Pixar’s Onward Voice Cast Guide: What The Actors Look Like In Real Life

Here’s a complete cast and character guide for Pixar’s Onward, including what the main voices look like in real life. After a series of sequels to some of their hottest properties, Disney’s flagship animation studio, Pixar, are set to focus squarely on original projects for the foreseeable future, and that mission begins with Onward. Directed by Dan Scanlon, the man behind Monsters University, Onward was first announced in 2017 and delves into the fantasy genre more than any of Pixar’s previous efforts.

Onward revolves around two elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, who live in a world where magic is a rapidly dying art. The pair receive a message from their deceased father, leading them on a wild journey in Barley’s van. The Lightfoot brothers plan to use a magic spell that will bring their father back to life for a single day, allowing the boys to finally speak to a man Barley barely remembers and Ian never got to meet.

As with all Pixar productions, Onward‘s cast is stacked with big names, many of whom fans will be used to seeing in live-action, rather than just hearing their voices, but the ensemble also features some voice acting veterans. Here are all the actors in Pixar’s Onward, as well as the characters they’ll be playing, their best known past projects and what they look like in real life.

Tom Holland as Ian Lightfoot

The younger half of Onward‘s leading Lightfoot duo is played by none other than Tom Holland. The young British actor shot to fame after being cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making his dramatic debut in Captain America: Civil War and going on to star in 2 solo movies and 2 Avengers efforts. Holland’s Spidey will return in a third solo movie next year, after the actor himself intervened in a custody battle between Disney and Sony, and he has several high-profile projects in the pipeline with Uncharted and Chaos Walking alongside Daisy Ridley. Onward is far from Holland’s only recent voice performance, with turns in Dolittle and Spies In Disguise.

Ian Lightfoot is a teenager when Onward‘s story begins, and was an unborn baby when his father passed away. It’s Ian’s 16th birthday that begins the film’s adventure, with his coming of age leading to Wilden Lightfoot’s final message being handed down. The less outgoing of the brothers, Ian is the archetypal Pixar protagonist, unsure of himself at first, before slowly maturing in front of the audience’s eyes as the narrative develops.

Chris Pratt as Barley Lightfoot

Tom Holland isn’t the only actor taking the Disney Express from Marvel Studios to Pixar – he’s joined by Chris Pratt, playing Ian’s older brother, Barley. Pratt first came to prominence as the gullible but lovable Andy Dwyer in Parks & Recreation, where Pratt’s natural charisma rapidly earned his character a promotion from guest star to series regular. However, it was his starring role as Peter Quill/Star Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies that propelled Pratt to the cinematic big leagues, and he too has become an integral part of the MCU. As Owen Grady, Chris Pratt is also the face of the revived Jurassic World franchise, but has a notable voice credit to his name thanks to a starring turn in The LEGO Movie.

Dressed as a rocker, Barley Lightfoot is the more brash and confident of Onward‘s two brothers, with a love of fantasy adventure and magic. It’s Barley who insists on heading out on a noble quest, and pushes his younger sibling forward throughout the film. There are certainly elements of both Quill and Dwyer in Barley’s character, with the former’s inability to take life seriously and the latter’s somewhat simplistic view of life both shining through. Thanks to their MCU bond, Pratt and Holland were encouraged to record their lines for Onward together and allowed a degree of improvisation.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Laurel Lightfoot

A renowned name in comedy for the past 3 decades, Julia Louis-Dreyfus made her name more on the small screen than in the world of cinema, first as part of the Saturday Night Live cast, and later as Elaine in Seinfeld. More recently, Louis-Dreyfus has found considerable success with starring roles in The New Adventures of Old Christine and the award-winning Veep, on which she also worked as an executive producer. Despite comedy television being her home turf, Louis-Dreyfus has a strong resume in voice acting, with small roles in The Simpsons, The Fairly OddParents and Hey Arnold. Most interestingly, however, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was the voice of Princess Atta in A Bug’s Life, the second-ever film produced by Pixar.

