Onward Director On The Real-Life Magic That Inspired Pixar's Latest Film

Pixar film Onward was six years in the making — nevertheless for director Dan Scanlon, it's been an entire lifetime.


Inspired by his own relationship to his older brother and their connection with their father, who died any time Scanlon was only per year old, the animation studio's latest story is a heartfelt quest between two elven brothers desperate to reconnect with their late dad. Any time Scanlon was a teenager, he heard his father's voice for the opening time through an old cassette tape; it was an eas recording of a male saying "hello" and "goodbye." Although to the future animator and his brother, it was magic.


That feeling is what ultimately inspired the modern magical realism of Onward, where unicorns mine the city's dumpsters, manticores serve up pancakes, and pixies are earth-bound bikers with bad attitudes.


Scanlon's lanky, animated proxy is Ian (voiced by Tom Holland), a shy, awkward teen who's so afraid of everything that he can't visualize the wonders around him. Although as soon as whenever a spell meant to bring back his dad for 24 hours goes awry, he's forced to tap into his inner magic to set things right. His gregarious older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt), embraces the adventure into the unknown that unfolds. With each other, they wind up on a wild journey filled with dragons, gelatinous cubes, and self-discovery.


MTV News chatted with Scanlon about transposing his deeply personalized story into a suburban fantasy and the catharsis that came with finally sharing it.


MTV News: This story is quite personalized for you. 


Dan Scanlon: Like the brothers in the movie, my brother and I lost our father whenever we were kids. I was a year, and he was 3 years old. We routinely wondered who he was and why we were like him. And that really was the question in the movie. And then that led to the idea of, well, if we might have one day with him, what would we hope to mention? What would we hope to hear? That's why we set this story in a magical world, a global where you can spend a day with someone who was gone. And that was the starting of the story.


MTV News: I was at D23 in 2017 while you first discussed about the project, and also you played a voice recording of your father's voice that you had discovered as a teenager. And in the film Ian listens to a voice recording from his father, and it's this heartbreaking moment. How did you determine to add that scene to the film? 


Scanlon: The idea came up, like, "How do we show how much this kid wants to have a conversation with his dad?" And one of the other writers, Jason Headley, actually wrote the scene. I was really touched by it.


MTV News: Once you're channeling something that's so personalized to you, what is the experience of bringing it to life like? Animation is such a collaborative medium, so you're not only sharing these parts of yourself with crowds however also the people you work with every day.


Scanlon: Pixar is really encouraging as soon as it comes to filmmakers being susceptible and sharing something real and personalized. So I felt really comfortable, actually. If anything, the hardest part is probably digging deeper, habitually looking for more, routinely searching a little bit more for your personalized questions or fears. However I felt so supported by the other filmmakers artists, and so they would share their stories that were similar in tone about family member support. Also it becomes this big therapy session, this big cry fest.


MTV News: That sounds cathartic. 


Scanlon: These animated movie story rooms lead to fun and gags because as long as you're beginning from a trustworthy, emotional place, that just obviously leads to the comedy. That's why sadness and comedy are so linked. Although it was really a phenomenal experience, watching this small story turn into a big story by the artists, and seeing how they set it in this fun, adventurous world was a real joy. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about my relationships with my family member, and I learned a lot about the other artists and their lives. And hopefully that then translates to audiences.


MTV News: I felt connected to it in a way that I didn't anticipate. I think a lot of it has to do with the resolution of the film and seeing that specific moment through Ian's eyes. The realization that his brother has routinely been there for him was more powerful. 


Scanlon: This is a movie about support, and I hope crowds walk away saying, "Hey, was there someone in my life who went above and in back of to support me become the person I am today?" And that can be someone in your family members, or it may be a friend or a teacher. There really are so several people in our lives that put a little bit added in. I hope people call and thank that person whenever they can.


MTV News: Is the connection between Ian and Barley directly inspired by the connection between you and your older brother?


Scanlon: It's very similar. I'm very much Ian in that I, especially at 16, was very shy and awkward and lacked confidence. My brother is weirdly nothing like Barley in the sense that he's not a wild, crazy, chaotic guy, nevertheless he's everything like Barley in his actions and in his support of his little brother. So, that's why it feels so much like us to me. And then our mom, much like Laurel, is so inspiring and encouraging and funny. I think all good parents know the contradictions between their kids why as well as how to parent them a little bit differently. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Laurel really understands how to be tough with Barley and softer with Ian.


MTV News: Has your brother seen the film yet?


