So I wanted to talk about this moment that a friend reminded me of when he shared this still from Onward. It goes by so quick that you could miss it, in fact I did, a lot, until it was pointed out.
Also SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't seen Onward, which you should see Onward!
So in the film these two brothers, Ian and Barley, have one last chance to see their dad again, their dad who has been dead and gone since Barley was a child and Ian wasn't born yet. (It's a magic thing.) But the window is closing before that chance is gone, and to make fate worse, only one of them can see his dad. In the movie we see why Ian wants to see his dad, and we see it so much that we're rooting for him. But, in one point in the film, Ian learns why it is important for Barley to see his dad one more time. So, when the brothers realize that only one can stay behind to see dad, Ian insists that Barley sees him.
This is already a sad yet beautiful moment in the film, but a fan pointed out in this frame how it gets even sadder. It's been pumped up on the film how much Ian wants to see his dad, so it's beautiful when he gives it up for his brother, who needed to see his dad more. And while Ian does watch the reunion from afar with a big smile, it's when dad finally disappears for good via magic wearing off for good, that Ian makes this face that shows sadness and perhaps even regret that he still never got to see his dad.
It was such a sad moment that it inspired me to include it as a plot point in my Inside Out and Onward crossover fic Inside Onward. Throughout the story, Ian's emotions want Ian to know so much about his dad, just as much as Ian, and Ian's Family Island has a smaller island next to it called Dad Island, showing that while Ian is connected to his dad, he knows so little about him that he's still a stranger to him. The emotions throughout the story comment how they want dad to finally get on Dad Island, thinking it will help Ian, and believe actually seeing his dad will do that. But, through the course of the film, whenever an Island lights up, the emotions know that Ian made that decision and their suggestions on what to do are overruled. So, while the emotions discuss during that pivotal moment who should see their dad, Family Island activates as Ian tells Barley he should see his dad. So, the emotions follow Ian, and Barley sees dad once more, while Ian and his emotions miss that chance. This quick moment in the film inspired a short moment in the fanfic where the emotions lament how Ian never got to see dad, and Dad Island is still separate from Family Island, while also convincing themselves that that's okay.
