Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Pixar's newest film opened in March 2020 and managed to get in a few weeks in theaters before public venues began to shutter to help curb the spread of Coronavirus. In its brief time in theaters, Onward earned fairly solid reviews, but only performed mediocrely at the box office. It ed a handful of films that quickly jumped to Amazon Prime Video, then moved to Disney+.
Onward tells the story of teen elf brothers Ian and Barley. The boys live in a world previously full of magic, but it has long since disappeared. They lost their father when they were young. On Ian's 16th birthday, they have a chance to see him one last time. Their dad leaves them a magic spell that can conjure him for just one day, but the spell backfires and only brings back the bottom half of their dad. Ian and Barley go on an epic quest to retrieve the final magical item they need to spend a little more time with their dad.
Onward is a sweet family film, but just didn't meet the mark to be a theatrical success. Here's why Onward found its appropriate home on Disney +.
Why Onward Is Perfect For Disney+
Onward has the makings of a great Pixar movie — magic, family, and A-List voice talent. It's a good enough movie, but the film's quality didn't quite reach the high standard set by previous Pixar movies. This is a sweet spot for streaming platforms — not good enough to pay the full price of a movie ticket, but good enough to watch during a night in. Given the fact that Onward premiered on Disney+ in the middle of the Coronavirus outbreak, audiences all over the world were having a lot more nights in. The film quickly saw more success on Disney+ than in theaters.
Every now and then, there's a rare, spectacular movie that is exclusive to streaming and blows audiences away. For the most part, exclusively streaming movies range from fine to good. Streaming movies traditionally don't have to deal with the same pressures theatrical movies face. A streaming movie tends to be a way to the time, a distraction, or the crux of a social event. When streaming-only movies end up being above average, they exceed expectations, and Onward absolutely exceeds the bare minimum standards of a good streaming movie.
Onward also came at the perfect time for audiences. As it was released when Coronavirus spread across the globe, audiences were forced to remain indoors for their safety. Naturally, streaming platform usage skyrocketed, as audiences were hungry for any entertainment — especially positive and light-hearted entertainment. The overall theme of Onward is that magic still exists in the world, and sometimes people just have to look really hard to find it. What better message to send to audiences in the midst of a pandemic? If it received a full theatrical run, the film likely would have been deemed a failure. Now that it lives on Disney+, Onward can be a movie that audiences can turn to for comfort and an escape during difficult times.