Welcome to Element City! From the mind of Korean American director and animator Peter Sohn comes a new Pixar film about immigration, family, and finding oneself. “Elemental” follows Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis), a fire person living in the city where all the elements — fire, water, wind, and earth — come and live together.
While they always tell you not to read too much into animated films, Sohn took inspiration straight from his family’s story. Ember’s parents Bernie and Cinder move from their hometown of Fire Town to Element City and open a convenience store in what becomes a predominantly fire people-inhabited part of town. In real life, Sohn’s father immigrated from Korea and saved enough to open a bodega in the Bronx.
Even beyond the environmental similarities, “Elemental” does not shy away from making allusions to Asian American and immigrant experiences. For instance, Bernie and Cinder’s real names are changed upon arrival to make it easier for people to say. There is racism — or should I say elementalism — at play when certain places are deemed off-limits to fire people but open to anyone else. Moreover, the crux of the film is about how the child of immigrants, namely Ember, handles the pressure of living up to her parents’ expectations — let’s just say she tends to explode.
Mochi talked to Lewis (“The Half of It,” “Nancy Drew”) about bringing Ember to life, how her experiences mirror her character’s, and how an outside perspective can sometimes help us find ourselves. For Ember, there is a lot of pressure to be the daughter that her parents would be proud of, and in order to do that she works every day to be worthy of inheriting her family’s shop.
“Ember’s parents are immigrants who came [to Element City] to help start a brand new life for her,” Lewis says. “I have so many friends who live that immigrant experience, and as I have been discovering my own Asian identity and culture, hearing their…
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