60 Fun Facts About Onward

Ian and Barley Lightfoot, the brothers at the centre of Onward, are what kind of mythical creature?

Elves. Magic was once common in their world but hard to master, so over the centuries easier technology took its place and spells fell out of use.

Which actor voices Ian Lightfoot, the shy younger brother in Onward?

Tom Holland's Ian is terrified of driving, so naturally the quest puts him behind the wheel for a freeway chase with a furious biker gang on his tail.

Who voices Barley Lightfoot, the older brother obsessed with a role-playing game, in Onward?

Chris Pratt's Barley hides a regret behind the bluster: as a boy he was too scared to go in and see his dying father one last time.

Who voices Laurel Lightfoot, the widowed mother of Ian and Barley, in Onward?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Laurel gets a heroic turn of her own: she sets off after her sons and ends up driving a magic sword into a dragon's heart.

In Onward, who voices Corey, the tavern owner who once sent heroes off on quests?

Octavia Spencer's Corey has a mid-life crisis on screen: realising how tame she has become, she drives out her customers and accidentally sets her own tavern on fire.

In Onward, what kind of mythical creature is Corey?

A manticore: part lion, part bat, part scorpion. Corey has neglected her wings for so long that she starts the rescue by car, yet by the finale she flies Laurel into battle.

What is the name of Ian and Barley's late father in Onward?

Wilden died just before Ian was born, and left the staff and spell with their mother so that he could come back and see who his sons had become.

In Onward, Laurel's police-officer boyfriend is what kind of mythical creature?

A centaur, with the horse-pun name Colt Bronco to match. The brothers can't stand him, and his pursuit of them ends in the police chase that costs Barley his van.

In Onward, Laurel gives her sons their late father's gift on what occasion?

Ian's 16th birthday. Barley, the family's magic fanatic, tries the spell first and can't raise a spark; it answers only to shy Ian.

In Onward, the rare gem the brothers' father left behind is what kind of gem?

A Phoenix gem. The first one disintegrates mid-spell, which is why the brothers have to set off on a quest to find another.

In Onward, what is the spell in the father's letter called?

Visitation. Ian sets the spell off alone, almost by accident, and it is Barley rushing in to help that interrupts him and cuts it short.

In Onward, for how long can the spell bring Ian and Barley's father back?

One day. The spell runs out at the next sunset, so once the first attempt goes wrong the whole quest becomes a race against the clock.

In Onward, when Ian's first try at the spell is cut short, which part of his father appears?

Only his lower half. The brothers rig up a stuffed dummy torso so they can take the legs along, and Dad talks back by tapping his foot.

What does Barley call his beloved van in Onward?

Guinevere. Barley got the battered old van running himself, and after it is lost on the quest he replaces it with Guinevere the Second, which Ian paints for him as a surprise.

In Onward, Corey's tavern, once a gathering place for would-be adventurers, has become what?

A family restaurant, with a costumed mascot and a karaoke machine. Corey has gone so respectable that she refuses to let the brothers have her old quest map.

In Onward, after the tavern fire destroys the map, what is the only surviving clue to the gem's location?

A children's menu. Corey's kids' menus are based on her old quest maps, so the throwaway handout still carries a real clue.

In Onward, the clue that survives the tavern fire sends the brothers to which nearby mountain?

Raven's Point. It turns out to be no single peak but a trail of raven statues, each one aimed at the next, leading the brothers down into a cave.

In Onward, Laurel and Corey take back Corey's old sword from what kind of business?

A pawn shop, where Corey had sold it when money was tight. The owner tries to jack up the price, so Corey leaves her paralysed on the shop floor and they walk out with the sword.

What is the name of the biker gang the brothers tangle with on the road in Onward?

The Pixie Dusters are sprites who ride motorbikes because their kind stopped flying. Barley's lecture on their unused wings insults them into a chase, and a crash sends them airborne again.

In Onward's police chase, Barley sacrifices his van to trigger what?

A landslide. Barley wedges a rock on the accelerator and sends his beloved van into the cliffs without him, burying the road and cutting off the police.

In Onward, Barley finally finds the second gem hidden inside what?