Scanlon: He just did two weeks back. I didn't tell him anything really about the movie. He knew what was in the trailers, and he knew it was loosely based on our lives. And that's all he knew after six years of hearing about it. He saw it at the agency wrap party several weeks back, and he loved it. I sort of knew he would because he's my brother and he's so cooperative. Yet he gave me like the longest hug he's ever given me and mentioned, "It's great And he's been texting me about it for the last two weeks. We were already very close, and right now we're closer. I hope that sort of thing happens with other people who visualize the movie with a friend or family member member.


MTV News: One thing that I really loved about the film is how you incorporated magic into a modern world. I needed more trash unicorns. 


Scanlon: The reason I wanted to set it in a fantasy world was that it's animation, and I wanted to have fun with it. I thought it was interesting that this was a global where people had lost a bit of their potential just because maybe they were taking it easy or they didn't hope to do things the hard way. And that really mirrored Ian as a character. He's this 15 year old who isn't really living up to his potential because he's scared and afraid to challenge himself. I admired that the world paralleled the characters as well as plus it just led to so much comedy.


A lot of fantasy movies take place in times long ago and they're very, very serious. And thus myself and the other artists just began laughing at the idea of, what in case you took a bit of the seriousness out of that and just let them be us and what humor would come from that?


MTV News: Have you ever played a game of Dungeons and Dragons in your life?


Scanlon: I have once or twice. I'll be sincere, I was not a big fan of fantasy or role-playing and neither was Kori Rae, my filmmaking partner. We both didn't know the world. I never thought that I could make a fantasy movie, nevertheless that's what this obviously became. Luckily, we have, as you could imagine, so several artists at Pixar who are super into fantasy and super into role-playing games. We called them "The Fellowship" because they were really the people keeping us straightforward, making sure that we were making this sincere and that we were having fun with it and not making fun of it.


MTV News: It's a required balance. Because you and Kori could focus on the human story behind it. 


Scanlon: I'd like to believe that because we don't know a lot about that world, we plan to hopefully avoid tropes or mix that kind of story with something new. That mentioned, because we're creating a comedy, we did desire to highlight certain tropes and then tweak them. Yet as far as storytelling, we don't fall back to good versus evil or that sort of thing. This is a very personalized coming-of-age story set in a fantasy world.


MTV News: And the things the Ian and Barley are going through are very human. The revelation that their dad died of an illness is something that a lot of people can and will relate to. 


Scanlon: We're definitely not the initial Disney Pixar movie to have parent characters pass away. It's often the case. Although this was a case where it's more of an illness, rather than a dramatic event. And yeah, a lot of kids have to go through that, and hopefully they'll visualize themselves and their situation in this.


MTV News: What is something that you've learned in your tenure at Pixar that you brought to this film? Or is there something you learned in the making of this film that you think made you a higher class of storyteller? 


Scanlon: One of the things I learned a lot being at Pixar is time and trust — taking the time that it takes to develop a film and trusting your fellow filmmakers, trusting your gut to take risks. That's why I feel comfortable trying new things there. I know I'll be supported if it doesn't work out, and I'll be supported if I require a little bit added time to try something and then go an other way. Kori gave me so much space and thus much support categorize in attempt to try things, make mistakes. We really want the audience to get their money's worth. And thus we wish to try out every possible venue, every path, and every segment of entertainment we can. Creating these movies is like a quest. You try all of the different paths and also you should take some risks.


MTV News: What's a risk that you took with this film that either turned into a mistake or really paid off? 


Scanlon: Some of it is the risk of assuming that your small story is going to appeal to each person. And there really are little things like, we had other supporting characters in the movie for a while that I felt we required. I spent a long time with these additional characters. And then after awhile determined, no, they don't need to be there. I'm going to try cutting them out. It's a lot of risking what you took out rather than what you put in, if that makes sense.


MTV News: Maybe also a risk to prepare the unicorns the dumpster dwellers.


Scanlon: That's true also! Exactly. Making the unicorns disgusting, dirty. It's definitely going against the grain on something.


MTV News: I'm glad that you took out some of the secondary characters as the scenes between Barley and Ian are really powerful.


Scanlon: And that's exactly why these other characters were just getting in the way, and we really needed to give all of the conflict from them to the brothers. It's probably a thing that happens all of the time with movies, however we never learn up until also late.


MTV News: What's the key to a really successful pitch at Pixar?


Scanlon: once you get into a room to pitch a new idea, people accept it with kid gloves. The bar isn't that high although. All they're looking for is something real — and that doesn't mean it has to be a personalized story. It just needs to be something that you believe in. A question that is a legitimate question about life or a fear about life. Those are the things that lead to good drama. And a fun world. They're looking for the spark of characters that are unique and interesting. So in those early pitches, those are the elements we're really looking for. It doesn't have to be a totally flushed-out story although. No one expects that. It begins so small, and that's really critical with any art. You don't desire to scare yourself.