At CinemaCon 2023, Disney noted the company will actually be putting out at least one movie from each of its major studios: Marvel, Walt Disney Pictures, Disney Animation, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight and Pixar. Among the upcoming Disney movies is Pixar’s big outing Elemental, a new story directed by Peter Sohn (who also played Lightyear's scene-stealing Sox) and inspired by some of the best romantic films. Disney unveiled the first 20 minutes of Elemental in sharp 3D and honestly it's fire, pun intended.
Director Peter Sohn told CinemaBlend and other outlets a few weeks ago that Elemental is inspired by his own parents’ immigration story to the United States. We’ve now seen a huge chunk of the film and were also able to see some of the influences Sohn has sewn into the film, pulling from his own memories. But first let’s talk about the 3D because it was wow, wow, wow.
Should Families See Elemental In 3D?
Disney happens to also be the studio that pushed 3D back into the conversation with Avatar: The Way of Water and it seems as if the studio is really hoping to recommit viewers to 3D as a whole. The creative team did an admirable job with Elemental. The movie opens with a family of fire elements leaving their homes to head to the big city. They ultimately end up in an enclave called Fire Town, while elements of the water, earth and air variety typically choose to live in Element City.
From the opening sequence, there’s a lot of care put into the 3D, as boats pull up to docks and water sloshes around in front of our eyes. Fire and water families pop as they disembark down planks (planks that jut out of the screen), making for a solid 3D experience. There’s stuff going on in nearly every part of the screen during the film’s opening minutes, so if you are a fan of the blur test, it passes with flying colors.
That continues as the Lumen family glimpses the city. The cityscapes are a little reminiscent of Zootopia – and have drawn comparisons after Elemental’s new trailer dropped – but the elemental nature of the entire environment is less shiny and modern and more in tune with the, well, earth than other Disney or Pixar animated films. It’s here we meet Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis), who is about to embark on an adventure with a water element after spending her whole life thinking fire and water don’t mix.
Pixar’s Romantic Story Has Roots In Director Peter Sohn’s Real Life
Among the things to know about Elemental, I noted prior that Sohn recently said the story for the movie tied into his own experiences, but it’s more than a broad storyline thing. In an interview with CinemaBlend, he previously touched on a scene that actually happens in the first few minutes of the Pixar film. In it, Ember is getting hassled by her mother, who reminds her that her grandmother’s dying wish was for her to end up with another fire element.
Sohn shared with us that his own grandmother shared a similar sentiment before her death, noting:
Growing up my grandmother's dying words or like ‘Marry Korean,' like we saw a little bit of that yesterday in the footage. It came from a real place. And, it created all these sort of culture clashes growing up.
The comparisons between element issues and real life xenophobia aren’t hard to decipher and this through-line continues through the early part of the movie, as Ember continually repeats that fire “doesn’t mix” with other elements. When she does finally meet a water element, Wade Ripple, played by Mamoudou Athie, they mix like oil or water (or like fire and water, rather) at first.
Disney has promised us this particular Pixar film plays like a rom-com, so eventually differences will need to be set aside and commonalities will need to be found, though I’m interested to see how the two work it out when they get to the makeout portion of their relationship. I feel like the flames might douse pretty quickly if your boyfriend was constantly destroying your face while trying to snog you. But I digress.
In general, I give Elemental’s first 20 minutes four out of five fire emojis. 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥. We’ll have to wait and see if the flick ends as well as it starts when first reviews for Elemental come out, but there’s a lot to unpack here, and I’m very excited to see if this is a world fans latch onto and if people will see the upcoming 2023 film in 3D.
