By Addilyn Lee
In recent years, Pixar Animation has released films that raked in the money box opening weekend with Toy Story 4 at $121 million and Incredibles 2 at $183 million. But their most recent film hasn’t been able to quite reach the bar. Disney Pixar’s Onward, released February 29 2020, only brought in a measly $40 million. Compared to other releases, it would seem to be a flop-but it isn’t yet. Onward, when released, was still top of the box office opening weekend.
But, in addition to the movie’s struggle to make the money cut, it also didn’t quite meet critique standards either. Ben Kenigsberg from the New York Times states, “This road movie set in a world of elves has its moments, but by Pixar standards, it doesn’t quite cast a spell.” Another critique from Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal called it, “insistently unspecial.”
The movie has even been banned in certain Middle East markets due to a minor reference to a lesbian relationship between two secondary characters during one of the scenes. The character, voiced by Lena Waithe, makes the comment during the scene, “It’s not easy being a new parent – my girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out, okay?”. Many countries have banned the film solely due to this reference, and continue to ban or censor films with reference LGBT content. Russia has chosen to censor the word “girlfriend” to “partner” and avoid mentioning the character’s gender so sexuality is not speculated.
Lena Waithe’s character, Specter, is reportadly Disney’s first openly gay character to appear on screen too.
Despite all critique, however, the movie is truly magic-filled and heart-touching. I personally enjoyed the film. The quest of two brothers, Ian and Barley, to find a magical stone to complete a spell that could give them one last chance to see their father. A story filled with self-discovery for each character and plenty of humorous moments that filled the theatre with laughter.
Southview Catalyst 