{"id":15436,"date":"2020-03-06T18:52:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T23:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=15436"},"modified":"2020-03-07T02:16:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T07:16:27","slug":"onward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2020\/03\/06\/onward\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney-Pixar\u2019s \u2018Onward\u2019\u2014Two Suburban Elves On An Epic Quest For Brotherly Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLong ago, the world was filled with wonder,\u201d a voice-over explains at the start of the new Disney-Pixar computer animated feature \u201cOnward.\u201d<\/a> Wizards and cyclops and gnomes and unicorns roamed a \u201cDungeons & Dragons\u201d realm. \u201cMagic helped all in need. But it wasn\u2019t easy to master. And so the world found a simpler way to get by. Over time, magic faded away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cut to a tidy contemporary Los Angeles-ish suburb where blue Smurfs\u2014I mean, elves\u2014lead lives of awkward high school, home exercise regimens, dorky moms\u2019 boyfriends, and quiet desperation.<\/p>\n

When a blue elf by the name of Ian (voiced by \u201cSpider-Man\u201d\u2019s Tom Holland) turns 16, his mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) gives him a gift left for him and his older brother by their father, who fell ill and died just before Ian was born. The brothers unroll the long bundle to reveal a wizard\u2019s staff, a magic gem, and instructions from their father for a \u201cvisitation spell\u201d to return him to life for a single day. (\u201cThe story is inspired by my own relationship with my brother and our connection with our dad who passed away when I was about a year old,\u201d director Dan Scanlon has said. \u201cHe\u2019s always been a mystery to us.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In “Onward,” Ian (left) accidentally casts the spell to bring their dead father back to life for a day. (\u00a92019 Disney\/Pixar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Older brother Barley (Chris Pratt)\u2014a \u201cDungeons & Dragons,\u201d heavy metal, Jack Black-clone\u2014attempts the spell unsuccessfully. Ian retreats to his room, mumbling the spell, and it turns out that he has a smidgeon of wizard in him. So the spell works\u2014sorta. Their father returns, but only his bottom half\u2014from feet to waist.<\/p>\n

Barley launches them on a quest to find another magical gem that will allow them to complete the spell and bring the rest of their father back\u2014before their 24 hours expire.<\/p>\n