Onward

Onward is a 2020 American animated urban fantasy adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Dan Scanlon, produced by Kori Rae, and 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, set in a suburban fantasy world for the modern day, follows two elf brothers named Ian and Barley Lightfoot (Holland and Pratt, respectively) who set out on a quest to find an artifact that will temporarily revive their dead father, Wilden (Kyle Bornheimer) for twenty-four hours.

After directing Monsters University (2013), Scanlon was encouraged to develop personal stories. The concept of Onward is based on the death of Scanlon's father, who died in a car accident when Scanlon and his older brother were very young children, and their relationship with each other. He began to write the story after hearing an audio clip of his father. The film was announced at D23 Expo in July 2017, with the title being revealed in December 2018, alongside the voice cast. The animation team chose to give the film's magic a unique style after studying several animated films featuring magic in order to fit with its suburban setting. Development on Onward lasted for six years. Composers Mychael and Jeff Danna were hired to compose the film's musical score, with Brandi Carlile contributing an original end credits song for the film.