Elemental is a 2023 American computer-animated romantic comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream, written by John Hoberg, Brenda Hsueh, Sohn, and Kat Likkel and executive-produced by Pete Docter. The film stars Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie as the lead voice roles, alongside Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Mason Wertheimer, Joe Pera, and Catherine O'Hara. The title realized the inspiration of the film such as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), Moonstruck (1987) and Amélie (2001), featuring the anthropomorphic elements of nature in the world exist. In this film, a fire element Ember Lumen (Lewis) and water element Wade Ripple (Athie), who meet and fall in love after Wade is summoned by a plumbing accident at a convenience store owned by Ember's father, Bernie (Del Carmen).
Followed the release of The Good Dinosaur (2015), Sohn began development when the idea first started. Elemental takes inspiration the idea of the film from Sohn's childhood experience growing up in New York City in the 1970s, who was aimed at exploring themes of diversity through various elements living in the same city. For research, the production team spent many hours watching point-of-view city tours on YouTube like Venice and Amsterdam for inspiration. The animation tools were utilized to design the visual effects and appearance of each character, particularly Ember and Wade. Production on Elemental lasted for seven years, both in the studio and at the filmmakers' homes with the story being finished remotely. Thomas Newman composed and conducted the film's original score, marking his fourth collaboration with Pixar after Finding Nemo (2003), WALL-E (2008), and Finding Dory (2016).
Elemental debuted out of competition as the closing film at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 27, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 16, in RealD 3D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema formats.
From the Elements that Brought You: Toy Story 4, Inside Out, Coco, Incredibles 2, Onward, Turning Red, & the Director of the Good Dinosuar. & the Producer of Cars 2, & the Good Dinosuar.
Plot[]
Fire elements Bernie and Cinder Lumen immigrate to Element City, where they face xenophobia from other elements and struggle to find a home. They have a daughter, Ember, and eventually establish a convenience store called the Fireplace, setting up a Blue Flame that represents their heritage and traditions and attracting many fire element patrons over time. Bernie intends to give the store to Ember when he retires, but first she must control her fiery temper. When Bernie allows Ember to run the shop on her own, she becomes overwhelmed by the customers and rushes to the basement. Her fiery outburst breaks a water pipe, flooding the basement and summoning Wade Ripple, a water element and city inspector. Wade notes the faulty plumbing and reluctantly leaves for City Hall to send the violation report to his air element employer, Gale Cumulus, who will have the Fireplace shut down. Ember pursues Wade but is too late.
Taking pity on Ember, Wade brings her to Cyclone Stadium to convince Gale to reconsider the shutdown of her father's store. When Wade mentions he was investigating recurrent floods before ending up at the Fireplace, Gale gives the duo a tight deadline to find the source. If they are able to seal the leak, then the violations will be forgiven. While searching the canals for the source of the leak, Wade surmises that Ember's temper derives from her trying to tell herself something that she is not ready to accept, but Ember denies this. They then discover a hole in a dam that allows wave runoff from ships to flood the city's plumbing, so they close the hole with sandbags. Meanwhile, Bernie deals with water leaks all over the Fireplace.
Wade and Ember spend time together in the city and learn more about each other. Later, Wade informs Ember that the sandbags did not hold, so Ember uses her glassmaking ability to create a sturdier seal for the hole in the dam. Meanwhile, Cinder suspects Ember is seeing someone and follows her. Ember visits Wade's family at a luxury apartment, where she uses her fire to fix a broken glass pitcher, impressing Brook, Wade's mother, who recommends her for a glassmaking internship. Ember also plays the crying game with Wade, in which he successfully makes her cry when he admits he has feelings for her. Gale then calls Wade and gives her approval of Ember's glass seal, thus saving the Fireplace from closure. Ember then realizes that she does not want to take over the store. A after angrily driving Wade to the store, Ember expresses her frustration that she was only raised for one thing and she felt that what she wanted didn't matter anyway. Cinder appears, revealing she smelled love on them. After a ritual is done, Cinder is about to tell them results only for Bernie to come downstairs prompting them to get Wade to leave.
