Onward (2020)

A Great Surprise from Pixar Studios-

Onward was really a great surprise, when the trailer released it really wasn't anything I would expect and I didn't really think this was great but I was completely proven wrong by Pixar, Onward was the first new original idea from Pixar Studios after a long line of sequels, such as Incredibles 2, Finding Dory and Toy Story 4. After many sequels I didn't know what to expect with a new original idea and this is why I didn't like a new original movie in production but Onward had smashed all my low expectations going above and beyond, I cannot wait to see what the next release Soul has to offer in the coming months.

Onward has once again showed how excellent storytelling is done by Pixar, focusing on modern topics and developing characters you can really connect to and feel for with a continually developing story, each scene followed a similar formula but still had an excellent story plot points, there were no cut corners or laziness in production of this and the best point is how amazing the story was, really nothing I was expecting, the story was just outstanding!

An interesting point was the cast, Pixar brought back Tom Holland and Chris Pratt straight from Infinity War and Endgame which I can only imagine their schedules over the past 6-5 years, it is amazing to see new talent working with an experienced actor in Holland and Pratt's case, Tom Holland has been quite the up and coming actor over the last decade, this is the new talent I love to see and he has been experimenting with different parts of work starting of in theatre, then live action film and now animation and what an amazing actor he is, he is the new talent that I love to see. Chris Pratt has mostly worked in live action TV and film over the 21st century with lots of experience in both live action and animation with titles such as, Jurassic World, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Lego Movie, Pratt cameos in videogames and even a Disneyland Attraction. Onward also stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer.

Today original ideas are hard to come by and I praise Pixar for taking the risk and attempting said ideas, and especially how much effort the studio puts into this is incredible, I love seeing new ideas as I always have very little or no expectations and these ideas blow me away minus a few examples. Onward is an amazing animation and even though it is a family movie it should be viewed by all ages and everyone, Onward takes serious subjects and shares light on them subjects that are about in todays world, and Onward is also the first Disney movie I can think of that mentions LGBTQ+ with a sort of throw away line by a police officer but this is a subject I hope is explored more by Pixar and Disney as this isn't really normalised to children and children should be educated from movies on serious subjects like this so they don't grow up and only learn about this when they are a bit older like me I wish I understood earlier what this meant, other serious subjects are explored such as grief of losing a loved one and even how the world is changing and global warming, Onward explores this so deeply and powerfully I felt affected by this even though it explores subjects in somewhat goofy animated way but it really comes across right and really touched my heart with this.

My final notes are that Onward is a animated feature that steps out of Pixar's comfort zone explores intense subjects, has a witty script can and should be viewed by everyone, amazing script and story, showing the lengths of the journey these two brothers go on. Onward was just fantastic.

Onward is the tale of two elf brothers living in a modern fantasy of elves, magic, pixies, unicorns etc. The brothers go on a journey after the younger Ian (Tom Holland) turns 16 and opens a present left by their father who passed away when they were very young, this present includes a magical key that allows them to see their father for one day only, the key is missing a piece that they must trek across their town to find on a quest, while learning magic and and going on ups and downs in their relationship.