Elemental

[D82]

Article from Empire UK which reveals some new details about the story and the inspiration behind it:

PIXAR’S LATEST TRADES ON SOME PROPER CHEMISTRY

THE IDEA FOR Peter Sohn’s Elemental began with the absolute basics. Literally. “In school, when I was learning the periodic table, I never saw it as a table,” the director recalls. “I saw it as apartments lined up. There was copper living next to cobalt… They all became families.”

That memory came back to him about five years ago, when he was trying to develop a movie based on his own family. Sohn was raised in New York by Korean immigrant parents and felt a pull between two cultures, especially when he found the woman he wanted to marry. “Growing up, my family said, ‘You’ve got to marry Korean.’ Then I fell in love with someone who wasn’t Korean. That triggered a Romeo And Juliet-style story. A culture clash. A romance that could never be, which led to the question of, ‘What if fire fell in love with water?’”

Those thoughts grew into Elemental, set in a city where every inhabitant is an element. Not those from the periodic table — “I couldn’t make fun of boron or the noble gases” — but your classic fire, water, wind, earth. They all live in Element City, but there is little mixing. Communities keep to themselves. The story centres on a fire woman, Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis), who’s “hot-tempered, loyal, fiercely traditional”. Ember works in a shop run by her immigrant parents and expects to emulate their life. Then there’s the watery Wade (Mamoudou Athie), whose life is much more fluid. His ancestors built Element City and he feels unrestricted, free, in a way that Ember doesn’t. Wade seems like he flows easily through life, although Sohn calls him “surprisingly deep, even though he looks shallow”. These two, who don’t believe their worlds can mix, accidentally crash together, and unexpected romance starts to simmer.

Sohn could not have imagined quite how difficult this story would be to tell. Aside from the technical challenge of animating so much fire, water and wind, which Sohn calls “one of the most challenging things to date at Pixar”, it turns out anthropomorphising elements is tricky. “We started out with realistic fire and it was terrifying!” says Sohn. “Then we tried a super-caricatured version and it became too flat.”

After much development, they think they’ve cracked it all. They’re hoping they’ve settled on something with warmth, but which won’t have anyone reaching for the fire extinguisher.

OLLY RICHARDS

[D82]

First book covers:


Source: https://www.amazon.com/Disney-Pixar-Ele ... 1368092454


Source: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disney-Pixar-E ... ref=sr_1_7

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A new still:

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Denise Ream, producer of 'Elemental', in an interview with @ArrobaNerd :

“Yes, you will cry, but in a good way. This movie is unlike anything Pixar has ever made. It's what we did in 'Soul' and 'Inside Out', but multiplied by 10”.

[singerguy04]

Sometimes less is more. I feel like a lot of recent films are so set in world building that either the story suffers or we get distracted from the story. I like everything I'm seeing so far from this film, but I kinda wish it were set in a smaller village not a metropolis like Zootopia. I also kind of cringe at phrases like "it's unlike anything Pixar has ever made" and the whole multiplying it by 10 sentiment. I would think you'd want the film to speak for itself, or allow an outside source to make such judgments. I guess it is still early on in the process though.

The city in that still looks beautiful though, and they get bonus brownie points working a same sex couple into it (at least that's what I'm assuming due to clothes and holding hands).

[blackcauldron85]

The stills kind of look like concept art to me (not in a bad way)-- I don't know how to describe it, the look of it looks different than a normal Pixar film? Does anyone else see it?

[D82]

Here's the full interview with Denise Ream. Hearing that quote in context, it seems she's mainly referring to the fact that in her opinion this movie was much more challenging than other previous Pixar films on a technical level. I agree with you, singerguy04, but at the same time I understand that they have to "sell" the movie, and I believe it's true this project was probably especially challenging due to the substances the characters are made of.

One interesting thing she also reveals in that interview is that Ember and Wade meet in a different way in the movie, so I guess the footage we saw was made specifically for the teaser trailer and won't appear in the film.

And here's a new interview with Peter Sohn in which he gives more details about his experiences growing up as a child of immigrant parents, the difficult relationship with his mother or how his parents eventually accepted him wanting to marry a woman who wasn't Korean, which are things that served as inspiration for the movie. Here's also a summary of the interview in written form.

This movie looked quite bad to me at first, but I have to say, that the more I learn about the story and the inspirations behind it, the more interested in it I become, even though I still think it's not that different from Zootopia.

The stills kind of look like concept art to me (not in a bad way)-- I don't know how to describe it, the look of it looks different than a normal Pixar film? Does anyone else see it?

Yes, I see it too. Do you remember the first still that was released at D23? At first, I thought it was a piece of concept art. I guess it's the cartoony designs combined with the 2D elements of their faces and the colorful environments. And perhaps there are fewer or more subtle shadows than usual?

[blackcauldron85]

^ I thought that was concept art, too! It looks Iike a regular film when I see the teaser trailer, in which Ember's legs stand out as a different aesthetic or art style but everything else seems cohesive...

