The latest animated movie from Pixar is Onward – and it was a very personal journey for director Dan Scanlon.
His previous film was the huge hit Monsters University, but Onward tells the tale of two teenage elf brothers who go on a quest to bring their late father back to life for just one day.
As well as being a fun quest movie, with Tom Holland and Chris Pratt voicing the pair of brothers Ian and Barley, it's also a touching story of love and loss.
"I lost my father when I was a year old and my brother was three, and we always wondered who he was and how we were like him," recalls Dan Scanlon in an interview with RTÉ Entertainment.
"At Pixar we try to do stuff that comes from a true place, and so it (making Onward) meant a lot to me and the whole lot of us, because we've all lost somebody in our lives, and had somebody who went above and beyond for us.
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"And spending six years on these movies, we knew it was going to have to be a labour of love."
The story sees Ian get a gift for his 16th birthday from beyond the grave: a wizard's staff. Used in conjuction with a gem stone, it can bring his and Barley's dad back for just 24 hours.
But something goes wrong during the spell, and only the bottom half of dad appears.
Ian and Barley then face a race against time to locate another gem stone that can bring the other half of their dad back before the 24-hour window closes, and their dad is gone forever.
"Ian and Barley are brothers - but they're different," explains Onward producer Kori Rae.
"And that's kinda fun, just the contrast of Ian - who's shy and awkward - and his older brother, who is kind of brash and big and chaotic. And it just created a great dynamic between the two of them."
You can watch the full interview with Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae by clicking on the link above.
