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Pixar’s latest feature, Onward, also<br />
has deep meaning for its director,<br />
Dan Scanlon (Monsters University).<br />
“In development, I knew I wanted<br />
to do something personal this time.<br />
And so I just started asking questions<br />
of other filmmakers here and telling<br />
them about my life. And they helped<br />
me pull out certain personal things. My dad<br />
passed away when I was a year old and my brother<br />
was three. So that was a biggie. I think a lot of<br />
times movies are questions or should start off as<br />
questions. And my question was, who was he and<br />
how am I like him? Where am I going? That’s<br />
where the idea came from and we thought, well,<br />
wouldn’t it be amazing if you had one day with<br />
that person—and what would you say?”<br />
To make that premise work, some kind of<br />
magic would need to enter the picture. But<br />
Scanlon didn’t want to make a period piece set in<br />
a fantasy world. “And then I thought,<br />
why can’t it be modern and be a<br />
fantasy, magical place?”<br />
Thus was born the world of<br />
Onward, in which high-tech conveniences<br />
have been so embraced by its<br />
community of elves, sprites, centaurs,<br />
trolls, gnomes, and other fanciful creatures<br />
that they’ve let some of their magical<br />
powers dissipate. At the center of the story are two<br />
elf brothers, awkward Ian (voiced by current Spider-Man<br />
Tom Holland) and his boisterous older<br />
sibling, Barley (Chris Pratt). On his 16th birthday,<br />
Ian is presented with a gift from the late father he<br />
never knew: a letter containing a magic spell, plus<br />
a staff and a special gemstone, which will give him<br />
the power to resurrect his dad for one day. But the<br />
spell goes terribly awry: Dad comes back, all right,<br />
but only from the waist down. To complete the<br />
process, Ian and Barley must embark on a frantic<br />
DYNAMIC DUO<br />
Above, a sculpture<br />
of the iconic<br />
Pixar lamp that graces<br />
the Pixar campus<br />
in Emeryville, California,<br />
and <strong>Boxoffice</strong><br />
<strong>Pro</strong>’s executive editor<br />
Kevin Lally at the<br />
Pixar campus, above<br />
center.<br />
Brothers Ian<br />
and Barley (voiced<br />
by Tom Holland and<br />
Chris Pratt) embark<br />
on an epic quest to<br />
conjure their late<br />
dad for one magical<br />
day. Among the<br />
challenges they face<br />
is crossing a massive<br />
crevasse with<br />
nothing but Ian’s<br />
own faith beneath<br />
his feet.<br />
<strong>Pro</strong>ducer Kori<br />
Rae and director<br />
Dan Scanlon led<br />
the creative team<br />
behind Disney and<br />
Pixar’s Onward.<br />
ART AND PHOTO © 2019 DISNEY/PIXAR / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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