Everything GREAT About Onward! 

I appreciate a movie in which the older of two brothers, doesn't bully his younger sibling but actively encourage and help him.

One thing I noticed is that their mom yells to Barley to "keep his soldiers off her land, or their kingdoms will go to war" referring to a figure he left on the hallway floor. Rather than being disapproving or calling him childish, she communicates to him on his level, allowing him to understand exactly what she meant, and sounding more supportive.

One thing you forgot: Barely is revolutionary for another reason, namely *him actually crying when he dropped that rope because he was so worried* and we are ALL for men being able to both be masculine and being able to express feelings like genuine terror

As someone who lost my mother as an infant, the "I've never had a dad... But I've always had you" hit me like a freight train at 120 miles per hour.

Took me forever to realize: Aurora dish soap. Aurora “Yes they named her after the dawn”. ITS DAWN DISH SOAP. Well played Disney. Well played.

The director was Ian in real life, right down to talking to old recordings of his own dad which is why they put it in the movie. The thing is, he never told his brother what he was working on and when he showed him the completed movie apparently his brother got pretty emotional

I sincerely enjoyed how the step dad wasnt evils or a bad guy. He only tried to stop the boys because their mom was worried and he seemed to genuinely care for them. It was also nice to see the mom not just be absent for an entire adventure and take a more active useful role.

I'm surprised you didn't mention that when Barley was acting out what he thinks the top half of the dad's dancing looked like, that there was the symbolism of Barley acting as Ian's dad

I love how Ian's classmates weren't the classic bullies that torment the awkward hero, but were really accepting and patient with him.

I can't be the only one who absolutely loves the Cinema Wins guy. He compliments the movies amazingly, unlike cinema sins who just ridicules movies for dumb reasons. Cinema Wins seems like the kind of guy to stop on his way to an important meeting to pet a kitten and help caterpillers get back on their leaves. I want to be their friend so badly ❤❤❤. Love you, dude!

it hurts me that this movie didn’t get the love it deserves. The ending is unexpected yet touching. def one of Pixar’s bests in my opinions. ( Barley honestly just own my heart🥺)

This is the sort of film where I wonder if, something like ten years from now, people will be looking back and calling it an 'underrated masterpiece'.

Some of my favorite details you didn't point out are: 1. When Ian is nervous to talk to his classmates, they don't make fun of him or anything; in fact, they're totally down to go to his party. He gets in his own way, which is exactly what social anxiety is like. 2. When the rope falls off of Ian, Barley almost starts crying. 3. Bronco is never an 'evil stepfather'. Throughout the movie, you can see that he genuinely cares for Laurel and the boys. 4. I adore the message that Barley stands for; never forget the past, because you can learn from it.

One thing I noticed at the end was that Barley had a phoenix on the back of his jacket, so Ian was looking for the Phoenix Gem to talk to his father when he had one all along in Barley. Great foreshadowing :)

Okay, I'm kind of annoyed it took me THIS long to realize the "You Shall Not Pass" sign is their version of "No Passing Zone". BTW, watching this video made me watch the movie again and I noticed another bit about Barley being the Dad version of Older Brother: when the trap had filled with water and the top door finally opened, Barley grabbed Ian and pushed him to the surface FIRST. Only then did he surface himself. That is very much a parent thing to do.

When I first watched this with my girls I pretended to cry at Gwinivere being sacrificed then I actually started crying. He was sooo proud of that van... stupid movie making me cry over a stupid cartoon van 🤣

I think my favourite part of the movie was when Ian was walking through the invisible bridge without the rope while Barley with tears in his eyes told him to keep going and not to look back. It just showed how amazing their relationship is and it really shows how a non-toxic sibling relationship works. So cute...

i loved this movie so much and i CRIED SO HARD when ian checked off “spend my life with him”😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"Last name: Manticore, First name: The". That line had me absolutely in stitches when I saw this movie, especially because they'd been calling her Cory the whole time.

