Onward is a new original animated film by Pixar. It is distributed by Walt Disney and it is bound to cast a spell on you.
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about the new film.
- Onward is a 2020 American computer-animated urban fantasy film
- It is produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures
- The film is directed by Dan Scanlon
- It is produced by Kori Rae
- The screenplay was written by Scanlon, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin
- It stars the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer
- The film is set in a suburban fantasy world, the film follows two elf brothers who set out on a quest to find a spell that will bring back their deceased father
- It was released in the United States on March 6, 2020
- In July 2017, Pixar announced a “suburban fantasy world” film at the D23 Expo, with Scanlon directing and Rae producing
- The film’s inspired by Scanlon’s father’s death when Scanlon and his brother were younger, and their relationship
- He decided to write the story after hearing an audio clip of his father
- On December 12, 2018, the title was revealed
- In 2019, Headley and Bunin were hired to rewrite the screenplay
- On December 12, 2018, Holland, Pratt, Louis-Dreyfus and Spencer were announced as starring in the film
- While having recorded most of their lines separately, Holland and Pratt did some of their recording sessions together since
- According to Rae, Holland and Pratt improvised some of their lines while recording together
- On December 17, 2019, Wong, Waithe and Rodriguez joined the cast of the film
- On February 18, 2020, Valderrama, Ullman, Bornheimer, Foley, Psarras and Ratzenberger were revealed to have been cast on the film
- On April 16, 2019, Mychael and Jeff Danna were revealed to be the film’s composers
- On February 12, 2020, Brandi Carlile revealed she recorded the song “Carried Me With You” for the film’s end credits
- She co-wrote it with Phil and Tim Hanseroth
- The film’s soundtrack was released on February 28, 2020
- All music is composed by Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, except where noted
- Onward premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2020
- It was released in the United States on March 6, 2020
- On February 27, 2020, it was announced that the film included a new short-film titled Playdate with Destiny
- The short-film stars Maggie Simpson of The Simpsons
- On May 29, 2019, two stills from the film, featuring Barley, Ian and their mother, were revealed
- The following day, the film’s teaser poster was released, and the teaser trailer debuted during ABC’s broadcast of the 2019 NBA Finals
- The trailer was also shown with Toy Story 4 and Spider-Man: Far From Home
- An official trailer was released on October 10, 2019
- Another trailer was released on December 17, 2019
- On January 27, 2020, a San Francisco tattoo artist named Sweet Cecily Daniher filed a copyright lawsuit against Disney, Pixar, and Onward producer Kori Rae
- In September 2018, Pixar rented a van owned by Daniher and decorated with a unicorn-themed mural for use in a one-day festival
- She learned about the production of Onward in May 2019 and, after seeing images of the van used by Ian and Barley Lightfoot in the film, came to believe that Pixar had stolen the design of her van in violation of her rental agreement with the company, and violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Visual Artists Rights Act, and California Artists Protection Act
- She also sought in her suit to prohibit distribution of the film and any infringing advertisements or merchandise
- In the United States and Canada, Onward was released alongside The Way Back
- It is projected to gross $45-50 million from 4,200 theaters in its opening weekend
- The film held early advance screenings on February 29
- It made $650,000 from 470 theaters
- It then made $2 million from Thursday night previews
- On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 87%
- Based on 201 reviews
- With an average rating of 7.18/10
- The website’s critics consensus reads: “It may suffer in comparison to Pixar’s classics, but Onward makes effective use of the studio’s formula — and stands on its own merits as a funny, heartwarming, dazzlingly animated adventure”
- On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100
- Based on 53 critics
- Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
- Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A–” on an A+ to F scale
Got anything to add?