Onward is probably my favourite original Pixar animated film for some time, with a near-perfect blend of comedy, a family friendly adventure plot, and emotional moments that will really pull on your heartstrings.

Premise: Set in a modern-day fantasy world where centaurs work as cops, domesticated dragons are kept as pets, and feral unicorns raid the trash – but magic has been consigned to the history books – two elf teenagers (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) set off on a quest to find what they need for a spell that could allow them to spend a day with their long-dead father.

Review:

An effective opening voiceover and montage concisely paint a vivid picture of the world that this film takes place in. A hundred or so years ago, this was the kind of Dungeons & Dragons-esque fantasy world that you’d recognise, with wizards and brave adventurers regularly engaging in mythical quests for ancient treasures. But technology caught up with society, and soon “easy” electricity and fuel had replaced difficult-to-master magic as the primary source of power, and by the time the film starts, the mythical creatures of the realm are as suburban as the rest of us.

There’s plenty of comedy to be mined in just this premise alone (and there are a lot of great jokes and background visual gags built around this), but that is really just the backdrop for the main story, which revolves around 16-year-old elf Ian Lightfoot (voiced by To Holland) and his older brother Barley (Chris Pratt). In many ways Ian is a typical teenager – socially awkward (as shown in a scene where he attempts to invite some classmates to his birthday party) and struggling to find his identity as a near-adult (on his birthday he writes himself a “new me” to-do list) – but what’s soon clear is that Ian feels haunted by the legacy of the father he never knew, who died before he was born.

“…Ian feels that the absence of a father in his life has left him with a void…”

While his older brother Barley still remembers a few memories of their late father, Ian feels that the absence of a father in his life has left him with a void, which he tries to fill with stories their mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tells them about their father, and with photos and recordings of the man he never got to meet. When he turns 16, Ian starts wearing his father’s old college jumper, a physical metaphor for his desperation to feel a connection and find an identity.

Barley, on the other hand, is seen as a screw-up by those around him – he's finished school, but seems to spend all his time playing fantasy role-playing games, fixing his beaten-up van (which he’s named Guinevere), and protesting about the demolition of “historical” landmarks. He’s often in trouble with local centaur cop Officer Bronco (Mel Rodriguez), who also happens to be his mum’s new boyfriend.

“…the film weaves moments of real emotion into the fun…”

Like some of the best of Pixar’s back-catalogue, all of these themes are universal and relatable, and could just as easily have been addressed in a kitchen-sink grounded drama as an animated family film involving elves in a magical realm – but the fantastical setting allows these themes and issues to be explored in a way that’s accessible (and magical) to audiences of all ages. Interestingly, when developing the film, director and co-writer Dan Scanlon came up with the characters’ emotional journeys long before the suburban fantasy elements were thought of. It’s only when Ian and Barley discover that there may be a magical spell which could allow them to bring their father back for one day that the fantasy elements really come to the foreground (but even then, only in a way that allows the characters’ emotional issues to be explored through allegory and metaphor).

For reasons that I won’t spoil here, the two brothers soon find themselves on a quest in a race against time to complete the spell that will allow them to bring their dad back, before the opportunity is lost forever. Ian’s desperation is palpable, but it’s Barley’s obsession with history and fantasy games that actually sets them off on their path, as he declares that the first stop on any adventurers’ quest has to be the legendary Tavern of the Manticore (voiced by Octavia Spencer).

“…there’s a genuineness to the emotion…”

There is a lot of fun to be had on the brothers’ journey, which is in equal parts exciting family friendly adventure (with nods to classic fantasy and treasure hunting tropes) and good-natured comedy. But perhaps the film’s greatest strength is its ability to weave moments of real emotion into the fun, so that amidst the laughs you’ll also shed a few tears. I think the fact that the story was inspired by Dan Scanlon’s own experiences of losing his father at a young age means that there’s a genuineness to the emotion, so it never feels contrived or overly sentimental.

The film balances the adventure, humour and heart perfectly, and the easy chemistry between Tom Holland and Chris Pratt means that they’re entirely convincing as on-screen brothers. As much as the film is about the brothers’ quest to spend a day with their long-deceased dad, it’s the siblings’ relationship that forms the emotional core of the movie. All in all, this is a joyously fun and heart-warming must-see family film.