As someone who's like Barley, the oldest sibling who is a screw up this really really hit hard for me

This sibling relationship is a million times better than Frozen's.

One thing I thought was amazing about this movie is that everything in this movie had consequences. If the main characters did something, they'd experience the effects of it or it would ripple off to the side characters.

I really wish more people will give this film a chance. Also that teaser image, I KNOW YOU’RE OUT THERE, AND I KNOW YOU’RE REAL.

I finally watched this movie the other day and I'm not gonna lie, it made me freaking CRY. HARD. I got teary-eyed when Barely had to give up Gwinivere, and I was fully on sobbing by the time we got to the 3rd act and Ian realized that Barely wasn't JUST his older brother. I love their relationship so much and I loved their mom's relationship with both of them.

I'm convinced that anyone who says "Pixar films are only for kids" has never actually sat down and fully appreciated one.

Another good thing you forgot: Bronco is not an evil step-parent. He tries to stop Ian and Barley, because he’s doing his job as a police officer.

What I love most about this movie: NO BULLYING. Ian isn't bullied by anyone in this movie. His awkwardness is purely from his own insecurity and not from anyone causing him to feel less-than. Also, I LOVE that Barley is fully supportive of his little brother. When it's revealed Ian has magic and not him, Barley isn't jealous, envious or resentful. He's just truly happy that Ian has magic. I will say though, that it did disappoint me that Ian never got to meet their dad. I just wish so much that their dad could have seen Ian, put a hand on his shoulder or given him a big hug and then smiled before disappearing again. I know that wasn't the point of the movie, but still. What I thought was cool about this movie; characters are clearly coded as people of color even though they're not human, and the tall cop being a lesbian is just a matter-of-fact thing. THAT'S how you do representation, not by emphasizing the 'otherness' of someone (because that always slips into being stereotypical) but just having them in the story.

My little sister recommended this movie to me. I'm her nerdy dungeons and dragons playing big sister, we related to this movie so much

They've put so much effort to this film that they even translated the inscriptions. That's what I call attention to details. Also, I like how unicorns are portrayed in this film. They're not majestic like in every other film.

My favorite thing about this movie is the lack of stereotypes. The older brother isn't stereotypically bullying the younger one. The mother isn't overbearing. The step father isn't the bad guy. Etc etc

One subtlety I really liked is how when Ian is trying to invite the other students to a party they dodged the cliche of the other kids backing away from Ian because ‘Barley is weird‘. They instead they just had Ian be embarrassed and abandon his effort because he anticipated this very thing from them.

As someone who was both raised as a younger brother and raised myself younger brothers (I never lost my parents…they just weren’t there for us as they should’ve.) this movie hits hard in so many ways

I really actually enjoyed this movie. Unlike the movie my dad didn't die, but sadly he's not with my family and really hasn't been for most of my life. This movie really showed me how much my older brother has done for me and been that father figure in my life. Though he'll probably never know I have always been happy for him to be there.

The one thing that really hit me hard was that when you saw barley hug his dad, you feel happy for him that he finally got the closure (i think thats right). But what got me was when barley hugged ian, saying, ‘and he told me to give you this’ (or something down that line), and he then hugged ian. To me, that was so sad because insted of keeping that hug to himself, he gave it to ian like his father said, insted of getting one last hug from him. And that... i cried. I don’t cry often from movies, but i cried.

I lost my brother when I was 16. This movie hit me right it the feels. I was weeping at the end, my wife had to hold me haha. I absolutely loved this movie. A movie about brothers being there for you is awesome.

I loved this movie so much, I was disappointed on first viewing but I understood what it was going for. By my second watch I was crying and laughing nearly the whole way through. It’s just so good and so sweet. One of my favorite Pixar movies for sure

I watched this movie as a “field trip” we took our preschool to. While all the kids were excited and laughing at the movie I was quietly balling in the corner. This movie is truly a masterpiece for the young adults coming from a broken home.

it’s weird how i cried watching this even tho it’s just a recap

Honestly, this was the first animated movie I'd ever cried at. The relationship between the brothers was perfectly able to capture what I've been lucky to have with my older brother. When he realizes how valuable his older brother has been in his life, it legitimately made me call my brother and we just talked for a few hours about life. Worth it.

