Onward

If Tolkien had set his tale not in Middle Earth but in the suburbs, it would have looked a bit like the world of ONWARD. You’ve got gnomes on roller-skates, centaur officers patrolling the streets, cute little dragons as pets, trolls drinking Trolls (we’ve seen the deleted scenes!) and unicorns eating out of dumpsters. Two elf brothers, Ian and Barley, grew up without their father, who died at a young age. But they find out dad left them a magic staff that can bring him back to life for 24 hours. Unfortunately… they mess up the spell and end up with half a dad, just his legs! And so begins their extraordinary quest and a race against the clock to complete the spell. Pixar and Disney excel at pulling at heartstrings and here they succeed in flying colors again. But what makes ONWARD so special is its very personal touch. Dan Scanlon (director of MONSTERS UNIVERSITY) lost his own dad at the age of 1 and that experience was the starting point for the script. Spending one full day with a beloved person you’ve lost, who couldn’t relate to that? Plus, it’s as if Pixar made this movie with us in mind: Barley’s a heavy role-play gamer, the soundtrack’s very LORD OF THE RINGS-yand at one point they have to follow statues of ravens. That’s right: always follow the Raven!