Pixar movies are nearly guaranteed to be crowd pleasers, but the studio's newest feature, Onward, never really had the chance at the global box office. However, while some may have missed their chance to see Onward on the big screen, we all now have the ability to catch Tom Holland and Chris Pratt as elf-brothers at home. And that means it's a lot easier to go through the movie looking for those always fun Pixar easter eggs.
Pixar movies are always full of fun easter eggs and references, but because Onward has strong fantasy influences, a lot of the easter eggs are focused on fun genre references, and there are so many that there are several you may have missed if you were lucky enough to catch this one in theaters. With the film about to make the jump to Disney+, here are a few of our favorite of Onward's magical references.
Tokein's Second Breakfast
The world of Onward is a world where fantasy and reality, as we know it, have been crammed together, and it makes for a lot of fun jokes. Early in the film, Tom Holland's Ian decides to grab a bite to eat on the way to school, and so he stops by the local Burger Shire, which is already a great name for a fantasy burger joint, but if you look at the sign out front, you'll see that Burger Shire just started service a popular meal among Hobbits.
Even if you've never read The Lord of the Rings, you're likely familiar with the meal of "second breakfast," from a funny exchange out of the Fellowship of the Ring movie. While we never actually see hobbits in Onward, it would seem they must exist, and Burger Shire is looking to get their business.
Sorcerer Mickey's Hat
Pixar is always great about including easter eggs referencing its own films, but it also likes to pay homage to its parent company as well. We've seen a handful of Disney easter eggs in Pixar films, and Onward contains one itself in the form of the uniforms worn at the manticore's tavern. If you look at the hats worn by some of the employees, they might look familiar.
The hat isn't identical to the one worn by Mickey Mouse in Fantastia, but it uses the same moon and star ornaments on a dark blue hat. It's clearly an intentional reference to the hat that gave Mickey magic powers of his own and a reference to Walt Disney's classic film. After all Onward and The Sorcerer's Apprentice are both about amateurs who get into trouble when a magic spell doesn't quite work as intended.
Neville Longbottom's Favorite Beer?
Basically all of the brand names we see in Onward are some cute reference to a fantasy creature or something similar. However, one of the more interesting is only briefly glimpsed in a gas station window. It's not even entirely clear what it's trying to sell, but the name Longbottom is a pretty obvious reference to one of the most popular characters in the Harry Potter universe.
Since gas station's sell a lot of beer, it seems like this one is a double joke. A station in reality might advertise the sale of tallboy beer cans, a can that holds more than the standard 12 ounces. A longbottom beer would therefore be a play on that, while also being a hilarious magical reference.
The Manticore's Tavern Children's Menu
Gas station beer isn't the only place where Onward has fun with brand names, however. The children's menu at The Manticore's Tavern is only given a brief look in the film, and you might catch a few of the references on it, but to see them all, you really need to take in the whole thing. Everything from the food options to the drink choices are great easter eggs.
We get another Tolkein reference in Mt. Doom soda, which also includes Mt. Mist, and Cloak as options. However, special attention should be given to Roast Beast as a food option. Technically speaking, I think you have to consider How the Grinch Stole Christmas to be a fantasy story, so that one counts too.
Loch Lake
We don't have magic and fantasy creatures in the real world, at least none that we know of. There are a handful of myths and legends around that claim that creatures unlike we've ever seen might exist in the world somewhere. The most famous of these is probably the Loch Ness Monster. The creature's rumored existence makes the the concept of a loch seem quite magical, which is probably why there's a place in the world of Onward called Loch Lake.
Except, the thing is, there's nothing inherently magical about a loch. In fact, it's really just another word for lake, meaning that the name of this lake is actually just Lake Lake. So maybe it's not quite as magical as it sounds. It's pretty funny though.
New Mushroomton's Magic Classes
The concept behind the world of Onward is that, while magic does exist in the world, it's difficult to master, and other concepts, like technology, made the same tasks easier to accomplish. Magic is supposed to have been left behind, and nobody uses it anymore, but that's apparently not entirely true, as at least one aspect of magic is taught in Ian's high school, alchemy.
One of Ian's classmates is apparently studying the concept of transforming matter, which was mostly concerned with turning baser metals into gold. I suppose that in the world of Onward alchemy is what passes for "science class."
Pixie Sticks
While most of the things the people in Onward eat look like the sort of thing we might find on our own tables, most of them have different names. One item that is apparently quite similar is the candy known as Pixie Sticks. It's little more than pure sugar for you and me, but in Onward, while it might have the same name, it's actually something quite different. According to the package, Pixie Sticks are actually 100% real Pixie Dust. One wonders if Ian are Barley could have bought some and just flown to their destination.
This certainly isn't the end of the Onward easter eggs, just a few of the ones that made us laugh. Do you have a favorite reference that we didn't cover? Let us know in the comments below.
Onward is now available for purchase on digital stores like MoviesAnywhere and it will arrive on Disney+ April 3.