I didn't expect to love Barley as much as I did

This is one of my all-time favorite Pixar films. Fantastic.

honestly, i love this movie. i love the modern fantasy with dnd references and the nice sibling relationship and the plot and just.... it's probably my favorite pixar movie

another great thing: the entire film, i am not hearing spider-man and star-lord, i just hear ian and barley. pratt and holland did great.

Barley was the reason this movie was so great! The second Disney rolled out a promo for this movie and I saw Barley's face, I was in love. I was DYING to see the movie. The day the movie came out, I had to go see it. And I saw it FOUR times. And I absolutely loved Barley sooooooooooooo much!!!! I loved his appearance and his personality, and the way he treated his brother so well.

I just watched this movie for the first time and I think your enjoyment of it and it’s message varies depending on whether you have siblings and your relationship with them. I’m lucky enough to have a good relationship with both my siblings and when I watched this with my older sister and as someone who doesn’t tend to cry when movies get emotional I felt myself tearing up when Ian was going over his list of things to do with his dad realizing he had already done all of them with Barley. Really enjoyable film in my opinion

Grif: “Hey Simons, Why are we here?” Simons: *Long convoluted answer about the philosophy of human kinds and their place in the universe* Grif: “No I mean why are we out here in the sun and not in the shade”. Great show

I freaking damn loved this movie. The creativity that was balanced with the incredibly consistently strong bond between Ian and Barley makes this film such a wonderful experience to watch. The ending I cry everytime and as someone who last a major father figure in my life, it's even more heartbreaking.

This movie made me cry twice. Once during the scene where Ian practices talking to his dad (losing my dad at 7 made me connect with Ian on a personal level in that scene) and of course the scene where Barley hugs Ian. Easily my favorite Pixar movie!

As someone who’s main father figure was their older brother this movie BROKE me I cried for like the last half hour

The scene where Barley talks about his last memory of his dad always hits me like a train, because I've been in a very similar situation

Tbh this movie will always be a personal favorite of mine. My dad passed away right before this movie came out and the similarities between me and Ian, and between my older sister and Barley were almost insane. My sister had grown up with only my dad. He was her only parent, so when she lost him, it was like the end of the world. For me, I only knew him for 2 years before he passed. Yeah, it killed me, but my pain would never amount to my older sister's. It was only after this movie that I realized I still had a chance to get to know my dad more through my sister.

I honestly love that delivery from Barley about not wanting to see his dad die. It wasn't overly sad to the point of overacting and it wasn't underperformed as you can hear how crushing it all is for him. He speaks in a way that the thing felt...unreal which makes sense. As a kid he had to be there and remember that his dad died and now he's having to tell that to his little brother who wasn't even there. Yes the "that's why I will never be scared again" line is a bit...hammy, but it fits with his character. He wants to not be seen as a screw up and wants Ian to know someone is looking out for him no matter what (when we were kids, we mostly likely saw our parents as fearless and invincible at times. Barley saw that wasn't the case, but wants Ian to have that feeling if only a little bit).

Fantastic review! I loved this film to pieces. As a complete aside, I'm glad that you used the "last name 'Manticore,' first name 'The'" clip. It's, in my opinion, an oft-overlooked line that cracks me up every time I hear it.

The 1ST time I saw the trailer for this movie, I knew I wanted to see it in theaters. My friend got the chance to see it in theaters & told me she cried, which given that I actually teared up in not 1 but 2 different moments in the trailer ("I'm gonna meet Dad?" & when Dad's foot finds Ian's foot & Ian responds "Hi") I expected. Then I watched it, & because I didn't want my little sister to see me cry, I held it in. Then my little sister was sobbing, & that was it for me. I managed to make her feel better by talking about her memories of our dad, & had her laughing by the time we went to bed. But yeah, Onward made my whole family cry (except my other sister, who was w/ a friend).