Bernie announces his intention to retire and hand the Fireplace to Ember. He tells Ember how, when leaving his homeland, he bowed to his father but his father refused to bow back. Wade takes Ember to Garden Central Station to see Vivisteria flowers, which she was denied seeing in childhood. With the station now flooded, Gale provides Ember with an air bubble for safety while Wade pushes her underwater through the station. Afterward, Wade and Ember realize that they are able to touch without harming each other and share a romantic dance, but Ember is reminded of her duty to the Fireplace and her family's prejudice against water elements, and leaves, upsetting Wade.
As Ember is about to take over the Fireplace, Wade appears and professes his love for her, while also letting it slip that she caused the broken pipe. Ember rejects Wade, but Cinder senses genuine affection. Disappointed, Bernie decides not to retire and denies Ember the store. Soon after, the new seal on the dam breaks and the fire district floods. After saving the Blue Flame, Ember and Wade become trapped in a room in the Fireplace, causing Wade to evaporate from the enclosed heat.
When the flood recedes, a grief-stricken Ember confesses to Bernie that she does not want to run the Fireplace and expresses her love for Wade. Bernie tells Ember that he loves her regardless of her choice. Realizing Wade has seeped into the stone ceiling, Ember plays the crying game to get him to drip back into his normal form. Ember reciprocates Wade's affection and they kiss.
Months later, The Fireplace is still strong and is also visited by all elements and Bernie gets to enjoy retirement. Wade and Ember, now a couple, leave Element City so Ember can study glassmaking far away and travel the world together. Before she boards the ship, Ember bows to Bernie who returns the gesture.
Voice cast[]
- Leah Lewis as Ember Lumen, a fire element, described as a "tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman"
- Clara Lin Ding as Little Kid Ember
- Reagen To as Big Kid Ember
- Mamoudou Athie as Wade Ripple, a water element, described as a "fun, sappy, go-with-the flow guy"
- Ronnie del Carmen as Bernie Lumen, Ember's bigoted father, Cinder's husband and owner of her family's convenience store
- Shila Ommi as Cinder Lumen, Ember's bigoted mother and Bernie's wife
- Mason Wertheimer as Clod, a young earth element who has a crush on Ember.
- Wendi McLendon-Covey as Gale, an air element with a big personality and Wade's employer.
- Catherine O'Hara as Brook Ripple, Wade, Alan and Lake's widowed mother and Harold's sister.
- Joe Pera as Fern Grouchwood, an overgrown earth element bureaucrat
- Matthew Yang King as:
- Alan Ripple, Wade's and Lake's older brother and Eddy's husband.
- Lutz, an airball player who plays for the Windbreakers at Cyclone Stadium.
- Earth Pruner
- Wilma Bonet as Flarrietta, one of the customers at the Fireplace
- Ronobir Lahiri as Harold, Brook's brother and Wade and Alan's uncle.
- Jeff LaPensee as Sparkler Customer
- Ben Morris as Wood Immigration Official. His name tag reveals his name to be C. C. Stump.
- Jonathan Adams as Flarry, one of the customers at the Fireplace.
- P.L. Brown as Doorman
- Alex Kapp as:
- Customer
- Delivery Person
- Earth Landlord
Additional voices, other members of Wade's family appear in the film including:
- Innocent Onanovie Ekakitie as Marco and Polo Ripple, two of Wade's nephews.
- Krysta Gonzales as Eddy Ripple, Alan's wife and Wade and Lake's sister-in-law.
- Ava Kai Hauser as Lake Ripple, Wade and Alan's youngest sibling and Ghibli's love interest. Lake is Pixar's first non-binary character.
- Maya Aoki Tuttle as Ghibli, Lake's girlfriend.
Other additional voices in the film include Dylan Buccieri, Assaf Cohen, Jessica DiCicco, Terri Douglas, Karen Huie, Arif S. Kinchen, Austin Madison, Cole Massie, Scott Menville, Alisha Mullally, Fred Tatasciore, Kari Wahlgren, and Secunda Wood.
