I have been a self admitted “Disnerd” (Disney Nerd) since before it was cool to admit. That being said, unlike some of my other obsessions, I am critical, even picky about the products they put out. I mean, they  own almost everything now, I can’t feel like I’m betraying my fandom for questioning some of their actions. And while now I can honestly say I love way more Pixar films than I dislike, Pixar seems to be a branch of the Disney empire I have some of the most beef with, (well that and redundant live action remakes.)  Even though I’ve enjoyed most of Pixar’s films for the past few years, I can’t say any of them has been absolutely spectacular. Until now. Onward is a quest for feelings, laughs and self-reflection that goes way past the computer generated fantasy creatures on the screen and right into the human audience.  It takes us  on a journey of sight and sound, fire and stone, and sword and sorcery.

In a suburban fantasy world, where the magic was once widespread but has been long forgotten, two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot are trying to find their own path.  Ian, who is shy and socially awkward and Barley, who is outgoing and obsessed with their own fantastical history, seem to be going down two different roads as brothers. They receive a wizard’s staff on Ian’s sixteenth birthday as a prearranged gift from their father, who died before Ian was born and when Barley was too young to remember much about him. The staff came with a spell that will bring him back for only 24 hours, so his sons can meet him. Prompted by Barley, Ian uses the spell unsuccessfully, only to end up with just his father’s legs. This causes the brothers to go on a quest for a way to bring back the rest of their father before the time is up.

Ian is played by Tom Holland as a teen that’s having a hard time growing up with a father figure, to a damaging point.  Barley is portrayed by Chris Pratt as the perfect slacker, Dungeons and Dragons (or at least this world’s equivalent) obsessed, heavy metal listening, painted van driving adult that’s still living at home, similarly to his brother, caused by his father’s death, but in a completely different way.  Laurel Lightfoot, who is voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is the single mother who wants to have outgoing children but is also wanting to be very protective. The chemistry with these three are unbelievable. They aren’t voice actors by title, but they really bring an amazing vocal performance. Mel Rodriquez, John Ratzenberger, Ali Wong, Lena Waithe and the amazing Octavia Spencer round out the cast.

This is Dan Scanlon’s first original film as a director but he has a long relationship with Disney, dating all the way back in the Animation Department of Pocahontas II in 1998.  This definitely shows in this film. We can talk about Disney and Pixar and their relationship all day long, but one thing we can all agree on is that they both feel different from one another.  Sometimes, they get swapped, like Brave feels more like a Disney movie whereas Wreck-It-Ralph feels more like a Pixar film. Onward is one of the first films that feels like a Disney/Pixar film, the perfect marriage of both entities.  This is possibly caused by this being the first film that John Lasseter, the former leader of Pixar, wasn’t attached to. Dan Scanlon wrote the amazing screenplay based on the loss of his own father, which was then re-written by Jason Headley (A Bad Idea Gone Wrong) and Keith Bunin (Horns).

Onward is a heartfelt story that causes its fair share of laughs, cries and even a few awws.  It’s a film that kids will love alongside their parents, and perhaps even childless nerdy millennials such as myself.  I hope will be remembered throughout the years as one of the highlights in Pixar’s already illustrious catalog.