One thing I love about this movie is that Barley is never jealous of his brother when he gets his magic. He’s just so happy and supportive of him.

I do this thing where I never compare Pixar movies to each other. it's nice to just simply enjoy something without having to analyze it.

I love how this movie can speak to anyone. It can speak to siblings. It can speak to parents, it can speak to children. I personally saw it with my dad, and for me the movie hit home about what I would do if I lost him, but had the chance to see him one more time. However my boyfriend and his brother are almost literally the human version of Ian and Barley, so for them is was all about their bond.

This movie truly spoke to me in a perssonal level, I lost my dad when I was 5 and watching this for the first time with my mom made it all more emotional, I have 4 memories of him also: giving him orange painting water telling to him it was orange juice, cleaning my mouth full of pasta red sauce in his pants wille he was wearing them, him painting a madagascar banner for my third birthday and... him screaming to my mom confused asking who she was and to give me back to him wille she hugged me tight. He had a rare illnes that made his brain slowly stop working and forgetting things. I never saw him in the hospital, i couldnt bring myself to, my mom said that she didnt want me too see his body becuse it didint look like him. I just get scared of how much parrelels I have with this movie, the only difference being that I dont have siblings. I loved Coco and Up but this movie maybe spoke more too me then the other movies did. As I dont have siblings I dealed with grief in a very different way, it was very hard, but Im happy to say that Im in a better place now, I have a step dad that loves me and my mom alot and a best friend that has been there for me since i was 6. I loved this movie.

This is probably my favorite pixar movie, and it inspired me to set my first D&D campaign in an urban fantasy world.

Chris Pratt always blows me away with the sheer depth and breadth of emotion he can bring to any role. I applaud you my dear fellow.

Personally, I think Onward is extremely underrated. It actually did what Frozen got praised for, let alone better.

The one problem I had with it was that the conflict between Ian and Barley felt a bit forced at times. That being said, how quickly they switched from conflict to supporting each other is truly reminiscent of the relationship I have with my brother, and honestly all I wanted to do after watching it was hug my brother.

I’ve seen this movie at least 3 or 4 times and it’s made me cry every single time. Even this video made me teary eyed. I love this movie so much.

When I was watching this in the theater with my dnd group when Barley sent Gwenevere to her doom, me and one of the players were saluting before Barley was shown on screen because we know how important a players mount is to them

I feel like this film got a raw deal. Everyone was focused on some perceived "wokeness" Because one actor had a line they just threw in (I admit I was originally going to give this movie a pass) but my own little brother told me this movie reminded him so much of me and him and so I decided to give it a watch, and honestly, it hit my heart in the right places, I'm glad I saw this movie, and I hope I can share this movie with someone down the line.

This movie is so underrated and deserves more credit, I absolutely loved it

I feel like this movie sprouted from an actual D&D session during Avengers filming.

I really enjoyed this movie, especially since it felt more 'original' than usual. I loved the ending because it hold the truth. If your born without a parent in your life, there's so way not even magical that you can see them. He may never be able to see his dad or actually hear his voice but he'll always be alive in his memories. 10/10

I absolutely love this film and appreciate it for all that it is. I've never seen Coco, but when and if I do, I will still love Onward no matter how annoyingly the two movies are compared.

"And the claw is an armour glove" Me an intellectual: *remembers this movie is made by pixar which is owned by Disney who owns marvel and marvel made the infinity gauntlet which looks like the armour glove*

I loved this movie for... so many reasons, but one little detail that always stuck with me that I wish you'd mentioned was the fact that Barley fell to his knees when he realized Ian was in danger over the trench. Throughout that scene he's doing nothing but cheering him on, and even continues when the rope comes undone. He wanted to believe in his brother so badly but was so scared and heartbroken that he physically couldn't stand. The thought of losing his brother made him fall and I feel like that was a really meaningful yet subtle touch to the way Barley feels towards Ian. 10/10 beautiful detail.

