Onward
Director: Dan Scanlon
Stars (voice): Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer
Duration: 114 mins
Class: U
KRS Releasing Ltd
Film not reviewed
I admit I did a bit of a double take when I read that Pixar Animated Studio’s groundbreaking and first ever computer-animated feature film Toy Story was released 25 years ago. It seems only yesterday that this funny, touching and emotionally-charged tale took up permanent residence in audience’s hearts – as did quite a number of the studio’s progenies over the years – Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, Brave, Inside Out… to name but a handful.
To date, Pixar has produced 22 feature films and myriad short films. With a total worldwide box office take of nigh on $14 billion, high critical acclaim for practically all its films, and numerous award wins and nominations to its name, it is admirable that the studio has never sat on its laurels. High standards of visual mastery and story-telling magic are constant factors in its output.
And so it seems to be with its latest opus. Onward, which stars the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer, is written by Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin, and directed by Scanlon.
Onward introduces us to two teenage elf brothers Ian (Holland) and Barley (Pratt) who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there. Their father sadly died before Ian was born, and the young lad, now 16, has grown up to be quite the introvert, yet longs to be confident and strong.
We’ve all lost someone, and if we could spend one more day with them – what an exciting opportunity that would be
Barley, on the other hand is a rather wild and chaotic big brother who constantly causes problems. Barley loves Ian and wants to teach him all about life, but Ian isn’t quite sure Barley knows what he’s talking about!
Yet when the boys’ mother Laurel presents the boys with a gift their late father left them – Ian sees an opportunity to finally do what he’s always dreamed of doing: get his father’s guidance.
The gift consists of a letter, along with a mysterious spell, staff and a special gem that will give the boys the chance to spend just one day with their beloved dad. Barley is immediately on board, especially given there is magic involved. And yet the spell doesn’t go quite as planned…
“The story is inspired by my own relationship with my brother and our connection with our dad who passed away when I was about a year old,” says Scanlon. “He’s always been a mystery to us. A family member sent us a tape recording of him saying just two words: ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’. Two words. But to my brother and me – it was magic.”
That little bit of precious magic was the kernel that gave birth to Onward.
“We’ve all lost someone, and if we could spend one more day with them – what an exciting opportunity that would be,” continues Scanlon. “We knew that if we wanted to tell that story we’d have to set the movie in a world where you could have that incredible opportunity.”
Holland’s infectious charm and sincerity shine through in his performance as Ian.
“He’s an awkward teenager who’s trying to find himself in this incredible world that Pixar so brilliantly created,” says the actor, who relished the opportunity of creating this new world full of magic.
As for Pratt, he brings Barley to life in a big way. “Barley is overbearing,” he admits. “And he tries a little too hard – he can be kind of a bumbling idiot but he’s got a good heart.”
While the characters are born of fantasy, and inhabit a world full of elves, centaurs, cyclops, unicorns, gnomes and more, the filmmakers remain true to Pixar’s spirit – they all have human-like emotions and internal struggles as they undertake their quest, leading to much humour, emotion and fantastical experiences as the story evolves.
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