Disney had a new release on March 6th. Onward is about two elf brothers that go on a huge adventure to find a magical stone. Like any other Disney adventure, these brothers run into many obstacles. But by the end of the movie they have found themselves and know what they hold dear to their hearts. Onward had a few characteristics that really stood out to me (here come the spoilers).

Barley (the older brother) is forced to be the father figure in Ian’s life when their dad passed away right before Ian’s birth. As the boys are on the journey to find the magical stone, Ian makes a list of all the things he would like to do with his dad if given the chance. As Ian and Barley face defeats, Ian begins to cross things off his list in disappointment. Near the end of the movie, Ian goes to cross off an activity from his list. He makes a realization that everything he had previously crossed off, he had a memory of doing it with Barley. Ian realizes that he doesn’t need to have a father to make memories. Barley raised him and taught him everything that Ian thought their father would have done. I think it’s important to talk about families that are not “perfect.” Ian and Barley do not have a dad and they aren’t the only ones.

The second detail that stuck out to me was Ian and Barley’s mother. She is a single mother of two boys, and a widow. She also has a boyfriend. Now I couldn’t tell if this boyfriend lived with them or not. Regardless, there are still scenes with everyone together under one roof. Ian and Barley do not show a great relationship with their mother’s boyfriend. I think this is also important because of how normal it is to have separated parents. Often children have different feelings towards a parent’s significant other that is not their parent. A level of authority is blurred. I think Onward showed this nicely. The boys do not disrespect their mom’s boyfriend but it is clear that they are not best friends with him.

Lastly, I think it was important to note how the father passed. He had an illness and died in the hospital. This is huge. In a movie revolved around a magic world, characters still die of illness. To me, this shows children that sometimes illness wins and sometimes there is nothing we can do about it. Many children lose someone due to illness and this movie showed that life goes on and I think that is important.

Overall, I really enjoyed Onward! I would highly recommend this movie to anyone!