Even though there have been more Pixar movies in the last 10 years, there will only be one in 2022. Elemental is Peter Sohn’s first Pixar movie since The Good Dinosaur, which was a rare complete flop. It won’t be in theatres until June of next year, but you can get a taste of it now with the teaser trailer. Just don’t get too hot.
Elemental is another one of Pixar’s low-key attempts to make a myth. It fits in with movies like Soul and Inside Out. A press release says, “The story is about Ember, a tough, smart, and fiery young woman whose friendship with Wade, a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy, challenges her ideas about the world they live in.”
Soul tried to explain where ideas come from, and Inside Out gave emotions and personalities. Elemental tries to do the same thing with the elements. In Element City, wind, water, fire, earth, and probably heart will each have their own little humanoid representative. Ember (Leah Lewis), the new kid in town, will stand in for us.
As a fire thing, it’s harder for her to make friends, especially since things like earth can catch on fire and the wind makes Ember grow.
Elemental comes at a strange time for Pixar. Even though Turning Red did well and went straight to Disney+, Lightyear was a critical financial failure for Pixar. Lightyear came out in June of last year. It was one of the few Pixar movies that didn’t open at number one.
Even worse, Jurassic World Dominion, a movie that no one seemed to like, beat the studio in its second week. It was the worst opening weekend for a Pixar movie since Coco, which was a very good movie that went on to make almost $800 million.
Lightyear is the worst-performing Pixar movie ever, even worse than The Good Dinosaur if you don’t count the movies that came out on Disney+. Can the game finally get people to come back? Most likely because the idea behind it isn’t nearly as confusing as the idea behind the Toy Story spin-off that didn’t happen.
In Elemental, viewers will go on a journey with Wade and Ember, a guy who goes with the flow and a fiery woman who doesn’t. Together, they will explore a city where all four elements earth, wind, fire, and water live together.
Along the way, they will see how much they have in common, even though fire and water seem to be very different. Early sketches show how the different parts of the city have blended together. For example, some buildings are covered in grass and flowers, and huge industrial fans stick out in the skyline. Wade and Ember are looking around as they walk, making little splashes of water and bursts of fire.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.