[D82]

I thought that was concept art, too! It looks Iike a regular film when I see the teaser trailer, in which Ember's legs stand out as a different aesthetic or art style but everything else seems cohesive...

It's true; the footage looks more like regular CGI, while the stills look more like concept art. It's weird.

[blackcauldron85]

I feel better that I'm not the only one!

[singerguy04]

I saw the new Avatar last night in 3D and the trailer was attached. It looked pretty nice in the 3D format overall, but something I noticed this time was that there was a undertone of fire crackling when Ember was the focus. I wonder if that will be the case throughout the film? I'm not really sure what I feel about hearing a constant fireplace sound whenever she's on screen. If that's the case do we get constant current or swishing sounds for the water characters too? Now I'm just worried about sensory overloads lol.

[D82]

Actually, there's a water sound when Wade is on screen too, but it's more subtle. If you listen carefully, you'll notice. Yeah, if those sounds are heard all the time it could be a bit annoying, but I don't think that'll happen. I believe they'll probably be used just occasionally.

[D82]

New still:


Source: https://ew.com/movies/23-movies-most-ex ... 3-preview/

[Sotiris]

It sounds like this movie will be another allegory for racism and prejudice like Zootopia was.

Elemental will examine the best and worst of cultures clashing. "My father had harsh stories of xenophobia and racism," Sohn continues, "and I grew up in '80s New York which was racist and classist. A lot of those memories formed pieces of the film."

Source: https://i.imgur.com/hbj0dKj.png

[D82]

Yeah, that's another similarity with Zootopia. Elemental is apparently quite inspired by Peter Sohn's own life experiences, though. Not only is Ember pretty much a daughter of immigrants like him (since they said fire people were the last to go to live in the city), but the love story between she and Wade is inspired by him marrying a non-Korean woman. That will hopefully help making the topic a bit more specific and unique and not exactly like Zootopia.

[Farerb]

Rumor – Elemental Vocal Cast Expanded Details
A recent Copyright filing may offer additional vocal cast details for Pixar’s Summer 2023 film, Elemental.

Elemental is set to release in theaters on June 16, 2023, but a recent Copyright record may offer additional details on the Elemental vocal cast. We stress that it may reveal more details because this was filed in December, is a “Preregistration” filing record, and is not confirmed by Pixar.

Our ears were first attuned to a new character named Lutz when Collider reported about Denise Ream’s presentation at the Disney CCPX panel on December 2, 2022. Collider noted –

We also got to see a game of airball, which Ream herself described as “basketball meets skydiving.” One of the players is Lutz, who needs a lot of cheering on after feeling discouraged at a match. This prompts Wade Ripple to start a wave of cheer at the stadium – but since most fans are water-based, they are able to conjure up a literal wave.

Wade Cheers on the Windbreakers at Cyclone Stadium in Elemental
Following the Collider article, Pixar Post Forum user Plantthe24 noticed several character names filed under the Copyright website (Bernie, Brook, Cinder, Clod, Fern, Gale, and Lutz). This enticed us to look further, and we found another Copyright entry with additional character names and actors listed.

So, again, take the list with a grain of salt, but the names are listed below. There are some notable inclusions like Catherine O’Hara or even Ronnie del Carmen (who departed Pixar in 2020 to direct a feature at Netflix).

POTENTIAL ELEMENTAL VOCAL CAST
Below is a list of potential actors who may offer their talents to Pixar’s Elemental.

Wade Ripple – Mamadou Athie
Ember Lumen – Leah Lewis
Alan – Matt Yang King
Bernie – Ronnie del Carmen
Brook – Catherine O’Hara
Cinder – Shila Ommi
Clod – Mason Wertheimer
Eddy – Krysta Gonzales
Fern – Joe Pera
Flarrietta – Wilma Bonet
Flarry – Jonathan Adams
Gale – Wendi McLendon-Covey
Ghibli – Maya Aoki Tuttle
Harold – Ronobir Lahiri
Lake – Ava Hauser
Lutz – Vocal actor unknown
Marco – Dylan Buccieri
Polo – Innocent Ekakitie

Source:
https://pixarpost.com/2023/01/elemental-vocal-cast.html

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Art of Elemental cover:

[singerguy04]

I can't really put my finger on it, but I'm just tired of this movie already. I'm going to go see it, and I'm sure I'll enjoy myself, but so far I'm not sold that it's something I'll re-visit often. Onward is kinda like that with me. I really don't have too many complaints overall, it visually interesting and good to look at, but I prefer most of Pixar's offerings over it. I think I'll wait for a more thorough trailer to judge more, but I think I'm sold that it'll look nice. I just need to get more info on the story to really win me over.

[Sotiris]

I can't really put my finger on it, but I'm just tired of this movie already.

That's how I feel too! It seems too typically Pixar for my taste, almost like a parody of what people think a Pixar movie is, but I believe general audiences will respond to it well.