Our thought on Disney Pixar’s Elemental and Carl’s Date!
Hey All!
We recently got the opportunity to screen Disney Pixar’s Elemental and the short Carl’s Date. Carl’s Date is an emotional final short to complete the story of Disney Pixar’s Up. It was an emotional goodbye to these characters we have come to love over the years. Up is one of my favorite Pixar films, so it was very emotional to me and the tears did fall. It follows Carl as he’s asked to go on a date for the first time since his wife passing away. He’s obviously very stressed about not only the date, but betraying the memory of his wife. The short is a fun yet touching look at grief, self love, and acceptance. It’s beautifully done and the perfect short to play before Elemental. I’d go see Elemental just to see this short!
Pixar’s Elemental is the latest animated feature from the studio which has brought such acclaimed films as Toy Story, The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Up. Every film from this studio has elevated the quality of animation, brought emotional and poignant stories, and done it all in creative and brand-new worlds. Elemental is no different as it tells a story of love between two unlikely characters; one made of fire, and one made of water.
The Elemental voice cast is led by Leah Lewis (from CW’s Nancy Drew) as Ember, a fire elemental, and Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World Dominion) as Wade, a water elemental. Ronnie Del Carmen (a PIXAR animator) and Shila Ommi (Apple TV’s Tehran) provide the voices of Ember’s fire parents Bernie and Cinder, respectively. Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek) is the voice of Wade’s mom, Brook. Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridemaids, The Goldbergs) is the voice of Wade’s boss Gale, who is involved in a few different plot points in the film.
Elemental takes place in a world inhabited by sentient elements which fit in four categories: Water, air, land, and fire. Each of these groups of beings migrate from their homelands to Element City. In Element City, these four groups all live within close proximity in the same way that various cultures from around the world migrated and lived in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. Their city operates the same as any city with a government, jobs, shops, and even a sports team.
Our two protagonists are Ember, the daughter of an immigrant fire family, and Wade, the son of an affluential water family. When we first meet each character, we see how much Ember (the fire character) very much has a temper and is a “hot head,” while Wade (the water character), very much just goes with the flow. Their meeting is far from a meet-cute, but the way their relationship blossoms over the course of the film feels more real than a typical romantic comedy. And I would not necessarily classify this as a romantic comedy, but this is a love story and does have humor. Elemental just goes beyond that and also delves into how one can balance identity of self and individualism with cultural identity in the character or Ember.
Elemental also looks at the various ways that two characters from completely different backgrounds with completely different ways of life, can actually find ways that fit so well together. There is a brilliant scene when Ember’s mother makes Ember and Wade do a “match test” to show how incompatible they are, but Wade takes the opportunity to show how he can use his own gifts to emphasize how they make it work. Amidst this story of a budding love, Wade and Ember are trying to solve a mystery and fix an issue which threatens the inhabitants of Ember’s “borough” the fire town.
No one beats Pixar when it comes to details in computer generated animation. The way that the water characters constantly have bubbles flowing through their body and how the fire characters have flames in constant motion all around them makes every scene all the more animated and engaging. And like other PIXAR films, you will find brief glimpses of purely animated scenes that have no characters which look so life like, you question if it is in fact animated or real. The creativity and love that goes into every PIXAR project has established a quality of excellence which Elemental continues to uphold.
While Elemental does tackle aspects of racism and prejudice, the themes are so cleverly hidden within the context of these characters being elements of nature, that there is never an uncomfortable moment in the film. While it is important to discuss uncomfortable topics, there are ways to do it which are not over the top and PIXAR has delivered an excellent example of that in Elemental.
Above all, Elemental is a story about finding love and yourself in the most unlikely of places and being open to that love and exploring new things. Elemental has music and music montages but is not a musical. It is rated PG, but I believe is completely safe for children of all ages. We took our four-year-old to see it and he was engaged the entire time and loved it.
Check out Carl’s Date and Elemental in theaters June 16th!
Check out more of our Disney coverage HERE!
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