Elemental
Pixar’s conceptually ambitious ‘toon hammers home its message with verve, humour and wit.
Passing the torch (Image courtesy of Pixar)
Ember and Wade are like fire and water, but there’s still a connection. And this being the latest release from Pixar Animation, it’s safe to assume that they will find a way to put their differences to one side. Taking diversity to new extremes, Pixar has divided its latest bustling universe into a world made up of four different demographics, comprising fire, water, air and earth. And somehow they must all find a way to muddle along. It’s elemental, but not as we know it…
Our heroine is Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis), the only daughter of Bernie and Cinder Lumen, emigrants to the neighbourhood of Firetown in the megalopolis of Elemental City. It is here that they have renovated an old building into The Fireplace, a store that sells everything from very hot food to firelighters and mix’n’matchsticks. It’s her father’s dream that as soon as she can control her hot temper, she takes over the family business and makes him proud. But on the day that she is put in charge of the premises, Ember’s temper flares up, leading to a disastrous leak in the plumbing and the arrival of a city inspector, Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie). Wade deems the shop unsafe and has it closed down. Ember cannot dare to tell her father what she has done – essentially to destroy his dream – so must not only track down Wade, but get him to change his mind…
Pixar Animation pushed the limits of anthropomorphism with Inside Out, in which five emotions were endowed with human characteristics. The elements are a little harder to personify, although their various properties are frequently deployed to ingenious effect. When Firetown itself is threatened by a potentially calamitous leak from an urban overspill, Ember learns how to vitrify a pile of sandbags into a glass barrier. Learning how to make glass establishes Ember as a unique and valuable member of her underclass, proving that we’ve all got our uses if only somebody is willing to put aside their prejudices…
Essentially a morality tale about the evils of xenophobia, Elemental is not without a decent sprinkling of fun and, being Pixar, is characteristically pun-packed (signs on the street run the gamut from The Pond Shop to Fire Sale). Even so, it’s hard to warm to a flame buddying up with a big drip, however well-intentioned their collaboration may be. This is Romeo and Juliet for the chemical age and the message is loud and clear, although the garish visuals are a shame.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O'Hara, Mason Wertheimer, Ronobir Lahiri, Jonathan Adams.
Dir Peter Sohn, Pro Denise Ream, Screenplay John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh, Ph David Bianchi and Jean-Claude Kalache, Pro Des Don Shank, Ed Stephen Schaffer, Music Thomas Newman, Sound Ren Klyce.
Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios-Walt Disney Studios.
109 mins. USA. 2023. US Rel: 16 June 2023. UK Rel: 7 July 2023. Cert. PG.
