get them to talk about what they’re going through instead of bottling up their feelings and thinking they just have to get on with life like nothing even happened.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Pixar, ‘Introducing Onward Featurette I In Theaters March 6’, Pixar YouTube Channel, 6th February 2020.
[2] Credit: Jude Rogers, ‘How Pixar’s hit Onward was born from childhood bereavement’, TheGuardian.com, 27th February 2020.
[3] Credit: Zach Johnson, ‘Inside the Six-Year Journey to Make Disney and Pixar’s Onward’, D23.com, 14th January 2020.
[4] Credit: Jeanine Yamanaka, ‘A Behind the Scenes Look at Forging “Onward”: From the Fantastical to the Familiar’, AllEars.net, 12th February 2020.
[5] Credit: Pixar, “Heart’s Fire”, from Onward (2020) Blu-Ray (2020).
[6] Credit: Pixar, “Dragon High”, from Onward (2020) Blu-Ray (2020).
[7] Credit: Pixar, “Deleted Scenes”, from Onward (2020) Blu-Ray (2020).
[8] Credit: Ashley Cullins, ‘Artist Sues Disney, Pixar Over Unicorn-Adorned Van in ‘Onward’’, HollywoodReporter.com, 28th January 2020.
[9] Credit: Pixar, “Wizard Rock”, from Onward (2020) Blu-Ray (2020).
[10] Credit: BBC, ‘Pixar’s Onward ‘banned by four Middle East countries’ over gay reference’’, BBC.co.uk, 9th March 2020.
[11] Credit: Rebecca Rubin, ‘‘Onward’ Leads Box Office With Ho-Hum $40 Million’, Variety.com, 8th March 2020.
[12] Credit: Dave McNary, ‘Box Office: ‘Onward’ Leads as Coronavirus Stunts North American Sales’, Variety.com, 14th March 2020.
[13] Credit: Jack Walters, ‘Pixar’s 9 Biggest Box Office Bombs Explained’, ScreenRant.com, 17th September 2023.
[14] Credit: Drew Rasor, ‘You Can Catch A Sneak Peek at Disney/Pixar’s ‘Onward’ At Disney Parks Soon!’, AllEars.net, 24th January 2020.
[15] Credit: Julie & T.J., ‘Pixar’s ‘Onward’ Brings the Real-Life Van, Guinevere on Tour – Will It Come to a City Near You?’, PixarPost.com, 3rd February 2020.
[16] Credit: Laughing Place Disney Newsdesk, ‘“Onward” Meet and Greet Comes to Pixar Pier at Disney California Adventure’, LaughingPlace.com, 8th March 2020.
[17] Credit: Zach Perilstein, ‘‘Onward’ Merchandise is Now Available at Disney Parks’, BoardwalkTimes.net, 18th February 2020.
The Disney Purist 