As mother to the Lightfoot brothers, Laurel has raised her boys single-handedly as a widow, and is responsible for passing over her late husband’s magical staff to Ian and Barley once both have turned 16. A nurturing and kind soul, Laurel acts as a guiding light for her sons over the course of Onward, and the character was based on Dan Scanlon’s own mother, with the director’s personal experiences the impetus for the entire Onward story. Laurel lives at her New Mushroomton home with the family’s pet dragon, Blazey, but chases after Ian and Barley after learning of the danger they face.

John Ratzenberger as Fenwick

John Ratzenberger will be a familiar name to many Pixar fans, with the renowned voice actor featuring in every single one of the studio’s productions in some capacity. Among his biggest Pixar credits are Hamm in the Toy Story films, Mack the Truck in the Cars franchise and P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life, but Ratzenberger has also made one-off appearances in a variety of TV shows over the past 40 years.

No Pixar film would be complete without a turn from John Ratzenberger, and his part in Onward is a construction worker named Fenwick. Presumably a less central character to Onward‘s plot, this isn’t the first construction expert Ratzenberger has played in the Pixar world, having voiced Tom in Up, the foreman who tries to convince Carl Fredricksen to move out of his house. There’s currently no word on when Fenwick appears in Onward, or what the character looks like, so that’ll be something for Pixar fans to look out for in theaters.

Octavia Spencer as Corey The Manticore

Making her Pixar debut in Onward is the Oscar-winning Octavia Spencer. First coming to the attention of the mainstream following her Best Supporting Actress win for 2011’s The Help, Spencer has been prolific in the years since, with roles in The Shape of Water, Ma, Fruitvale Station and Divergent, earning further Academy Award nominations along the way. Although primarily known for her more serious, live-action work, Octavia Spencer has a few notable voice credits under her belt, the most significant coming in Zootopia and Dolittle, in which she provided the tones of Dab-Dab the duck alongside Tom Holland.

In Onward, Corey is a restaurant owner who the Lightfoot brothers approach for help during their epic quest. A product of Greek mythology, a manticore is similar to a chimera or a centaur, but has a human face, a lion’s body and a scorpion’s tail. Pixar have already released a short clip online introducing the manticore, and despite having a magical and fearsome reputation as an adventurer, Corey is actually a fairly typical, stressed-out restaurant owner, but helps the boys regardless by pointing them towards the gem that’ll bring their father back. Unfortunately, she neglects to mention the deadly curse, resulting in a team-up with Laurel to warn the two brothers.

Remaining Onward Cast Members

• Mel Rodriguez as Colt Bronco – Laurel’s new partner and a centaur. As a member of the police, Colt is able to help Laurel chase after Ian and Barley. Rodriguez starred in Getting On as Patsy.
• Lena Waithe as Officer Spector – The police in Onward don’t just hire centaurs, but cyclops too. Lena Waithe is best known for starring in Master of None on Netflix.
• Ali Wong as Officer Gore – Most recognized for her stand-up comedy, Wong has a strong resume of vocal performances in The Angry Birds Movie, The LEGO Ninjago Movie and Ralph Breaks The Internet. She also featured briefly in Birds of Prey. Wong plays a faun in Onward.

• Grey Griffin as Dewdrop – Her name alone worthy of a role in the fantasy-themed Onward, Grey Griffin’s Dewdrop is the leader of a biker gang, albeit a gang of pixies rather than flying lion-hybrids. Across film, TV and video games, Griffin has been a highly prolific voice actress, first appearing in animated classics such as Rugrats and Johnny Bravo.
• Tracey Ullman as Grecklin – Playing a pawn shop owner in Onward, Ullman is most famous as the face of The Tracey Ullman Show, which in turn is remembered as the birthplace of The Simpsons.
• George Psarras as Officer Avel – Another of Onward‘s law enforcement contingent, Psarras makes his feature debut in Pixar’s latest release, and provides several other voices, in addition to that of Avel.

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Craig Elvy
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Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
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