Onward (film)

In July 2017, Pixar announced a "suburban fantasy world" film at the D23 Expo, with Dan Scanlon directing and Kori Rae producing.[5] The film was inspired by the death of Scanlon's father, when he and his older brother were very young children, and their relationship with each other. He decided to write the story after hearing an audio clip of his father.[14] On December 12, 2018, the title was revealed.[15] In 2019, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin were hired to rewrite the screenplay and story.

On December 12, 2018, Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer were announced as starring in the film.[16] While having recorded most of their lines separately, Holland and Pratt had some of their recording sessions together since, according to Scanlon, "they've worked together before and hung out together."[17] Rae stated that Holland and Pratt improvised some of their lines while recording together.[18] On December 17, 2019, Ali Wong, Lena Waithe and Mel Rodriguez joined the cast of the film.[10] On February 18, 2020, Wilmer Valderrama, Tracey Ullman, Kyle Bornheimer, and George Psarras were revealed to have voice roles as well, and John Ratzenberger's appearance was officially confirmed.[8]

On April 16, 2019, Mychael and Jeff Danna were revealed to be the film's composers.[19] On February 12, 2020, Brandi Carlile revealed she recorded the song "Carried Me With You" for the film's end credits, co-written with Phil and Tim Hanseroth.[20] The film's soundtrack was released on February 28, 2020.[20]

All music is composed by Mychael and Jeff Danna, except where noted.

One storyboard scene featured Ian, Barley, and Wilden joining with a goat girl in the journey. Ian and the goat girl come across a booth hosted by three evil mermaids. The mermaids sing their mesmerizing song to lure the two into staying in one of three houses put for rent. Ian tries to silence them with the staff but the spell is too weak. When Ian and the goat girl are finally in a trance, the mermaids place them in one of the houses. The house they are in starts to sink into the ground.

The goat girl was omitted because the filmmakers wanted the film to focus on the relationship between Ian and Barley. The scene itself was removed because the filmmakers felt it was too grim.[21][22]

According to effects supervisor Vincent Serritella, the animators wanted the spells to be "something that's abstract" but also "personify it", so they "had to converge on the idea of an image of magic, go back to the base level of the sequences and the spells, and what level [of complexity] would be given, and how it affects the environment".[23] Director Dan Scanlon said that Ian's arc "was helpful to [the animators] because [they] could use that for all of the magic we designed".[23] The animators choose to give the film's magic a unique style after studying several animated films featuring magic such as Fantasia, Aladdin, and Hercules.[23] Animators wanted the film's magic to fit with its suburban setting.[23]

Animators first developed the film's magic using hand-drawn animated drawings, before turning them into computer-animated effects, with Serritella saying that "[they] made shapes and graphic elements that really lend themselves to what’s happening in a 2D environment".[23] Serritella also said that "the key" was mixing hand-drawn and computer animation, arguing that "[g]oing one way or the other didn’t work. Going too graphic didn’t fit into the world that the background and the characters were created in. And going too physical in an animated world seemed too real", so "[they] found the right balance" by turning hand-drawn animated graphics into "light objects" and giving them "[a] true volumetric, glowing atmosphere".[23] He further added that the choreography during the "visitation spell" sequence "came directly from 2D", while they CG animation and lighting provided "depth perception".[23]

Onward premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2020[24] and was theatrically released in the United States on March 6.[6] A short film titled Playdate with Destiny, which is centered around Maggie Simpson of The Simpsons, appeared before the feature film.[25][26] As the COVID-19 pandemic receded, the film was released in Australia and New Zealand on April 24, 2020, South Korea on June 17, 2020, Italy on August 19, 2020, and Japan on August 21, 2020..

