This year, Toy Stories, the first Pixar cartoon that came out in 1995 and turned animation upside down, turns 25. Since then, the studio never ceases to delight us with masterpieces. She has more than 20 full-length cartoons on her account, with the best of which you can find in the article on the 10 best Pixar cartoons .
But we hope that one day the guys at Pixar will once again make a “coup” and present something completely new. But it is difficult. On this occasion, the studio even has a whole cartoon. The entertaining “Ratatouille”, with its irrepressible culinary perfectionism, is exactly about this: about standards that are not so easy to surpass.
But since the cartoon achievements of Pixar are still ahead, we now have the opportunity to evaluate the new “Onward” (and not to be confused with “Up”). A cartoon about two brothers who live in a magical world without magic.
Orcs, centaurs and elfi live in the suburban metropolis along with unicorns, who have lost their former charm and roam wildly around garbage cans. The main characters are completely “ordinary” elven brothers. Blue-skinned teenagers Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley Lightfoot (Chris Pratt), raised by a widowed, peaceful mom.
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The main characters of “Forward”
Ian is a typical shy guy who at the time of the action turns 16. He loves his father very much, although he has never met him. His older brother Barley is his complete opposite. An incorrigible nerd, car enthusiast, fan of witchcraft and themed games.
Barley is confident that the games he coordinates as the master of the dungeon represent the last remnants of civilization as it was before the invention of the light bulb and the machine.
The plot of the cartoon Onward
The appearance of magic in the form of a staff, a gem and a scroll, which their father once left behind, dramatically changes the lives of the brothers. This set gives them the power to summon him back. Except it doesn’t quite work. The spell is interrupted halfway, that is, it materializes only to the waist. And while half of Dad is 24 hours better than no one at all, he can’t see, talk, or do anything other than walk, sit, and dance a little.
But the hope of seeing my father does not completely die. The brothers go in search of another gem. A kind of fantastic quest in the style of a rather atypical road movie for this genre.
The meaning of the film Onward
The main idea of the cartoon is hidden in plain sight – the desire of the younger brother at all costs to see his father and all the help of the elder (he even donates his van for this) is, in fact, a cover for another, deeper message. And of course – not designed for everyone.
Enjoy every step – the main idea of ”Onward”. Ian, emphatically tense, is so fixated on the ultimate goal (to see and communicate with his father) that he does not understand that the quest with his brother is the best thing that happened to him.
Forward is the nickname for the only working mechanism in Barley’s battered old van. This is the only thing brothers need to be happy.
The main advantages of Onward
“Onward” is an unexpectedly thoughtful and entertaining film with scary bottomless pits, evil fairies in biker outfit and the amazing Octavia Spencer as a tamed manticore. Its active elaboration attracts even more than “Monsters University” – Dan Scanlon’s previous directorial robot.
One of the main advantages of “Onward” is a completely unexpected, but truly correct disclosure of the film’s message, namely:
- enjoy every moment with the people who are nearby;
- don’t spend your whole life waiting for someone special, pushing those closest to you.
