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ONWARD Press Junket was Beyond Magical!




Thank you, Disney, for inviting me to the PIXAR ONWARD press junket on Valentine’s Day. there’s no other I would have wanted to spend it! I was honored to be surrounded by Chris Pratt (Barley), Tom Holland (Ian), Dan Scanlon (Director), Kori Rae (Producer). See I wasn’t kidding, it was EPIC! Watch the entire press junket HERE.


ONWARD is a movie near and dear to my heart for two reasons, 1. it’s about brothers who lost their father and 2. It’s a story about two brothers! There aren’t a lot of stories built around two brothers who respect and love one another. I recently lost my father and there isn’t anything in the world I wouldn’t do to spend 24hrs with him.


ONWARD was brought to life by Dan Scanlon who lost his father when he was three. When Scanlon was a teenager he came across a home video that had audio of his father speaking, all though it was just one word of audio, it meant the world to him. Every piece of information he received about his father was treasured. ONWARD production began six years ago and this was truly a passion project. Producer Kori Rae shared that everyone working on ONWARD was invested in getting the story out and right, because of their own losses but mainly due to it being based on Scanlon’s personal life story.

Having siblings is nothing new to Chris Pratt and Tom Holland. “I’m the oldest brother of four, and Chris is the youngest brother of two,” Holland explained, explaining that it’s the opposite in ONWARD. Pratt plays the older brother Barley and Holland is the younger brother Ian. It helped them both approach their characters with sibling experience, they brought to the big screen.


Pratt explained the relationship between Ian and Barley, “Barley was never jealous. To me, that was very similar to my own relationship with my older brother. My brother always wanted to be an actor. He did plays…I followed in his footsteps.” Chris’s brother later joined the army while Prat became the actor. In the film, his character Barley, is supportive and encouraging. “He loves his brother so much that’s he’s just so proud of him that he has this gift. It really made me appreciate how my brother was with me because my whole life and career, he’s only ever been super encouraging about what I’ve been able to do as an actor.” Pratt said that’s what makes this movie’s brotherhood and relationship so special.


When Pratt, Holland, Scanlon, and Rae were asked who they’d bring back:


Rae: “That would probably be…my grandfather. I think much like the film, I would just wanna hang out with him and probably ask him a ton of questions. My family wasn’t great about passing on family history, and so there are a lot of blanks, a lot of areas that I don’t know about. So I think I would just wanna ask a ton of questions.”


Scanlon: “I would probably see my dad…maybe take him to see the movie, and then he’d say “eh.” No, I mean, you know, you’re just spending a day just talking, just walking around and asking and also letting him know what a phenomenal job my mother did raising us and how she gave us everything we could have ever wanted.”


Holland: “My granddad, Bob, he never actually met his dad. His dad passed away when he was 18 months. So I would bring back my great-grandfather so my granddad would have the opportunity to meet his dad.”


Pratt: “I would probably bring back my dad, who passed away just before Guardians of The Galaxy came out, and then I would show him Guardians of The Galaxy, and then if he didn’t like it, pfff. I’d wave–I’d bring back like a known criminal…and beat him up on like, uh, Instagram live or something to become popular. ‘Cause if my dad didn’t like Guardians, I would be like ‘all right. You can go back to heaven.'”


Onward is a movie filled with magic, love, and hope. Hope (verb) by definition: want something to happen or be the case. I said this before and I’ll say it again...Every wild thought you’ve ever had, every dream and ambition that weighs your heart, go after it with all your might, that’s how stories are told and legends are made!


Only once is all we get. Grant me this rebirth. ‘Til tomorrow’s sun is set, one day to walk the Earth. -Ian (Magical Spell)


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