A historic fountain. Prising the gem loose wakes the curse Corey had warned of, which is why she and Laurel turn up just then with a sword.

In Onward, the gem's curse builds a dragon-shaped golem out of pieces of what?

Ian's high school. The cave's exit had dumped the brothers right outside it, back where they started, and Ian stormed off thinking the whole quest had been for nothing.

In Onward, what shows Ian that Barley has been a father figure all along?

A to-do list for time with his dad. Reaching 'driving lesson', Ian remembers Barley coaching him through the freeway chase, and one by one he ticks off every item.

Who directed Onward?

Dan Scanlon based the story on his own family: his father died in a car accident when he was a baby, and he grew up wondering how alike the two of them were.

Before Onward, its director had made which earlier Pixar feature?

Monsters University, the 2013 prequel. After it he was encouraged to tell a more personal story, and the result was a film about his own father.

In Onward, what is the name of the role-playing game that Barley treats as real history?

Quests of Yore. Everyone treats Barley's obsession as a joke, but the game's rules turn out to be true, and its spells are what get Ian through the journey.

On an old tape, Onward's director heard his late father's voice for the first time, saying just "Hi" and what?

Goodbye. Home movies of the day had no sound, so those two words were all he had ever heard of his father's voice, and he called the moment 'magical'.

In Onward, Ian crosses a bottomless pit by casting a spell that creates what?

An invisible bridge that holds only while he believes in it. Barley ties a safety rope round him, and Ian strolls the rest of the way across without noticing that the rope has run out.

At which event was Onward first announced, in July 2017?

D23 Expo, Disney's own fan convention. Pixar chief John Lasseter introduced the still-untitled film on stage, but he had left the company by the time it came out.

In Onward, what goes wrong when Ian tries a growth spell on a petrol can?

His brother shrinks. A pocket-sized Barley can't reach the pedals, which is how nervous Ian ends up driving the getaway from an angry biker gang.

In Onward's finale, where is Ian when his father finally appears in full?

Trapped behind rubble. Ian gives up his turn to Barley, who missed his chance as a child, and sees their farewell hug only through a crack in the debris.

Which Dungeons & Dragons monster, used with its makers' permission, hunts the brothers through a cave in Onward?

A gelatinous cube. The see-through block dissolves whatever it touches, so the brothers have to outrun it, and the film's credits thank the game's publisher for the loan.

Onward's composers, the Danna brothers, were asked to blend wizardry with which 1970s style of music?

Progressive rock. It is what blasts from the cassette player in Barley's van, and the brothers put a band together to record those songs themselves.

Onward's composers, the Danna brothers, had already scored which Pixar film?

The Good Dinosaur, in 2015. Invited back for Onward, the brothers walked into the pitch knowing nothing about the film, and felt the hairs on their necks rise as the story unfolded.

Onward's composers called the film "pretty much our story": like the father in it, their own late father was what?

An accountant. Mychael and Jeff Danna lost theirs as teenagers, and the director knew none of it until he pitched them the film; he says the meeting turned into a therapy session.

Who performs "Carried Me With You", the song over Onward's end credits?

Brandi Carlile wrote it in three days with her twin bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth, mining the brothers' own bond for a song about not taking love for granted.

Onward had its world premiere at which film festival in February 2020?

Berlin. Pixar unveiled it at the Berlinale on 21 February 2020; within a month of that night, almost every cinema it was made for had closed.

When the dragon knocks his staff into the sea, what does Onward's Ian make a new one from?

A splinter in his hand, left there by the old staff. Remembering Barley's advice to use what he has, Ian grows it into a new one and finishes the fight.

Playdate with Destiny, the short shown before Onward, starred a baby from which TV series?

The Simpsons. Maggie falls for a boy at the playground in the first Simpsons short made after Disney bought the show's studio, which is how it came to open for a Pixar film.

About how soon after reaching US cinemas was Onward released for digital download?

Two weeks. With cinemas shutting, Disney tore up the usual 90-day wait, and the film was streaming on Disney+ a fortnight after that.

In Onward, which spell is the first that Ian casts successfully on purpose, during the tavern fire?

