Pixar movies are notorious for being exercises in tear-jerking sentimentality.Who doesn't get emotional when Andy hands off his beloved playthings at the end of “Toy Story 3,” or when Miguel's great-grandmother remembers her father’s song in the finale of “Coco”? Some don’t even wait that long: The opening montage of “Up” dares you not to ugly cry in the first 10 minutes.Pixar’s latest animated film “Onward” (in theaters Friday) is built on a story that's bound to wreck fans, with two teenagers (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) going to extreme lengths to spend one more day with their beloved dead father. But by marrying fantasy tropes and everyday suburbia in a world that’s lost a bunch of its magic, the movie inserts a lot of fun before you have to reach for a tissue.Review:Pixar's charming fantasy 'Onward' mixes laughs and tears with sword and sorcery'Onward' world premiere:Why tissues were required for Chris Pratt (and everyone else)“Obviously, the emotion was the most important thing to us, but it doesn't mean it has to come first," says co-writer/director Dan Scanlon, who based the story on how he and his brother never really knew their dad. "You cry more if you've been laughing and loving these characters and then suddenly, my God, they're real and they have emotions. It wallops you a little bit.”Pratt figures it’s a different beast than, say, his “Lego Movie” franchise, “which is like high laughs-per-minute with some emotional notes. (‘Onward’) is probably a drama with a ton of comedic notes along the way and an edge-of-your-seat adventure.”Scanlon and his cast break down how “Onward” balances cheers and tears:Unicorns and dragons are brought kicking and screaming into modern timesBefore Ian (Holland) and Barley (Pratt) became elf brothers on a quest, Scanlon considered the idea of a machine that brought their dad back to life, though setting it in a fantasy world with fairies and sprites “seemed more romantic and romanticized in a very emotional story.” Plus, the “Onward” landscape, where everybody embraced technology and left magic behind, could mirror Ian, “this 16-year-old who is too afraid to take risks and live up to his potential.”Scanlon wanted “a world that has gotten a little soft and fearful and isn't living up to its potential anymore” – for example, Colt Bronco (Mel Rodriguez) is a centaur cop who isn’t exactly graceful or mobile. “We just started laughing at the idea of unicorns eating garbage and how can you take those very serious characters and have fun with them.”The magical mantra: Have fun but don't make funEverything from Barley’s airbrushed van Guinevere to the “Dungeons & Dragons”-esque game “Quests of Yore,” which doubles as a historical record, will appeal to fantasy fans. However, Scanlon thought it best to not mock the genre: The spells Ian cast sounded initially “very childish and silly and goofy,” and artists working on the film told him they weren’t cool.So Scanlon let them write their own language wher
How fantastical 'Onward' puts fun back into the tear-jerking and sentimental Pixar canon
Pixar movies are notorious for being exercises in tear-jerking sentimentality.Who doesn't get emotional when Andy hands off his beloved playthings at the end of “Toy Story 3,” or when Miguel's great-grandmother remembers her father’s song in the finale of “Coco”? Some don’t even wait that long: The opening montage of “Up” dares you not to ugly cry in the first 10 minutes.Pixar’s latest animated film “Onward” (in theaters Friday) is built on a story that's bound to wreck fans, with two teenagers (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) going to extreme lengths to spend one more day with their beloved dead father. But by marrying fantasy tropes and everyday suburbia in a world that’s lost a bunch of its magic, the movie inserts a lot of fun before you have to reach for a tissue.Review:Pixar's charming fantasy 'Onward' mixes laughs and tears with sword and sorcery'Onward' world premiere:Why tissues were required for Chris Pratt (and everyone else)“Obviously, the emotion was the most important thing to us, but it doesn't mean it has to come first," says co-writer/director Dan Scanlon, who based the story on how he and his brother never really knew their dad. "You cry more if you've been laughing and loving these characters and then suddenly, my God, they're real and they have emotions. It wallops you a little bit.”Pratt figures it’s a different beast than, say, his “Lego Movie” franchise, “which is like high laughs-per-minute with some emotional notes. (‘Onward’) is probably a drama with a ton of comedic notes along the way and an edge-of-your-seat adventure.”Scanlon and his cast break down how “Onward” balances cheers and tears:Unicorns and dragons are brought kicking and screaming into modern timesBefore Ian (Holland) and Barley (Pratt) became elf brothers on a quest, Scanlon considered the idea of a machine that brought their dad back to life, though setting it in a fantasy world with fairies and sprites “seemed more romantic and romanticized in a very emotional story.” Plus, the “Onward” landscape, where everybody embraced technology and left magic behind, could mirror Ian, “this 16-year-old who is too afraid to take risks and live up to his potential.”Scanlon wanted “a world that has gotten a little soft and fearful and isn't living up to its potential anymore” – for example, Colt Bronco (Mel Rodriguez) is a centaur cop who isn’t exactly graceful or mobile. “We just started laughing at the idea of unicorns eating garbage and how can you take those very serious characters and have fun with them.”The magical mantra: Have fun but don't make funEverything from Barley’s airbrushed van Guinevere to the “Dungeons & Dragons”-esque game “Quests of Yore,” which doubles as a historical record, will appeal to fantasy fans. However, Scanlon thought it best to not mock the genre: The spells Ian cast sounded initially “very childish and silly and goofy,” and artists working on the film told him they weren’t cool.So Scanlon let them write their own language wher
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