Pixar does it again! Elemental is a film made up of many elements (pun intended) interwoven into a heartwarming and inspirational story that has something that can resonate with people of all ages and backgrounds.
In true Pixar fashion, the film tackled complex life issues, including family relationship dynamics, challenges of first-generation immigrants, acceptance of people with different backgrounds and experiences, and fighting for the truly important things in life, such as love and dreams.
Elemental centers around two main characters made up of opposing elements, fire and water. The fire and protagonist character, Ember Lumen, is voiced by Leah Lewis (The Half of It, Nancy Drew), and the water character that plays opposite Lewis’ Ember is Wade Ripple, which is voiced by Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World: Dominion, Archive 81). Watching those two characters interact was so much fun, given their very different natures.
Fire residents in Element City are considered newcomers and live on the outskirts of the city. They have a fiery disposition–quick to anger–and are realists and pessimists, but they are also loving people who cherish their families and respect their traditions. Water residents, as expected, are quite the opposite. They are go-lucky dreamers, eternal optimists, and are very comfortable sharing their emotions with others–unafraid to shed many a tear every time they hear or experience something heartwarming or sad. It is this dynamic relationship of opposites attracting that director Peter Sohn homed in on for the film.
“And when I drew Fire, you know, right next to Water, there was this wonderful tension that I couldn’t get enough of. And yeah, so I knew right away that those would be sort of our main characters for this film,” he said at the global press conference.
Speaking about her character Ember, Lewis said, “Even though we kind of see her as really guarded, I think that she’s just a bit fearful to kind of like, step out into the world and see what these other elements have to offer ’cause she’s kind of only known one thing her life. But she’s beautiful… she’s absolutely radiant. And I think the way that she moves, too, is just so elegant and so flowy, despite her being fire, which is something that can be so explosive. I mean, she has so much range.”
Joining Lewis in the Lumen family are Ronnie Del Carmen as the voice of Bernie, Ember’s father, and Shila Ommi (Little America, Tehran) as the voice of Cinder Lumen, Ember’s mother.
Although the air and earth residents are not the film’s focus, audiences still get a sense of their characters. Air residents have bigger-than-life personalities with emotions that can change in the blink of an eye, as seen in the character of Gale, which is voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids, The Goldbergs). Earth residents are shown to have more subdued but determined personalities, such as those seen in the characters of Fern and Clod, voiced by Joe Pera (Joe Pera Talks with You) and Mason Wertheimer, respectively.
One of the themes of the movie that resonated with me the most was seeing the Lumen family’s experience as a first-generation immigrant family in a new city, which parallels the experiences of people immigrating to a new country. The film addresses many aspects of the culture clash that happens between parents and their children as they grow up in the new country (or, in this case, city) and the weight of the expectations that many first- and second-generation children feel knowing their parents left everything behind to give them better opportunities. To really grasp what those experiences are like, more than 100 first- or second-generation immigrants from Pixar came together to share their experiences with the filmmakers, according to the press materials for the movie.
In speaking more about this aspect of the story, Athie said, “I cannot imagine having to start all over for the sake of your family. But they did it and they did it without question. They did it for us. And I think Pete (director) and I shared like that sense of gratitude, that feeling of debt, you know? But also like in the making of this film and just talking about it–and talking with my parents about it–it’s not so much like a debt anymore. It feels more like a…how do you say it? Like a gift, you know?”
Lewis echoed the sentiment and added, “And then the gift back is just living your life to the absolute fullest and really working on yourself as a human being to feel fulfilled and feel confident.”
Another theme of the movie that was very inspirational was the idea of acceptance, particularly the acceptance of others that come from different backgrounds and experiences. Wade’s character embodies this message in the film, always remaining positive and hopeful and overlooking any differences that can come between him and Ember. He continually reaches out to connect with her and encourage her, even when she puts up walls and comes up with every reason why they cannot be together or why she cannot pursue a creative career.
At the global press conference, Athie commented on this personality trait of his character, “But he chooses to live his life in a very open-hearted way. And I say ‘chooses’ very specifically because it’s not–sure, his overall nature is like to be emotional–but I think he looks for the positive.”
As to what they hope audiences walk away with after watching the film, the producer of Elemental, Denise Ream, said, “I want people to keep their hearts open to someone or people that may be different, and maybe just a show a little appreciation for parents or anyone that’s sort of helped you along the way. Pick up the phone, call, and say thanks.”
Sohn also chimed in and ended the global press conference with his final thoughts.
“Empathy doesn’t exist without a little bravery. It’s so funny. It’s such a weird thing. And you know, trying to connect – just taking that little step of bravery and then reaching out with empathy, that’d be amazing.”
Elemental has something for everyone and is such a fun movie to watch with family members of all ages. It is full of funny and sweet moments with inspirational messages of love and acceptance.
Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Peter Sohn, Denise Ream, and singer-songwriter LAUV (Ari Leff), were all on hand at the press conference.
Elemental opens in theaters on June 16.
