What if elements had feelings? You don’t need to wonder anymore because Pixar, renowned for its films exploring the lives of inanimate objects, is now giving life to the elements. The studio, which has previously brought to life toys, cars, and even feelings themselves, will now bring to life the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of air, earth, wind, and fire in their new movie Elemental.
The film will be Pixar Animation Studio’s 27th feature film. The studio’s newest project, Elemental, seeks to continue making that impact with a story of finding common ground despite our differences. This heartwarming story is sure to make you feel all toasty inside as the characters look to turn their differences into water under the bridge, even if it means stirring things up and getting into a bit of hot water.
The Trailer
Dreamy, sweet, and definitely silly, the Elemental teaser trailer introduces viewers to the four different kinds of residents that reside in Element City, along with its two main characters, Ember and Wade. Puffs of air, lumps of land, drops of water, and fiery flames board a bustling train in the minute-long preview that also introduces some of the physics of this new universe. The air beings can float around and even sit upside-down on the train’s ceiling. A water-being drops her lipstick when the train hits a bump, and the product lands inside of her, floating around her head. She may need to visit the filter station that the train passes by in order to get it removed. A land-being smiles at the newly sprouted grass atop his head and Ember is injured when Wade accidentally drips water onto her hand.
What Will Elemental Be About?
The official film synopsis is as follows:
“The film journeys alongside an unlikely pair, Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. The fiery young woman and the go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common.”
Ember and Wade live in a bustling bayside city connected by bridges. Many of the residents live in towering skyscrapers designed for their specific elements. The land-beings buildings are covered in lush greenery, where its earthy residents grow and take care of their sprouts; water-beings are able to travel via water slide, and windmills power the homes of air-beings. It appears though, that the fire-beings live on the other side of the bridge, in low buildings, each adorned with a chimney billowing smoke out of the small, cozy homes. Why do the fire-beings live separately from the others? Perhaps to keep the air beings from evaporating, or to keep the land beings many trees and plants from getting burned, or to keep the water beings from accidentally putting out their flames. In the trailer, we aren’t only introduced to the elements but to how they interact with one another, which gives insight into the film’s possible plot.
Water-being sneezes and as a result, a land-being’s grass grows; an air-being excitedly smells the flowers growing from a land-beings armpit, though another land-being with a wooden nose warily pulls her child away from the smoldering Ember as she passes by. Similarly, when she passes by an air-being, a portion of his head evaporates, then reappears once she is gone. And, when water drips from Wade’s hand as he attempts to help Ember pick up her fallen headphones, her hand sizzles and in a twinge of pain she says “Ow.” It is also of note that Ember, the only fire-being on the train, appears to be wearing a coat made of heat-resistant material, possibly required in order to protect her fellow Element City residents from her powerful heat. Ember’s struggle to navigate the city and have relationships with its residents appears to be what will drive the film’s plot.
With the phrase “opposites react”, a play on the saying “opposites attract”, showing on screen after the two main characters meet, many viewers are wondering if Elemental will have a romantic element and if the tall drink of water will catch feelings for this new flame. We will have to wait and see if things get a little (PG-rated) steamy between the two as they attempt to create meaningful change in their city.
Who Is in the Voice Cast of Elemental?
Wade Ripple is voiced by Mamoudou Athie. Wade is said to be a go-with-the-flow guy. Not one for making waves, he seems a little uncomfortable when he and Ember begin to stir things up in the Elemental world.
Elemental will be Mamoudou Athie’s first-ever voice acting role, though audiences may recognize him as Ramsay Cole in the 2022 film Jurassic World: Dominion, or as the curious VHS enthusiast in the Netflix thriller series Archive 81.
Ember Lumen will be voiced by Leah Lewis. Ember is quite the firecracker. From the rooftop of her home on what appears to be a fire island, she looks longingly at the bustling, high-tech city across the bridge, dreaming of a world that she doesn’t have to navigate in fear.
Leah Lewis is known for her portrayal of the educated romantic underdog Ellie Chu in the Netflix drama The Half of It, as well as her recurring role as Georgia ‘George’ Fan in the Nancy Drew series. Elemental will be Lewis’ first-ever voice acting role as well, though she is already working on her next. Lewis will be voicing a character named Räv in the upcoming animated adventure film The Tiger’s Apprentice, which features an almost entirely Asian/Pacific Islander cast, including Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh and Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding.
Who is Making Elemental?
his Disney-Pixar film will be directed by Peter Sohn, who first joined Pixar Studios in 2000. This is his first credited directing role, though he is known for his work in the studio’s art department on films such as Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, and for voicing characters in Lightyear and Luca. Pete Doctor, writer for Inside Out, Up, Soul, and Wall-E has taken on the role of executive producer, alongside producer Denise Ream, who is known for her work on Up, Cars 2, and Toy Story 4. Fans of these films are excited to see the impacts the producers will have on the Elemental screenplay, which was written by Brenda Hsueh. Hsueh is known for producing and writing for adult comedy series such as How I Met Your Mother and Truth Be Told, though she has previously had input on a powerful coming-of-age Disney Pixar project, consulting for the director of Turning Red, Domee Shi.
Release Date: All We Know
Elemental is set for release on June 16, 2023, and carries a high probability of becoming a perfect summer family favorite.
