Some of the very best Pixar movies imagine alternate-societies – from the cityscapes of Monstropolis in Monsters Inc, to the emotions living in the corners of Riley’s mind in Inside Out. And with the studio’s next picture Onward, it’s going all high-fantasy – presenting a modern, suburban world inhabited by elves and unicorns and dragons, oh my! That’s the background for a story of two elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt respectively in an Infinity War and Endgame reunion, who go on a quest to help them reconnect with their dead dad. Here’s an exclusive new image of the duo as seen in the new Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker issue of Empire.
“It’s a story about a 16-year-old boy, Ian Lightfoot, who is shy and awkward, and lacks confidence, and it's about him maturing and finding his potential,” explains director Dan Scanlon, previously behind Monsters University. “So what better world to set it up in than a world where magic used to exist in and is now gone? A world that lost a little bit of its potential" That magic-infused world plays host to an old-school adventure – with a few modern twists in there. "It’s this grand quest, set in the suburban modern world," Scanlon says. "I mean, the boys aren’t riding in on a horse, like you’re used to. They’re riding in a van, with a horse painted on the side of it.”
Read more about the magical creatures who inhabit Onward in the new issue of Empire, on sale now at all good and evil newsagents.