Pixar's forthcoming film Onward is a vital release for the future of Disney, and perhaps also for cinema as an industry. Due to release next month, Onward is the highly-anticipated new animation from Pixar, and stars Tom Holland alongside his MCU co-star, Chris Pratt, as they embark on a magical quest to bring back their deceased father for a single day. As with any Pixar release, there is an undoubted sense of buzz around Onward, especially with the studio coming off the back of massive success with Toy Story 4. While another adventure alongside Buzz and Woody was always a surefire hit, Onward's fate is more unpredictable, and current projections are good, if not quite spectacular.
Indeed, Pixar has been busy in the sequel game as of late. Looking at the studio's last 5 feature-length releases, 4 were sequels to previous works, with only 2017's Coco flying the flag for original films. Traditionally, Pixar has always been a champion for new ideas, and repeatedly claimed the Toy Story franchise had ended, before eventually turning back to that old favorite. In mid-2019, however, Pixar confirmed it would be focusing solely on original material for the foreseeable future, with 6 films lined up between now and 2023, including this year's Onward and Soul.
Because Onward is the first movie Pixar will release since boldly stating their intention to move away from sequels, its success could have a profound impact on the direction of Disney, and perhaps even the movie industry as a whole. For a major studio to publicly commit to original content was a big deal, especially in a business where tried-and-tested franchises dominate, and Onward is the first sign of whether or not that risk was justified - Patient Zero for a major studio all-originals movie slate. If Onward performs strongly, both Pixar and Disney will be buoyed that their approach has started to pay off. On the other hand, a stunted performance at the box office doesn't give Pixar's focus on original movies a solid foundation to build on, and if Soul suffers similarly, it surely won't be long before Toy Story 5 and Finding Marlin become a reality.
While Pixar has generally been very reliable when it comes to making worthy sequels, most movie fans would agree that the industry is saturated with follow-ups and retreads of former glories. Of 2019's highest grossing movies worldwide, 8 were sequels or remakes (9 if you count Captain Marvel as an MCU sequel and 10 if Joker can be considered a remake of a sort). Clearly, the big screen is crying out for more original stories, but most studios see such projects as riskier propositions than revisiting a concept already proven to be successful. This is why Pixar's 2019 announcement was such a positive step and, for fans of fresh ideas, it's imperative that the likes of Onward and Soul succeed at the box office, proving to Disney that more original content doesn't necessarily mean lower profits.
Of those aforementioned top films of 2019, 7 were also produced by the Mouse House, so if Pixar's Onward can kick-start a renewed interest in movies that aren't sequels, remakes or reimaginings, this ambitious strategy could trickle through to other studios and help balance the scales of modern blockbusters, giving fans less déjà vu when checking out their local theater listings.
