How Did Pixar Create The Magic In Onward?

When visiting Pixar Studios last year, I learned a lot about the magic of Onward. Not only does Pixar use a lot of magic elements in the fantasy world, but the magic comes from the heart of the story. Set in a suburban fantasy world, Pixar’s Onward introduces two teenage elf brothers (Chris Pratt and Tom Holland) who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there. Here’s how Pixar made the magic happen. 

Where did the Title Onward Come From?

First of all, why Onward? Well that’s a nod to Barley, the elder Lightfoot brother. He’s really into Quests of Yore and speaks in the language of old. 

Director Dan Scanlon said, “We struggled a little bit – it’s a hard movie to name because it’s a complex idea. And some folks pitched us the idea of saying, ‘What about Onward?’ What I love about it in the movie, it is maturing, it is growing up, it is moving past loss, it is learning to deal with loss and so it has this funny kind of pretentious nature to it. But it also is really moving and felt like what the movie is – positive, you know – we wanted to make sure it was a positive, because the film generally is ultimately positive, and we wanted to make sure that was inherent in the title.”

You can read about the emotional story behind the idea of Onward here. But the premise behind it is what if you had one more day with someone you lost? You have the heart, now how do you make the magic happen?

A Modern and Diverse Fantasy World

Dan Scanlon said, “We wanted it to be a modern fantasy world. We want it to be as modern and diverse as our world is.” How can you create that? My friend Tessa talks about how Pixar blended the fantasy with the familiar in the details of this world and characters.

Scanlon added, “We were having elves or different species, we worked hard to make different races within those species, so that every kid could look and say, like, ‘Oh, I’m an elf’, or ‘I get to be a centaur’ or ‘I get to be the Cyclops’, because we wanted that rich feel. I think it’ll be fun as people see more of the movie they can see themselves in different types of fantasy creatures.”

Although we don’t have those creatures right now, I love how Pixar wanted a diverse world in which we could relate to a character.

They didn’t want to set the movie as a period piece, which is what most magic films sometimes are.

Scanlon said, “This is such a personal story. And if it’s taking place long ago, I’m not really going to connect with that and then thought, ‘Well, why does it have to be long ago? Could it be a magic piece now?”

“And that’s what led to the idea that you’d have unicorns and all these things in a modern world. Kori and I both became a little more fantasy fans. So naturally, a lot of it started off as kind of poking fun and then the cool thing was the fans here at Pixar said, ‘No, don’t just poke fun – make this a cool world, have fun with the world, but honor what’s so cool about fantasy.”

The Spell Squad

Want to make things cool? Enter the Spell Squad. So there’s a secret group around Pixar called The Fellowship that were in charge of magical things like spells in Onward. Ok, so it wasn’t a secret, and they recruited around the office. But I like to think they’re the coolest people around. 

In order to be part of this group, you had to love fantasy. These people were fanatics of other geekdoms. They have this huge whiteboard with so many magical spell ideas that needed to make sense. You don’t think Harry Potter just came up with Wingardium Leviosa in 5 seconds do you?

For the team at Pixar, there were rules like it had to assist an element and be a magical decree. The spells couldn’t just be gibberish. Every detail is taken into account.

Then you’d have to present ideas in brain trust meetings or to Dan. 

I can’t wait to see the entire film! I know this story will touch so many hearts. Know that the details of the magic of Onward have gone through an intense process to bring you the best with care. 

So now to decide am I more of a trash unicorn or a centaur? Definitely trash unicorn.

Pixar’s Onward is in theaters March 6, 2020!!