Pixar has announced its latest upcoming title “Elemental.” Directed by Peter Sohn (“The Good Dinosaur”), the film centers on imagining two unlikely sentient beings, Ember (fire) and Wade (water) living together where other elements like fire, water, land, and air coexist. The fiery young woman and the go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common.
The studio provided concept art that sees a fiery Ember, who’s clutching a book, with a acquiescent water drop, against the backdrop of a Bronx-inspired city. Though there’s not much else to tell, it’s going to be interesting to see how their dynamics work given their elemental differences.
“Elemental” is an original film inspired by Sohn’s childhood in New York. “My parents emigrated from Korea in the early 1970s and built a bustling grocery store in the Bronx,” said the director. “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.’
“Our story is based on the classic elements—fire, water, land and air,” Sohn continued. “Some elements mix with each other, and some don’t. What if these elements were alive?”
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that Pixar posed audiences with the question “what if” inanimate objects or even feelings were alive? We saw that in “Toy Story,” “Cars,” and even “Inside Out.”
Sohn’s credits include the Pixar short “Partly Cloudy” and his directorial debut “The Good Dinosaur.” He’s also voiced Emile in “Ratatouille” and Sox in “Lightyear,” which is expected to hit theaters later this summer.
Pixar has scheduled “Elemental” for a June 23, 2023 release.
