If you’ve ever lost a loved one and wanted just one more day with them, then ONWARD, Disney’s new Pixar Animation movie will pull at your heartstrings. The story follows two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, voiced by Marvel stars Tom Holland and Chris Pratt.
Set in a suburban fantasy world, the brothers themselves are like an odd couple, which adds to the adventure of the movie. Ian Lightfoot, the newly minted 16 year-old, begins his birthday by putting on a college sweatshirt that belonged to his father. His sweet and determined nature, are oftentimes overshadowed by his nervous energy and lack of confidence. Barley Lightfoot, his older brother is big, burly, boisterous 19 year-old who is a free spirit and obsessed with the characters in a game called Quests of Yore. As producer Kori Rae says, “Chris brings equal parts huge heart and fantastic humor to his character”.
The trailer opens grandly declaring, “In times of old, the world was full of wonder and magic.” but swiftly brings up back to reality by saying, “But times change.”
Last Fall, Blackfilm.com got a chance to see just how times have changed during a visit to Disney’s Pixar Animation Studio in Emeryville, CA where we got a behind the scenes sneak peak on how the magic comes to life on the screen.
The animated movie is set in a visually stunning fantasy world populated with elves, centaurs, cyclops, satyrs, and sprites, among other folklore, fables and pure fantasy fiction. Although the movie is fantasy, the real life inspiration began with Director, Dan Scanlon’s life. “As I’m sure you heard, my father passed away when I was a year old and my brother was only three. I obviously always wondered who he was and how I was like him. The idea of what if I got a chance to meet him and spend a day with him, what would my brother and I learn about ourselves and about him.”
How could you meet someone form a day? That is where the magic of ONWARD begins. On the day of Ian’s 16th birthday, both he and his brother are given a gift from their father that their mother, Laurel had held onto. The magical staff and gem are used in a magic spell to bring their dad back to life. Unfortunately, the brothers flub the spell only bringing back to life their dad’s legs. With only 24 hours to spend with him, they set out on a quest to bring all of him back to life.
The quest sees them travel to a gas station overrun with pixies and a tavern with a fire-breathing monster. Another spell-casting attempt gone wrong shrinks Barley to the size of a barley. The story artists worked hard in developing a fantasy world from the ground up, but were also mindful of not becoming too fantastical. In order to keep the movie a modern day fantasy, they came up with a rule that allowed for 70% modern and 30% fantasy. The graphics on the film are fabulous and we’ll be taking you through a journey of the process as time continues.
ONWARD features the voices of Tom Holland as Ian, Chris Pratt as Barley and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Mom. Octavia Spencer lends her voice to the Manticore, a once-fierce warrior who has lost her fighting spirit, and Mel Rodriguez voices Officer Colt Bronco. Wilmer Valderrama voices an old friend of Dad who shares a story with Ian.
The all-new original film is directed by Scanlon and produced by Rae. Pete Docter is the executive producer. The score is composed by Mychael Danna, who won an Oscar® for his “Life of Pi” score, and Jeff Danna, who composed the score for “The Good Dinosaur” with Mychael. “Onward” opens in U.S. theaters on March 6, 2020.
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