A levitation spell. A burning beam is about to fall on Dad when Ian freezes it in mid-air, and a thrilled Barley tells him to keep practising.

In Onward, what is the name of the enchanted sword Corey once carried on her adventures?

Curse Crusher. Corey sold it to pay her bills, so she and Laurel have to get the blade back before anyone can use it on the dragon.

In Onward, the brothers disguise themselves as their mother's boyfriend with a spell that fails whenever they do what?

Tell a lie. When a police officer calls Barley a screw-up, Ian says he disagrees and the disguise starts to slip, which tells Barley exactly what his brother thinks of him.

In late March 2020, Onward's US ticket sales came mostly from what kind of venue?

Drive-in theaters. With almost every indoor cinema in America shut, watching from the car was about the only way left to see it on a big screen.

Which earlier Pixar film shared Onward's A- CinemaScore grade?

Cars 2, in 2011. An A- sounds respectable, but Pixar audiences almost always give an A or A+, so it was the lowest grade the studio had ever had.

Which Disney sequel topped Nielsen's 2020 list of most-streamed films, where Onward came fourth?

Frozen II, which Disney had also hurried onto Disney+ early. With cinemas shut, Onward found at home the audience it never got the chance to reach on the big screen.

Onward lost the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature to which film?

Soul, another Pixar release, so the studio beat itself. Soul had an even rougher 2020 than Onward: it skipped US cinemas altogether and went straight to Disney+.

Onward was the last Pixar film released in theaters worldwide until which 2022 film?

Lightyear. The three Pixar films in between were all sent straight to Disney+ in most countries, so the studio went more than two years without a worldwide cinema release.

Onward was banned in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia over a line spoken by which character?

Officer Specter. In one passing line she mentions her girlfriend's daughter, which was enough for censors in four Gulf states to pull the film, though other Arab countries showed it.

In Onward, Lena Waithe voices a police officer of what species?

Cyclops. Waithe's one-eyed officer pulls the brothers over for wild driving right after the biker chase, and very nearly sees through their magical disguise.

What is the name of the town where the Lightfoot family lives in Onward?

New Mushroomton. For all the miles the brothers cover, their trek over the mountains and through the cave ends with them climbing out of a manhole right back in it.

Ali Wong voices Officer Gore, a police officer of what species?

She joined the cast alongside Lena Waithe and Mel Rodriguez in December 2019.

In Onward, Wilmer Valderrama voices Gaxton, who is what to the brothers' late father?

A college friend. Gaxton recognises Ian by his father's old college sweatshirt and stops to reminisce, giving Ian a rare glimpse of the man he never met.

In Onward, Tracey Ullman voices Grecklin, who is what kind of creature?

A goblin. She is about to sell the heroes the sword cheaply until she overhears Corey whisper that it is one of a kind, and the price shoots up.

John Ratzenberger voiced a character in every Pixar feature up to Onward, then in none until which film?

Inside Out 2, where he returned as Fritz. In the Pixar film that followed Onward, the studio's 'good luck charm' appears only as a drawn lookalike of himself in a subway scene.

A deleted Onward scene had Ian and a lost character named Jenny lured into a trap by three what?

Sirens, recast as estate agents whose song sells timeshares. The director cut the scene because they were plainly out to kill the kids, too murderous for the film's tone.

An artist sued Pixar claiming a vehicle in Onward was copied from her own mural-painted one, known as what?

The Vanicorn. Pixar had rented her unicorn-muralled van as a showpiece for a staff festival in 2018, and she sued after spotting a lookalike in the film's first publicity images.

At a roadside stop in Onward, how does Dad break up a row between Ian and Barley?

By dancing. After the brothers fall out, Barley cranks up his music, Dad starts to shuffle to it, and he coaxes both sulking sons into joining in.

Pixar first announced Onward as a film set in what kind of fantasy world?

Suburban. The director imagined a world that had swapped magic for satellite dishes and minivans, where unicorns raid the bins and dragons are kept as pets.

What is the name of the Lightfoot family's pet dragon in Onward?

Blazey. She pounces on Ian like an overexcited dog, and Laurel has to drive her off with a spray bottle and a stern 'Bad dragon!'