I lost my father at 10 to cancer. The scene on the giant cheeto made me *weep*

I'd argue that Onward actually deals with the living cope with the loss of a loved one better, and Coco is more focused on remembering your loved ones without holding on to resentment and preventing it from connecting with your current ones. That sentence got real clunky at the end, but what I think I mean is that I actually think this movie deals with death better than Coco did. I felt Coco was more about being true to yourself as a central theme.

I saw this movie today. I absolutely loved it and I was very touched by Ian's realization about what Barley has been to him.

I think this was a lot of people's last theater movie before the 2020 shutdowns. I love this movie, and was glad to have seen it!

While others pixar movie deal with things better onward really dives into self sacrifices and heart-break better than most of the movies I’ve seen, to me this movie struggles with nothing and it’s one of my personal favorites.

As an older brother, and the son of a man who was away far more than he was home for my younger sister, this movie hit me like a truck. Not only was I able to easily compare myself to Barley, but the ending where Ian realizes how much Barley has done for him hit me particularly hard. I'm glad I got to see it.

Onward was the very last movie I went to a theater to watch before the quarantine.........and I'm so glad that I was able to watch this masterpiece. This movie was so perfect because they perfectly foreshadowed every small thing and organically used everything throughout the movie, even from the gelatinous cube to the splinter. I loved that they had the premise and opportunity to create unnecessary drama that could be the age old turning point of the movie.....yes I'm talking about the disguise bit where he can't help but to lie that he doesn't really think his brother's a loser..... I liked that the older brother felt hurt by it and it wasn't downplayed but it wasn't made into the turning point of the movie. I'm glad that they were forced to move past it because of the time limit and only after they reached back to where they started with just minutes with their dad, did they have their fight that led to the biggest wholesome realisation about his brother being his makeshift dad. Plus I loved the respect and emotions that Quinevere got as she flew to buy them some time. I loved that she looked just like a Pegasus as she galloped and soared for the last time and I loved the fact that a small keepsake that Barley took was used yet again in the final fight, meaning that Quinevere will always have their backs and help them just like a loyal stead. I not a car person, but damn this movie made me feel so much for something that wasn't even the main plot or character. One of the best animation movies I had seen before being quarantined along with spiderverse. This movie deserved better and it was such a shame that it came during a pandemic. Better late than never I guess.

I genuinely think there should've been a win for "You'll never be ready, merge!" For being great advice not just for learning to drive but for many things in life.

“Imagine raccoons with spikes on their heads” and wings, they’re Alicorns/Pegacorns.

Absolutely one of Pixar's best. Simply because it didn't try to be anything but what it was. It felt real. Who cares where it was set, these were very well developed and real characters that had legitimate reasons for their feelings that we were led to understand through their actions. The humor fit and felt genuine. There were some awesome actions pieces. Stunning world building as always. And then in true Pixar fashion the just rip your heart out and stomp on it. Up had us bawling in the first 10 minutes... this one waited until right at the end to hit us with the full force of Ian's realization.

This movie hits me a little close. I especially love just how supportive the mother is through most of what goes on, even if she doesn't get why right off. She knows it's important to support them. And then a brother that doesn't even realize that he's being the father figure... it's heartwarming. I grew up without a dad in my life. I've met him since, and he's... not someone I'd be proud to call related to me. What I did have, however, was my mother. For 36 years, she's been supportive to me, when I started massage school, when I started my own business, and when I had to close that business down 11 years later due to health reasons. I've tried my damnedest to be there for her, too. I hope everyone gets someone supportive in their life, be it a mother, father, brother, sister, best friend, wife, husband, or child.

