Onward

COVID-19 has killed more than people in America. (Though it’s killed a lot of people: 154,442 as of today, 8/2/20.) It has killed businesses, small and large: Hertz, Brooks Brothers, J.C. Penney, etc. Most movies have been postponed, understandably, until the theaters open again. Just yesterday I saw that The Empire Strikes Back is the #1 box office attraction! What else are they going to show?

But a few movies were basically killed, and this is one of them. It is now the only Pixar movie that not only didn’t make a ton of money at the B.O., it actually lost money: $100,000,000 take against a $135,000,000 budget. I’m sure it would have done at least a half a billion if not for the pandemic, because it’s a swell little movie. It doesn’t rank with their masterpieces, like Up and WALL-E, but it’s just fine. Now it’s out on DVD, and we bought a copy.

It takes place in a world still populated with mythical beings like centaurs, trolls, satyrs, and so forth. It follows two elves on a quest in their van as they encounter the remnants of magic in a world that is looking more and more like our own, with traffic jams and other blessings of modern civilization. It is rather predictable, but a lot of fun, with the usual brilliant Pixar animation and strong characterization. I’m sure I’ll want to see it again in a few years, if the virus doesn’t get me first.