It’s not unsurprising by any means to see adults tearing up during a Pixar film, and Onward won’t be any different.
Onward, which was directed by Dan Scanlon, is the story of two elf brothers whose father passed away when they were very young, so they don’t have many memories of him. But when a magical spell gives them the chance to spend one more day with their dad, they embark on a quest to fulfil that wish.
Yep, I’m already tearing up.
Speaking with News.Com.Au, Scanlon reveals Pixar films always start in a personal place.
“At Pixar, there’s a desire to tell stories that at least come from some personal place or some personal place,” he said.
“I feel like we’re really encouraged here to be vulnerable, because chances are if you have something in your life that you believe in or have fears about, then other people do too, and they’re more likely to connect.”
For Scanlon, Onward is deeply personal because it’s his story – minus the magic, of course.
“My father passed away when I was young and my brother and I grew up not knowing him,” he said.
“We grew up with our mum being our inspiration, support and protector, but we always wondered who our dad was as a human being, and how we were like him.
“That question led to this idea of what if we could spend a day with him? What if there was some way to do that? That really was the genesis of Onward.”
The relationship between brothers Barley (Chris Pratt) and Ian (Tom Holland) in the movie is also inspired by Scanlon’s own life.
“My brother was incredibly supportive of me growing and was like a parental figure in my life, so the ending of Onward was always there. The hard part was earning it, creating the growth Ian would go through, creating the fun of the adventure. That took, as is often the case at Pixar, almost six years.”
He added, “We wanted to tell a story about the people in our lives who go above and beyond to help us become the adults we are today.
“We all have somebody like that, sometimes it’s a family member, sometimes it’s a teacher or a friend. The film’s goal was to honour those people and maybe inspire people to call those people if they’re still around and thank them.”
Onward was set for an April release, however, with the coronavirus pandemic, it’s been moved forward to March 26 with sneak previews in cinemas this weekend.
Disney has revealed that Onward will be available on Disney+ in the US from early April with no word yet on whether the same applies to Australia.