What to Expect from Pixar’s Onward

What to Expect from Pixar’s Onward

Onward is Pixar’s next upcoming film and I am so excited to watch it when it comes out in March 2020, mainly because it’s an original! I’ve got to be honest, I’m getting pretty tired of all these remakes Disney is coming out with, I mean, did you hear they’re going to remake “Home Alone”. Eurgh!

Back to Onward, the teaser trailer dropped a while ago for this film and I can’t stop watching it! The films about magical creatures like unicorns, gnomes, centaurs, mermaids and more all co-existing but something seems to have gone wrong, like something always goes wrong in good movies. In “Onwards” case it’s that there world has stopped being magical, sure there are these magical creatures but they have evolved to be slovenly, rubbish eating, miserable looking creatures, who seem to be addicted to technology. In the opening scene we see the tradition and more ideal look of mythical creatures, mermaids are swimming and leaping through the water, we see a lone winged unicorn flying over a naturally lush landscape. Fast-forward to present day in the film and things have changed.

The focus of the film are two elf brothers Ian and Barley. Ian Lightfoot, his full name, seems to be a normal down-to-earth, slightly stuck in a rut, kind of a character. We see him taking out the rubbish, walking home from what I imagine is school and not doing much. Barley on the other hand brings a bit of excitement to the trailer, I think he’s going to be the driving force behind the film, quite literally because he’s going to be driving the van but also because he seems to be the one believing that they are going to make something magical happen.

The plot description for the film is that Ian and Barley are going to set out on a “grand and glorious quest”, or how Ian describes it: “a really fast and strange errand”, to try and bring magic back to the world so that they can spend one day with their dad who passed away when they boys were too young to remember him. I just know that this film is going to be a tear jerker.

So why is the film called “Onward”? Well I have a couple of ideas. Maybe it is referring to the boys Dad. We often describe someone who has departed this life as having gone “onward”. Or maybe as the boys try and bring back magic to their world they will realise that things can’t go back to how they used to be, maybe things need to move onward, learn from the past and improve the future. We’ve only been treated to one teaser trailer so I’m sure that we’ll learn more of what “Onward” could mean closer to release which I repeat is March 2020.

Overall I think this film is going to be visually stunning and there’s going to be lots to look out for. Just in the trailer you can see a troll working under a sign that says “Under Bridge” – this is a reference to the “3 Billy Goats Gruff” story where a troll lives under a bridge and demands payment before the goats can pass. In “Onward” the Troll has a sign that says you must pay cash or answer a riddle. The newspaper that’s thrown is called the “Daily Scroll” and the number plate on Barleys van in “Guinevere”, the wife of King Arthur. I’m definitely going to have to watch the film a few times before I catch them all.

What makes me even more excited to watch this film is that the voice of Ian is Tom Holland (Spiderman), Barley is Chris Pratt (Star Lord from Guardian of the Galaxy), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) will be voicing an unnamed character and if they keep with tradition, John Ratzenberger will voice a character. Tom and Chris’s voices are going to blend so well, they seem like the perfect choices for the film.

To sum up, I am really excited to see this film, let me know your thoughts in the comments bellow.