Pixar's Elemental is a Beautiful Love Story (2023)

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Get ready for a heartwarming adventure like no other with Pixar’s ELEMENTAL.

Disney and Pixar’s Elemental opens in theaters on Friday, June 16th. Disney invited me and my friend Brynn to an early screening and I’m thrilled to say that the movie was a hit that might just have made me tear up at the very end in a good way!

Is Disney and Pixar’s Elemental a Love Story?

Disney and Pixar’s Elemental is undoubtedly a love story but don’t let that scare you off. For anyone who loved rooting for Carl and Ellie from Pixar’s Up or Linguini And Colette in Ratatouille, this is 10 times more likely to have you rooting for new characters, Ember and Wade.

Official Description of Disney and Pixar’s Elemental

Disney and Pixar’s Elemental: In a city where fire, water, earth, and air residents live together, a fiery young woman (Amber Lewis) and a go-with-the-flow guy (Mamoudou Athie) are about to discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common.

Disney and Pixar’s Elemental is a Love Letter to Asian Americans and Immigrants

I’ve said it before that Asians often seem to be forgotten or ignored in television and movies. They are regulated to the comedic nerd as in Disney’s Loki Season 1 or the martial artist as in Disney and Marvel’s The Eternals.

I was so happy and thrilled to see the way that Disney and Pixar paid tribute to hard working and sacrificial Asian Americans who made the arduous and dangerous journey from all the knew in far East Asian countries (such as Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines) to discover a new land of hope and freedom.

Our leading elemental, Ember Lumen, is a 2nd generation immigrant whose parents Bernie Lumen (Ronnie del Carmen, one of the story writers for Inside Out) and Cinder Lumen (Shila Ommi) immigrated to Element City with dreams and hopes. Almost immediately you know that this is a story of immigration and neighborly love with an immigration officer refusing to learn the characters’ surname and shortening it, as was the purported custom at places like Ellis Island.

Throughout the movie, Ember (and by extension, the audience) experiences micro-aggression between elements from both her parents and the citizens of Element City.

As an Asian American, I could get on my soapbox and mention how I feel about the micro-aggression aimed at Asians but I will just say that I have experienced far worse in comments and snubs than Ember does in the movie.

Disney and Pixar’s Elemental is the Perfect Father’s Day Movie

Much like Mulan and her relationship with her father, Hua Zhou, was the relationship in Disney and Pixar’s Elemental that Ember shares with her father, Bernie.

Ember and her father, Bernie, go through the usual father and daughter troubles such as noticeable generational communication difficulties, and difference of dreams. But above all, they share one big and beautiful thing — respect.

Fathers are sure to appreciate the way Bernie’s relationship with his daughter was created and portrayed while kids will be inspired by Ember’s loyalty and respect for her father, even if they have difficulty voicing that respect and love aloud.

“This movie is about thanking your parents and understanding their sacrifices.” – Peter Sohn (The Hollywood Reporter)

Who is Peter Sohn of Disney and Pixar’s Elemental?

Peter Sohn is known for the voice of Emile in Ratatouille and was an Executive Producer for Disney’s Luca.

Peter Sohn, inspired by his experiences as the son of immigrants in New York City in the 1970s, pitched the concept to Pixar to develop Elemental based on the idea of whether fire and water could ever connect or not.

“My parents emigrated from Korea in the early 1970s and built a bustling grocery store in the Bronx… We were among many families who ventured to a new land with hopes and dreams — all of us mixing into one big salad bowl of cultures, languages, and beautiful little neighborhoods. That’s what led me to Elemental.” – Peter Sohn

When creating the world of Elemental, Peter Sohn explained to D23 writer Zach Johnson,

“What’s fire? People can see it as a temper. People can see it as passion. As a practical thing, fire burns and sparks—but what does it mean to burn bright? There are all these ingredients to what we already perceive as fire, and that started to form Ember’s personality. It’s the same thing for Wade. Water can be transparent. What does that mean? He wears his emotions on his sleeve. He goes with the flow. That helped form these personalities that were already pretty opposite, and then we had to find that Venn diagram of where they overlapped. That’s the hopeful magic. I hope people can buy into the sparks, the chemical reaction, that could form a relationship.”

What is Disney and Pixar’s Elemental Rated?

Disney and Pixar’s Elemental is rated PG for some peril, thematic elements, and brief language.

Is Disney and Pixar’s Elemental Appropriate for Kids?

Yes, The Joyous Living would suggest that families should have no difficulty bringing their younger ones to see Disney and Pixar’s Elemental as long as they’re okay with the almost 2 hour running time.

For young children used to fast paced and shorter length movies, parents might want to wait until the movie debuts on Disney+.

The Joyous Living

Pixar’s Elemental is a Beautiful Love Story (2023)