The movie really hits me on my weak spot. I'm also a second son and never met my dad while my brother actually gets to meet him when he was still alive. Even though my relationship with my brother isn't like what Ian and Barley, I still think of him as the closest thing to my dad

I would have also given points for the movie not depicting Ian as a weak bullied kids who everyone hates, just shy and introverted. Even though he was awkward and stumbled over his words, his peers seemed all for it when they realized he was inviting them to a party. They didn't tease or make fun of him, they seemed to understand his anxiety and showed interest in spending time with him at a party. To me, that seems like a more accurate depiction than the shy kid that everyone hates

The best part is this movie is literally a love letter to the directors brother, you can tell with how much heart is put into this movie that the director really really cares about his brother and is able to share his love letter with those who have similar experiences.

I'm so late to this video, but I'm so happy to see it praised. It was so underrated. It's one of the first movies to bring me to big sobs. In 22 years of life, when I saw this movie it was the first time I'd ever heard a character talk about the fear and shame of being a kid watching your family member decay in a hospital bed. I lost my big brother to the big C, and I felt so much shame for not being more there because at the age of 8 years old, I was too scared. I'd never seen a character talk about that. It hit so hard and made me feel some closure that that feeling wasn't something to be ashamed of. All this to say, this movie hits different and I'm happy to see someone else appreciates it.

Love the bridge scene, kinda reminds me of when a kid first rides a bike and asks if dad still has a hold of them.

I love this movie; the story, characters and all of the wonderful details scattered throughout! It's just suffered from being released in 2020.

Thank you for being so postive. This is one of my new favourite movies that's gonna go the way of Arthur Christmas, Sonic Unleashed and Motorcity. All of them fall into the same trope, no one paid attention when it first came out aside from a small dedicated fanbase and the louder people who hated it for comparisons etc, so it doesn't get the immediate traction it needs for the studio to notice and bother making more content for it but every year it's gonna gain more and more new fans who unfortunately discover too little too late that it is indeed as you put it, an underrated masterpiece...

0:45 Aurora means Dawn in Latin, and Dawn is a brand of detergent/dish soap

THIS WAS AN AMAZING MOVE. It didn’t necessarily seem like Pixar but it was still SO SO GOOD. The brotherly love was so amazing.

I’m an older sibling of one sister. We have the same age difference as Ian and Barley. We might have not lost our parents but my mom lost her dad. And being reminded of that all the time I always think of what I would do if we ever lost our mom. I can only hope I would do as good of a job as Barley. For that it puts this movie above a lot of other Pixar movies. There’s just something special about relating to it not everyone one can truly get. But I’m glad others like it too

Now, after seeing this, I really need a “Barley being a dad to Ian for 5 minutes straight” video. Somebody make it happen.

I and my brother cried during this movie because of the chemistry the brothers. We had a dad but I always went to my bro for help and guidence.

When I watched this movie with my parents in our living room- I deadass was trying not to cry near the end (or at least not cry too loudly) because I don't have a good relation with my brother- so not only was seeing this relation between these two a nice breath of fresh air (considering a lot of movies are about bad relations with siblings) and instead show a more realistic one hit me hard because it's a relation I have with my friends and I count my friends AS my family, and even though these two are related, it still has that energy to hit so yeah. 10/10 movie in my opinion just for the heart felt moments alone (Not to mention I'm a fantasy geek so I loved every reference)

Yessssss we love seeing Onward getting the respect it deserves! I went to see it with my friend in her local cinema. We both LOVED it and then I didn't get to see her for like 3 months! It was definitely a great meeting for us before not getting to see each other! Even if we didn't know

“The real Phoenix Gems are the dads we made along the way” Dude how did you write such a clever line? 10/10 would listen to again

You forgot one win. When Barley held the staff, he got stung by a splinter. And some time when Ian holds the staff, he also gets stung by a splinter. Like brother like brother.

One of the best moments in this movie for me is when Ian is walking across the chasm without the rope. Ian puts full trust in Barely and you can see barely actually crying in that scene and it just kind of hit me. The brother relationship felt a bit like mine and my sisters, she’s more unabashed and I am a lot more on the timid side. It was a really nice movie to watch overall

Unfortunately, I think because Onward couldn't be released in theaters most people have overlooked it, but its SO GOOD