Onward

Onward is a 2020 American animated urban fantasy adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion 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 bring back their deceased father named Wilden (Bornheimer) for twenty-four hours before the time is up. Along the way, their journey is filled with cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries. 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, but lost both awards to Soul, another Pixar film released in the same year. Onward was the last Pixar film released in theaters worldwide until Lightyear in June 2022. Plot