Anthomation Assesses Onward

Howdy guys, Anthomaton here. Today, I shall review Pixar’s latest animated film release to date, Onward (2020). 

Onward is a 2020 animated film that was directed by Dan Scanlon, who had previously worked on other Pixar films and served as the director for Monsters University (2013). Onward was also the first film without any involvement from John Lasseter, one of the founders of the company. Let’s just say that the former CCO of Pixar and Disney Animation had to leave the company due to a pretty touchy subject. Back to the film, it received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $141 million worldwide, making it the ninth highest-grossing film of 2020 so far. It quickly had to be pulled from theaters due to COVID-19, but was then made available digitally. In January 2020, San Francisco tattoo artist Sweet Cecily Daniher filed a copyright lawsuit against Disney, Pixar, and Onward producer Kori Rae. Apparently, the van, or “Vanicorn”, used in the film was inspired by the tattoo artist and she claimed that Pixar copied her design without her permission. She sought to prohibit the distribution of the film in any capacity, but I could not find any other information on the case as of right now. Wow, what a depressing introduction to this review. Hopefully, the film is better than the controversy surrounding it.

In a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, go on a journey to discover if there is still a little magic left out there in order to spend one last day with their father, who died when they were too young to remember him. Like any good quest, their journey is filled with magic spells, cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries. When the boys’ fearless mom, Laurel, realizes that her sons are missing, she teams up with the legendary winged-lion-scorpion former warrior — The Manticore — and heads off to find them. Perilous curses aside, this one magical day could mean more than any of them ever dreamed.

This is one of those movies that might have a thin story initially, but starts to build up as the film carries on. They set up initially that the father of our lead characters has recently died and they, along with their mom, miss him very much. Narrative-wise, that’s about. Character-wise, there is more fleshing out the movie does, but the story itself is as simple as two kids wanting their dad back so bad that they will steal some voodoo magic from Dr. Facilier of The Princess and the Frog (2009) in order to get him back for one day. But as time goes, we start to realize that things may not be that simple. I would like to elaborate the surprising depth of the story a little more, but it would come at the cost of spoiling the ending. THIS IS A NO SPOILER ZONE!!!

The animation here is unsurprisingly great and shows how Pixar has truly come in their visuals over the years. And no, I am not here to take shots at Toy Story (1995). It is one of the best animated films ever created and it would only make me look like a complete jerk. As for Onward, it is able to beautifully combine the aesthetics of the magical past with the overall look of the modern city. The character designs of the mythical creatures look very appealing, and so are their movements. Their facial expressions bring out a lot of life in each one of the characters.

The characters here are fleshed out really well and are able to convey enough emotion in the most crucial of places. We have our two teen elf leads: Ian and Barley Lightfoot. They are voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt respectively. I will try my best to refrain from Marvel jokes when talking about these two characters. Ian is the younger brother who is more shy and lacking in self-confidence. Barley is the older brother who is an enthusiastic, impulsive history and role-playing game fanatic, longing for a magical quest. There’s Laurel Lightfoot, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreydus, the mother of the two leads. There’s Corey, a manticore restaurant owner and former adventurer whom Ian and Barley go to for help on their quest. There’s Colt Bronco, a centaur police officer and Laurel’s boyfriend. And there is Wilden Lightfoot, Ian and Barley’s late father and Laurel’s late husband. With big name actors providing the voices of our protagonists, they prove their worth by providing enthusiastic performances to make us care about them even more, especially Chris Pratt.

Onward is another quality film from a studio that basks in quality. The story has more to offer than you might think, the animation is well done, and the characters are lively and build up a lot of the film’s excitement. Maybe not the best film Pixar has made, but it’s gearing up to be one of the best animated films of 2020. And no lawsuit will stop this movie from being watchable.

Score:

7/10