Elemental

Released in theaters on June 16, 2023

Released on Disney+ on September 13, 2023

Runtime: 1 Hours 43 Minutes

Rated PG

Elemental is an immigrant story at heart with a heavy dash of Romeo and Juliet mixed in.  It tells the story of anthropomorphic elements Ember, a hot head fire elemental who has anger outbursts, and an overly emotional water elemental, named Wade. Wade and Ember have to put their differences aside and work together to fix a leak that could destroy Ember’s family’s shop, and maybe even all of Fire Town.  The leak doesn’t only force them to work together, but it forces them to realize they have more in common than meets the eye.

Themes: 

Family, long held traditions, LGBTQ+, culture, anger, living up to parental expectations, parent’s sacrificing for their kids, immigrants, candle flame reading (fire gazing/divination), families and cultures adapting to new environments, racism, stereotyping, the elements, being different, chasing your dreams, settling vs going after what you want, following your own path, love, other’s opinions/beliefs vs your own, and self control.

Language: 

There is no cursing, but the characters do use words like dang and “what the…” and they trail off before cursing.  The characters also use similar sounding words to make statements that sound like curse words.  Some examples of this are “get off your lazy ash” and “the fluffin leak.”  Two parents mention when their daughter moves out they will have more time for hanky panky.  Two characters kiss and another character tells them to save it for the wedding.   There is also some religious talk amongst the flame Elemntals.  They pray to the blue flame and have a blue flame that is sacred to them that the characters reference often.

Stuff to be aware of: 

It has been hard to read anything on the internet about this movie without being overwhelmed with news articles and blogs about the minor character Lake.   Lake is voiced by a non-binary individual.  I watched this scene in the theater and have sense watched it again on Dinsey+.  Lake has a very minor speaking role and isn’t in very much of the movie.  Lake’s dress and appearance is gender neutral (sweater with dress shirt unederneath) except for ear rings in both ears.  When introduced the words “sibling” and “her” are used.  Lake has a girlfriend who is introduced as, “her girlfriend she met at art school.”  This all takes place as Ember is meeting Wade’s family which is a chaotic scene, just like real family get togethers.  My guess is most people won’t pick up on this unless they are waiting for it because it all takes place so fast.

I want to point out that these characters are all elements so their bodies kind of have a fluid sense to them (water, wind and fire is always moving).  Some characters only wear pants or a tank top.  Sometimes it was hard to tell if background and minor characters were intended (be the artists) to be male or female.  With that being said, from what I could determine at the beginning of the movie Ember’s mother is “reading the flame” (imagine tarot cards, but flaming watching instead) to determine if a couple was meant to be together.  The couple’s flames she is reading appear to be two males, but like I said sometimes it is hard to tell since the characters are living elements.  They kiss and the mother tells them to save it for their wedding.  There also appears to be two male elementals holding hands in a the background of a park scene.

I started with the LGBTQ+ stuff because that is all I have seen on the internet about this movie, outside of that it didn’t do well at the box office.  There is also some perilous, intense moments, but nothing really scary.  The characters watch wind elementals at a sports game, and the teams are names after fart references.

Overall: 

From their start Pixar has developed movies, stories, and characters that always outshined CGI movies from other companies.  Pixar has so many classics like Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Cars, Up, and I could name more.  However, I am starting to feel like they are losing their way in the story quality department.  The animation in this movie is gorgeous, but the story feels like one we have experienced way too many times with nothing unique.  It is basically a formulaic rom-com with a message about diversity, stereotyping, and how if we put our differences aside we will see we have more in common than we think.  The message/moral is good, but the story could have been better.  There are some fun/funny things they do with sight gags and jokes. However, the two main characters can be a bit annoying at times.

Elemental is not bad, but it isn’t great either.  It feels less like a Pixar movie and more like one from another company.  I will be interested to see if this becomes a “classic Pixar movie.”  I feel like this one may be forgotten about a year from now and when people list off Pixar movies this likely won’t be one of them.

One thing that bothered me a little (and I know you’re going to think I am crazy), but if Wade is living water than what is the water that runs through the pipes and spills over into the canals? I guess if you’re a kid you don’t care.