IF THE discussions I’ve had with people who have seen Elemental already are anything to go by, it’ll be interesting to see what elements featured in the Pixar and Disney animation you think you are.
The animation movie is an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where Fire, Water, Earth and Air residents live together.
The story introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with- the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in and the person she wants to be.
It’s a fascinating movie on so many levels and is definitely one that gets the imagination going.
It might even, as was the case for my seven-year-old daughter, make you cry (no spoilers).
The brainchild of Director Peter Sohn who, as a kid in science class, used to imagine the periodic table was a series of apartment buildings with individual apartments in which Cobalt would live next door to Nickel, Elemental struck a real chord with me because it was original and in 2023, not everyone is doing original.
Sitting with Sohn, prior to the movie rolling out on July 7, he was the first to hail the team that has, over many, many years, contributed to the final version of his vision.
He’s right to. It’s a behemoth effort all round.
Put in perspective, with main characters, Fire and Water, who are literal effects appearing in every scene in the movie, the computing power required to complete Elemental skyrocketed compared to previous Pixar films. “Toy Story” called for 294 computers in its render farm, “Monsters, Inc.” jumped to 672 and “Finding Nemo” required 923. Elemental utilised over 151,000 computers.
My son posed the question of who created the effects and special powers harnessed by the characters and a whole week after Sohn told him that over 300 artists drew and contributed to everything we see on the screen, he is still trying to wrap his ten-year-old mind around how he would even begin to coordinate that.
Sohn says the story, which is very personal to him, started with a drawing of a Fire character and Water character interacting.
He imagined an unexpected friendship between them, a relationship sure to trigger awkwardness, banter and funny missteps. “I started layering in my relationship with my wife, I’m Korean and she’s American, half Italian,” Sohn explains.
He added: “I hid the relationship from my parents at first because they, in an old-school way, wanted me to marry someone Korean. My grandmother’s dying words were literally ‘Marry Korean’.”
Sohn’s parents eventually came around, finding they had a lot in common with their eventual daughter-in-law’s family.
They also inspired another important aspect of the story, says the director.
“It’s about understanding our parents as people. From that understanding comes an appreciation for the sacrifices that they make for their kids.
“My parents emigrated from Korea in the early 1970s, so I was born there and raised with Korean traditions, language, culture in the very American New York City. That led to some culture clashes along the way between first and second generation. I took for granted the trials and tribulations they must’ve experienced.”
Like Sohn, Ember is a second-generation immigrant, only her parents emigrated from Fireland to Element City where Ember is born and raised.
“She goes on a journey of understanding her own identity and,” says the director, “with that, the meaning of what her parents have given her.”
A highlight of Ember’s journey, and in many ways the impetus for it, is a fun and fateful friendship with a water guy named Wade.
“In the beginning, Ember has disdain for the city, but Wade helps her begin to fall in love with everything it has to offer,” says Sohn.
“We found ways to introduce her to the city like some of my favorite comedies do, serving up opportunities for laughs.”
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