Editor in Chief

The new Onward trailer tells all and makes us dissolve in laughter and tears

Onward Trailer

Every time I’ve gone to the movies this year, I’ve seen the same preview for Onward, and so has everyone. I could practically recite it by heart. I wondered when we would get new footage and if it would ever play in front of whatever animated movie was screened before the year was out. Well now the newest trailer has officially debuted! And it’s one of the best from Pixar in recent years.

This trailer reveals quite a lot of plot! That’s a first for our favorite animation studio. For the first time, I don’t need to speculate about what’s going on, nor am I left guessing. This can only mean that even bigger surprises are being kept under wraps.
A narrator explains what we already know, namely that this new world once had magic and doesn’t anymore. It is still inhabited by mythological creatures, but they’re just like you and me. It resembles our world a little bit, but it feels like it even more.

Inside and out, the world of Onward looks beautifully fleshed out – familiar and fantastical all at once.


Ian and Barley Lightfoot, in another Pixar first, are siblings who embark on a quest. That’s par for the course in fantasy fare, but this is unlike any other quest you’ve journeyed on with your favorite characters in movies and books. On this quest, they are going to find the rest of their father. They use a wizard staff, gifted to Ian on his birthday by their dad, to bring him back, but only his bottom half! The trailer features one touching moment, that it seems only Pixar could do. Just the tap of a foot and I was reduced to tears.

Anyone who loves Monsters University like I do can see director Dan Scanlon’s distinct MO, which brilliantly blends hilarity with heartbreak. There’s so much going on in the trailer; snarling monsters and unicorns; colorful explosions; car chases; and fire. But it’s edited so well that none of it overwhelms.
Whatever excitement I had for this movie has just had a growth spell put on it. It’s huge!
Onward cometh soon, on March 6th, 2020.
Have a look at the newly revealed poster:

Tags: , Last modified: October 10, 2019

Simoa (Elliefredricksen) is Editor in Chief of Upcoming Pixar and an aspiring Pixar heroine. She joined Upcoming Pixar in 2014 and is always excited to see how her favorite animation studio changes and grows.