The latest offering from Pixar imagines a city where the four elements live together – or rather water, wind and earth cohabit happily while newcomers fire are seen as something of outsiders, arriving after the others and trying to adapt to their new home, while still honouring the traditions of their own culture.
Within this setting, firery Ember, who is desperate to impress her parents, meets happy-go-lucky water-man Wade and despite not being able to touch, the pair find themselves falling for one another.
Elemental is a tale of love, and also immigration – a very personal story from Korean director Peter Sohn who has said the central relationship in the film is inspired by his own with his American wife.
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While Jurassic World: Dominion actor Mamoudou Athie, who was born in Mauritania and voices the upbeat Wade, told Sky News’ Backstage podcast there was a personal connection for him too.
“I became a [US] citizen while we were making this movie,” he explained.
“I remember even before I did Jurassic here [in the UK], I was almost not able to do it because the COVID situation shut down the immigration offices… so I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy’.”
“So doing this movie while becoming a citizen, while we’re thinking about the journey that my family took just to get to the States to build a life, it’s been extremely moving.”
The actor adds his mum and dad also connect to the film’s subject matter.
“My parents, they saw the movie at the premiere and my dad has seen it twice since,” Athie said.
“It means a lot to them as well, so it’s so heart-warming to feel that they care about is just as deeply as we do.”
Pic: Disney/Pixar
Pic: Pixar/Disney
And while immigration is certainly a central theme of the animation, actress Leah Lewis who voices Ember, says anyone who’s ever wanted their parents’ approval will relate to what her character is going through.
“Everyone has had that experience growing up where you think your parents might want you a certain way,” she told Backstage.
“But everyone kind of differs in that situation and with Ember – and Mamoudou and Peter talk about this all the time, especially given their experience – the debt of gratitude and her wanting to make sure that she lives up to all the sacrifices that her parents made for her.
“Only to find out that they just wanted her to be happy in the end, you know?”
Elemental is only just coming out in cinemas in the UK, but it was released in the US last month, where it disappointed at the box office.
Taking around £23m in its opening weekend, it had the lowest debut in Pixar’s history.
It’s the latest of the studio’s films to underperform, following Lightyear and Onward, with many pointing at the fact families will now wait for films to go on streamer Disney+, rather than racing to watch it in cinemas.
Despite the muted response, Athie says working on Elemental and being part of Pixar’s rich history is a dream come true.
Pic: Pixar/Disney
“It’s the coolest,” he said.
“This is exactly what I hoped acting was like when I was a kid.
“To work with somebody like Peter [Sohn] and Denise [Ream – Elemental’s producer], these teams of animators, people that I’ve admired for two decades plus, in the way that we’ve been working on this project with such openness and such love for the project, for each other – and then you see the project, and then it’s better than you could have imagined – it’s the full package of anything that you could have ever wanted.”
While Lewis says the reaction from those that have seen the film has been really gratifying.
“I feel like the audience of Pixar is so pure and genuine and loyal,” she added.
“We went to a couple of screenings and just seeing little children get so excited, but then their parents also say ‘I was weeping’ and I’m like: ‘That’s just good storytelling right there’.”
Elemental is out now in cinemas in the UK – here our review in this week’s Backstage – the TV and film podcast from Sky News.