Production[]
Development[]
On May 16, 2022, Pixar announced a new film titled Elemental, with the classical elements of fire, water, air, and earth as its central theme, with Peter Sohn directing and Denise Ream producing, along with some concept art.[1] According to Sohn, the idea for the film was inspired on his experiences as the son of immigrants in New York City in the 1970s. He stated: "My parents emigrated from Korea in the early 1970s and built a bustling grocery store in the Bronx." He also stated: "We were among many families who ventured to a new land with hopes and dreams — all of us mixing into one big salad bowl of cultures, languages, and beautiful little neighborhoods. That's what led me to Elemental."[2] Sohn and Ream reunite after having previously worked together on The Good Dinosaur (2015).[1] Turning Red (2022) creative consultant Brenda Hsueh was hired to write the screenplay.[3]
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sohn says the film's seven-year development period with Elemental is closely tied to his relationship with his family, when the idea first started, following the release of The Good Dinosaur in 2015. It is also revealed that Ember was born in Elemental City, but grew up in a fire town, since the neighborhoods are sort of split up in different ways. He stated: "I am quite emotional about getting the characters and the story out for sure." He also stated: "This movie is about thanking your parents and understanding their sacrifices. My parents both passed away during the making of this thing. And so, it is hugely emotional, and I'm still processing a lot of it."[4]
Sohn stated at D23: The Official Disney Fan Club: "The concept of the city itself started off with Ember." He also stated: "We thought, 'What's the best city we can build to support Ember's journey of identity and belonging?' It started by thinking about a city that would be hard for fire, and so we based it off of water. The idea is that Water got to this area first, and then Earth came, so it became a delta. Then, they built a water infrastructure with water canals and elevated water channels everywhere, making it even tougher for Ember. Then, Air came in after that, and Fire was one of the last groups to come into the city."[5]
When asked about being compared to Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005), Sohn said that Elemental is not inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, despite their shared concept of personifying about classical elements. Sohn stated: "No, it wasn't a touchstone, but I love the show. I saw it with my kids and it's great, but we're so different from it. There's no martial arts in our world. There's not anything like that. It's this city story with the romance, and this family drama. But I do appreciate the connection that people are making just 'cause they love that and hopefully they can love this, too." Sohn also stated:
- "Growing up, I always saw my parents a certain way, but then when I hit my 20s and got a real job versus working at my family shop, I saw them as people. That shift from parents to people affected me a great deal. All the stories they told me of their journey here I took for granted until I was like, 'Oh my God, they did this without speaking the language. They did this with no money. My dad was a hotdog cart guy and he made all this. I could never do that.' My empathy grew for them.[6]"
- ―{{{2}}}
On September 9, 2022, during the D23 Expo, Sohn, Ream and Pete Docter presented a first look at the film. "Our story is based on the classic elements — fire, water, land, and air. Some elements mix with each other, and some don't," Sohn stated. "What if these elements were alive?" Shortly after the unfinished animation footage, a clip was screened, showing Ember and Wade on a date, walking through a park where Wade tries to impress Ember by running across water, sliding, and creating a romantic rainbow.[7]
According to Variety, at the Disney Content Showcase in Singapore on November 30, 2022, Sohn showed a picture of him as a child with his parents, saying, "Maybe it's because when I was a kid, I really didn't appreciate or understand what it meant to be an immigrant, to come to the U.S., and all the hard work that they did to give my brother and me our lives. That was one big nugget that was just sitting with me. On the other side, I married someone that wasn’t Korean, and there was a lot of culture clash with that in my world. And that brought to me to this idea of finding opposites. And the question of what if fire fell in love with water came. As an animator, what could be a fun world to play with… so the fire and water is one thing. But then tying that to culture clash, was part of that metaphor. And then in that world, all of a sudden this idea of sacrifice, and understanding what our parents had given started to make the soup of what this film is." He also talks about culture clash and diversity, "It has been the struggle of my life for sure understanding my place and what have I assimilated or my identity being a bifurcated identity. It's always been there, I assume that it'll be always a part of some amount of storytelling – having that kind of that diversity. Will it be a major thing? I don't know. But it's been a part of my life. And I love trying to reflect what the teams that we’ve worked with their lives and our lives into the work that we do."[8]
Sohn also showed footage from the film at the Disney Content Showcase and stated that "The film is about our differences that bring us together, but it is a love story. Hopefully, the audiences will get a deeper understanding of the loss in their lives between the partners, the friends or family."[9]
Production of the film were completed after spending seven years to make both in the studio and at home. According to story artist Jason Katz, he shared that the team finished their story while working remotely at home.