Also the movie was released in 3D, 2D worldwide and in IMAX and Dolby Atmos in selected theatres.[27]

Onward was released digitally on the night of March 20, 2020, and became available for Disney+ subscribers on April 3, 2020 because of movie theater closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28] The digital date was just two weeks after the film's theatrical debut and before the end of the usual 90-day theatrical run. The announcement followed Disney's earlier than planned release of Frozen II on Disney+ as well as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Digital HD in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.[29] Over its first week of home release, the film was the sixth-most watched on Amazon Prime and second-most on the iTunes Store.[30] In Australia and New Zealand, it was released on Disney+ on April 24, 2020.[31] Then, it was released on Disney+ in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2020.[32]

The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on May 19, 2020.[33][34] It was released on Blu-ray 3D in the UK on June 1, 2020[35] and in Germany on July 23, 2020.[36]

Onward grossed $61.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $79.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $141.4 million.[4] The gross of the film was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced most movie theaters to shut down within two weeks after its release.[37][38][39]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside The Way Back and the wide expansion of Emma, and was projected to gross $45–50 million from 4,200 theaters in its opening weekend.[40] The film held early advance screenings on February 29, making $650,000 from 470 theaters.[41] It then grossed $12.1 million on its first day, the 6th, including $2 million from Thursday night previews. The film went on to debut to $39.1 million, topping the box office but marking the third-ever lowest start for a Pixar film.[42][43] While the film remained in first in its second weekend, it dropped 73% to $10.5 million (the worst-ever second weekend for a Pixar film), and was part of the lowest grossing box office weekend since October 1998, with all films combining for just $55.3 million.[44] In the film's third weekend, due to the mass theater closures around the country, it made $71,000 from 135 locations, mostly drive-in theaters.[45]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 325 reviews, with an average rating of 7.20/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "It may suffer in comparison to Pixar's classics, but Onward makes effective use of the studio's formula – and stands on its own merits as a funny, heartwarming, dazzlingly animated adventure."[46] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[47] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale (tied with Cars 2 for the lowest score received by a Pixar film), and PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.[42]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film three out of five stars, and called it "a likable family comedy that finds an easy rhythm without effort," though he felt that the movie's "attitude towards death" is not as radically powerful as in Coco.[48] In a same star review Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said "It's no Toy Story—but the animation juggernaut's latest, about two elf brothers on a quest, is still worth your while."[49] Reviewer James Berardinelli praised the film's originality and emotional weight and called it "engaging and enjoyable," adding "there’s something here for everyone," though concluded it is not the next Disney/Pixar classic.[50] Ben Travis of Empire Magazine gave the film five out of five stars, and wrote, "Pixar returns with a great big power-chord of a movie—heart-pumping, resonant, and positively harmonious."[51]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times called Onward a step back for Pixar, giving it two out of four stars. He said, "The story fluctuates between the uninspired and the just plain weird and then gets even weirder." While he praised the animation and said that the movie "begins with an intriguing premise," he concluded that it "doesn't come close to fully fleshing out the possibilities."[52]

The film was banned in the Arab countries of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, as one female cyclops police officer character in the film named Specter (voiced by Lena Waithe) briefly indicates that she is a lesbian. The scene in question is a brief scene in which a simulacrum of Colt Bronco is lamenting about how Ian and Barley Lightfoot do not respect him as a father figure. Specter replies to him by saying, "It's not easy being a new parent—my girlfriend's daughter got me pulling my hair out, okay?"[61][62][63] Homosexual acts are criminalized in the four countries, which are predominantly Muslim, although Kuwait does not criminalize female homosexual acts. The ban is not universal, and the film was screened in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Egypt, albeit the line was changed in the Arabic-language dubbing to "my sister's daughter".[64]

In Russia, where the gay propaganda law officially criminalizes the dissemination of LGBT-related content to minors under 18, the Russian dub, handled by Disney Character Voices International, changed the line to "It's not easy being a new parent—my partner's daughter got me pulling my hair out, okay?" The Russian dub also avoided referring to Specter with gender-specific pronouns.[61][62][63] The scene was also changed in Poland.[65] In Israel, the line "my girlfriend's daughter" was dubbed "my friend's daughters".