Pixar’s “Elemental” premiered this year in June to an admittedly rocky start. The opening weekend was measly in attendance with a $29.5 million domestic earning. Considering the $200 million budget, Pixar President Jim Morris called the figure “certainly disappointing” in an interview with Variety. “We had a higher hope for its opening weekend, so we were a bit crestfallen,” he said. However, “Elemental” soon rebounded and became the first original animated feature in years to gross $400 million worldwide, notably becoming the highest grossing Pixar film in South Korea.
“Elemental” takes place in the fictional world of Element City where elemental beings of fire, water, earth and air dwell. The film stars Leah Lewis as Ember Lumen, a hot-headed but dutiful daughter and employee of her parents’ convenience store in the Firetown district, who aspires to one day take over the shop from her dad. Her world is turned upside down when safety inspector Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) gives the store a citation and threatens to close the business altogether. His sensitive heart (characteristic of water elements) compels him to help Ember save the shop, with the two developing an unlikely romance along the way.
It all started with the seed of an idea in director Peter Sohn’s youth. In a press conference at Pixar Animation Studios, Sohn shared that he used to picture the elements living in their boxes like little apartments. In his eyes, the periodic table was one big neighborhood where different elements mingled. “Platinum lives next to gold, and they’re happy. But, be careful of Mercury, ‘cause they have toxic relationships,” Sohn said of how he imagined inter-elemental dynamics. “What these elements were all doing in these apartments and neighborhoods started swirling in my head.”
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