Onward is the next big film from Pixar Animation Studios. The movie features the voices of Marvel Cinematic Universe stars Chris Pratt and Tom Holland as two brothers on a quest. Pixar first teased Onward back in December 2018 via a tweet.
Here’s everything we know so far.
Plot: What’s it all about?
Onward sees two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, struggling with a magical spell to bring their father back for 24 hours on Ian’s 16th birthday. Their mom, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, gives them a wizard’s staff passed down by their father to cast the spell.
But when Holland’s character Ian can’t hold the staff for the duration of the spell, they only get back their father’s legs. So starts a quest to restore the rest of his body.
The quest sees them travel to a gas station overrun with pixies and a tavern with a fire-breathing monster. Another spell-casting attempt gone wrong shrinks Barley to the size of, well, barley.
There are unicorns that act like raccoons, mushroom-shaped houses and dragons as house pets.
Pixar released four new character posters on Dec. 16, revealing three new characters.
Trailers: What’s it going to look like?
The Disney-owned studio dropped the first trailer in May, and we got a small glimpse of Onward footage during Disney’s D23 Expo in August.
A more expansive trailer finally launched on Oct. 10, showing more details about the brothers’ quest to restore their father using the wizard’s staff.
On Oct. 9, Pixar posted a video on its Instagram account showing how Pratt and Holland reacted to the new trailer. “I look so sweet!” Holland says of his character. “I love this so much,” he adds later about the movie.
Disney announced in mid-December that a new trailer would be dropping soon. Pixar then showed off the second trailer for Onward on Dec. 17, showing the brothers getting quest advice from the manticore in a diner, including a map and a gem. Unfortunately, she forgot to tell them about the curse, and she sets off on a rescue mission with the boys’ mother.
It’s also revealed in the second trailer that their father wrote the spell himself so he could see who his boys grow up to be. “He wanted to meet you more than anything,” their mother tells Ian.
Cast and crew: Who’s in it?
Having two of the Avengers — Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy’s Star-Lord — reunite for Onward brought more fun to the voices, Onward writer and director Dan Scanlon told People in May. Their character traits are “the exact opposite,” the director, who also headed up Monsters University, told the publication.
Louis-Dreyfus, who voiced Princess Atta in Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, is voicing the brothers’ mom.
On Dec. 16, Pixar also announced Ali Wong, Lena Waithe and Mel Rodriguez will be joining the cast, voicing what look to be police officers.
The full cast includes:
- Chris Pratt as Barley Lightfoot
- Tom Holland as Ian Lightfoot
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Laurel Lightfoot
- Octavia Spencer as Manticore
- John Ratzenberger as we don’t know who yet
- Ali Wong as a police officer
- Lena Waithe as a police officer
-
Mel Rodriguez as a police officer
Release date: When can I see it?
Onward is scheduled for release on March 6, 2020.
Originally published Oct. 10.
Update, Dec. 16: Adds info on three new characters, four new posters and new trailer coming soon; Dec. 17: Adds detail on second trailer.