Casting[]
On September 9, 2022, during the D23 Expo, Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie were revealed to have been cast in the leading voice roles of Ember and Wade, respectively.[10] When the full-length trailer was released on March 28, 2023, more cast members, including Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O'Hara, Mason Wertheimer, and Joe Pera, were announced.
Marketing[]
Following the voice cast announcement, a first look image and an exclusive teaser poster were released on September 9, 2022, during the 2022 D23 Expo Presentation.[10] The marketing campaign of Elemental began on November 17, 2022, with the release of a teaser trailer, set to Bakar's "Hell N Back".[11] Writing for /Film, Jeremy Mathai commented positively of the footage, saying it "looks wonderfully rendered and irresistibly charming."[12] An official full-length trailer was released on March 28, 2023.
A series of books based on the film is scheduled to be published in May 2023.
Release[]
Elemental was theatrically released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the United States on June 16, 2023.[10][13] It was accompanied by the Dug Days special short "Carl's Date". On February 16, 2023, following the commercial failures of Lightyear and Strange World (both 2022), Disney reportedly considered extending the theatrical windows for both Elemental and Wish (2023) in hopes of bringing families back to theaters.
Reception[]
The film so far has been given somewhat positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 75% of 156 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10, while their consensus reads that the film "may not satisfy as fully as the greatest Pixar pictures, but it remains a solid story told with dazzling visual flair". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, early social media reactions toward the film were generally positive, with praise for its animation, story, score, and world building.[14] Early critical reviews however, were mixed.
Trivia[]
- First Pixar film scored by Thomas Newman not to be directed by Andrew Stanton.
- The plot of Elemental shares some details with this of Zootopia (2016), but its main duo and its location remind Inside Out (2015) and Soul (2020).
- The main duo is reminiscent to Fire Boy and Water Girl, but the genders have been swapped.
Gallery[]
Posters[]
Videos[]
Clips[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Pixar Announces Next Movie, Elemental, From Good Dinosaur Director Peter Sohn", Variety, May 16, 2022.
- ↑ Lang, Jamie (2022-05-16). Pixar Announces New Feature Elemental, Shares Early Concept Art (in en-US).
- ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 28, 2022). Verve Signs Pixar Elemental Screenwriter Brenda Hsueh.
- ↑ Odman, Sydney (November 17, 2022). Elemental Director Peter Sohn on His Personal Connection to the Pixar Film, Honoring His Late Parents.
- ↑ Johnson, Zach (November 17, 2022). Peter Sohn Breaks Down Ember and Wade's Meet-Cute in Elemental.
- ↑ Romano, Nick (November 17, 2022). Pixar's Elemental director on Avatar comparisons: 'We're so different from it'.
- ↑ Pixar's Elemental Footage Description: Can Fire And Water Mix? [D23] (in en-US) (September 9, 2022).
- ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (December 1, 2022). Peter Sohn Talks Culture Clash, Diversity in Disney Pixar Film Elemental.
- ↑ Eun-Jung, Kim (November 30, 2022). Pixar's Korean American director says 'Elemental' based on personal experience. Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved on December 2, 2022.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2
- ↑ Phillips, Patrick (November 17, 2022). What Is The Song In Pixar's Elemental Teaser Trailer?.
- ↑ Mathai, Jeremy (November 17, 2022). Elemental Teaser: Opposites Attract In Pixar's Newest Original.
- ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2022-05-16). Pixar Unveils Concept Art & Dates 27th Film Elemental For Summer 2023 (in en-US).
- ↑ Pixar's 'Elemental': First Reactions Call it "Clever & Emotional" (May 27, 2023).
External links[]
Elemental at IMDb- Elemental at Rotten Tomatoes
- Elemental at Metacritic
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