Onward (2020) Review

Pixar has a brilliant way of telling a story flawlessly every time, and this movie was no different. I am a fan of Pixar and the fantasy genre so this movie was right in my wheelhouse. In my opinion, this is another exquisite entry from Pixar. This film really had the whole package - warmth, humor and drama brought together skillfully from beginning to end.

Onward (2020) is a Pixar animated film directed by Dan Scanlon and written by Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin. It features the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer. Two elf brothers attempt to make contact with their deceased father one last time using the long forgotten art of magic. When the magic works but only partially, the brothers set out on a quest to complete the spell and see their father one last time.

This film was very well done on numerous levels. The set design was thoroughly detailed the way only Pixar can, getting all the intricate details in the background just right, making for some awesome eye candy scattered throughout the film.

Pixar has come a long way in the field of digital technology. Each movie they do seems to up their game in their already impressive craft. In this film, they use smoke effects toward the end of the movie that I have never seen before and it made my jaw drop. It was truly remarkable.

As a whole, all I can say is Pixar has knocked it out of the park once again. I tried to find something critical to say, but I honestly found nothing. An all around solid film.

9/10

• Onward made a worldwide gross of 103 million dollars.
• This film was released on March 6, 2020 was produced and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
• According to director Dan Scanlon, who lost his father at a very young age, this film is inspired by the question he's always asked, "who was my father?"
• This was Pixar's 22nd feature film.
• This is Pixar's first film without John Lasseter, following his departure as CEO of Disney's Animation Department.
• This is Pixar's first original film since The Good Dinosaur and Coco. Every Pixar film since 2016 (with the exception of Coco) has been a sequel.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the first Disney movie to be released for digital download while still in theaters.
• This is Disney's 8th computer animated film to feature no humans.