Onward2020

Director Dan Scanlon said to his mom, “I don’t know what to make a movie about, nothing ever really happened to me.” His mom replied, “You lost your father.” “But that’s not sad,” said Scanlon. “I don’t remember him.” She said, “that’s why it’s sad.” The funny thing is: Onward’s problem isn’t its muse, rather its struggle to give the viewer a steady stream of indisputable reasons to keep watching until the end. In fact, the final scenes contain Pixar gold: the kind of emotionally challenging, universally resonant, and important stuff only they’ve been able to do. It even takes a Pixar-level risk that no other studio has the guts to play. That’s where Scanlon’s personal inspiration flexes and to great effect. But the nearly 1.5 hour lead-up doesn’t lather the Pixar genius on thick. Instead it’s peppered throughout. You can tell the most creative and innovative minds were pulled onto Soul as this secondary project dug its claws in to just hold on. It’s not bad—Pixar has yet to make a bad movie, and it’s gorgeous to look at. I guess it's more just disappointing. But if Onward's shortcomings are due to Pixar's focus on making Soul the best it can be, then the sacrifice may have been worth it.