Pixar Says ‘Elemental’ Was Meant To Be Seen In Theaters
We are less than a week away from the release of Pixar’s latest film Elemental. The studio’s first non-franchise film released since the pandemic, Elemental explores a city where fire, water, land, and air elements live together.
Within the bustling metropolis, a young fire element named Ember falls in love with a water element named Wade.
While the film could easily be classified as a romantic comedy, at the heart of the story is the journey of Ember’s family, who emigrated from their native fire land, to start a better life for their daughter in Element City.
Taking Inspiration From Real Life
“The guiding light that got me through all of this was just this idea of appreciating the people in our lives that sacrificed something and risked,” Peter Sohn told The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. “For me, those people are my parents. They were immigrants from another world, and they came here with nothing and built a life for my brother and I.”
Sohn’s story resonated with Mamoudou Athie, who voices Wade. After hearing what the director’s vision was, he knew he wanted to be part of the film.
“We share a similar background, similar feelings about our background, similar feelings of a debt of gratitude to our families. And I just felt so connected to this piece and his heart. I just was like, ‘I’ve got to get this part.’”
Made To Be Seen In Theaters
Ahead of Elemental‘s release, the Pixar team has emphasized the value of seeing the film in theaters.
“We make them to be seen [in theaters], all of them, even the ones that went to streaming,” said Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter. “We sit and review them 40 feet tall, so it’s disappointing when people watch them on iPhones or whatever because there’s so much more in there. This film is no exception.”
Athie, a seasoned actor in his own right, also noted that he had never seen anything quite like Elemental.
“You have to see it to understand. There’s something about the technology, they’ve never used technology like this before. I didn’t understand what they were talking about until I saw a bit of the movie at D23 and I was like, ‘I’ve never seen anything like that.’ And honestly, just to see a wonderful, family movie like this in theaters, there’s nothing really like it.”
Co-Star Leah Lewis, who voices Ember in the film agrees.
“The fact that 19 villages went into making this film and also the special effects of every single character, it’s something that you really have to do in order to see the detail and how grand this film is because it’s a very, very large, visually tantalizing kind of film.”
Elemental hits theaters on June 16.
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