The Pixar-ification of fantasy
How Pixar’s new fable ONWARD reimagines elves, trolls and unicorns as everyday suburbia
“YEAH, I DON’T know a lot about fantasy!” It’s a brave thing for director Dan Scanlon to admit, given he’s about to complete animation on Onward, Pixar’s first high fantasy film. The setting, a fairy-tale world given a modern-day spin, originated with an idea about two sons looking to bring their late father back to life for one day with magic. “Luckily,” Scanlon says, “there’s a lot of fantasy fans here [at Pixar] to educate me.” Here, he introduces Onward’s fantastical multi-species world.
UNICORNS
Usually the most mysterious and majestic of fantasy creatures, unicorns in Onward are basically just common pests. “We thought, ‘If the world’s changed and magic’s gone away, maybe unicorns are everywhere? What if they’ve become a little bit like raccoons or squirrels?”
Part of the subversive fun Scanlon has is to reevaluate what magic is.
“There are so many magical things in our world that we take for granted. Nature is pretty magical, but we’re used to it!”
ELVES
The heroes of the tale are Ian and Barley Lightfoot (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt respectively), two elves who embark on a quest to find some long-lost magic and spend one more day with their late father. “It’s this grand quest, set in the suburban modern world,” Scanlon explains. “I mean, the boys aren’t riding in on a horse, like you’re used to. They’re riding in a van, with a horse painted on the side of it.”
DRAGONS
Like any self-respecting fantasy, Onward has fire-breathing dragons — but Game Of Thrones, this ain’t. “In our universe, dragons were domesticated over time, like wolves were domesticated into dogs. [The family’s] dragon is named Blazey, and she’s a sweet little Labrador-like dragon. She can still kick up some flame now and then, but it’s the equivalent of barking.” A minor fire hazard, perhaps, but mostly adorable.
MANTICORES
Part of their quest will involve having to find the ‘Phoenix Gem’, which will help them resurrect their father. And in order to find the gem, they must first find the Manticore (voiced by Octavia Spencer). “What even is a Manticore?” laughs Scanlon. “It’s too much stuff, smashed together! The Manticore is a lion, a scorpion, a bat, and a human. I love the awkward nature of that. It lent itself to comedy really well.”
TROLLS
The film has fun subverting plenty of other fantasy tropes: as well as gardener gnomes and jogging centaurs, Onward features trolls manning an ordinary bridge toll booth, payable by either “cash or riddle” in a blinkand-you’ll-miss-it visual gag. “I’m glad you noticed that,” chuckles Scanlon. “That’s the fun of it — finding that mix of fantasy and everyday, and asking the question: if people used to have magic, what replaced it?”