Onward Director Says Film is Based on His Real-Life Relationship with Father and Brother

After Toy Story 4, Disney Pixar is set to come back to telling original stories, and the next one in the roster is the upcoming Onward starring Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. With the story of the two elf brothers trying to bring back their dead father, director Dan Scanlon reveals the story is kind of based on his real-life family relationships.

Talking during a press conference (via ComicBook), Scanlon explains, "The story is inspired by my own relationship with my brother and our connection with our dad who passed away when I was about a year old… He's always been a mystery to us. A family member sent us a tape recording of him saying just two words: ‘hello' and ‘goodbye.' Two words. But to my brother and me — it was magic."

With a lot of people probably no stranger to the feeling of not knowing a parent, I'm sure Scanlon is going to be very insightful when it comes to Onward. After all, Disney Pixar does have a standard to live up to, and we shouldn't expect less when it comes to this fantasy adventure. While we're going to get some great laughs, I'm sure the studio is aiming to make the audience cry at least twice before the credits start rolling.

Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, go on a journey to discover if there is still a little magic left out there in order to spend one last day with their father, who died when they were too young to remember him.

Disney Pixar's Onward is set to release on March 4.

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