After Pixar’s disappointing run of the Toy Story-ish movie Lightyear and Walt Disney Animation’s disaster of an opening of the animated Strange World, Disney wasted no time in releasing a teaser trailer for Pixar’s next film, Elemental, which already looks like a much better picture. After having told stories from the points of views of bugs, toys, cars and emotions, the studio is now turning its attention to the fictional Element City, where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. But one things is certain – elements are not meant to mix.
Elemental introduces Ember Lumen who is described as a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman and Wade Ripple, a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy who challenges her beliefs about the world they live in. Ember is voiced by Leah Lewis and Wade by Mamoudou Athie and they appear to be a powerful odd couple if there ever was one. The film also features various voice talents of characters with clever names. These include Wendi McLendon-Covey (Gale), Catherine O’Hara (Brook Ripple), Joe Pera (Fern), Shila Ommi (Cinder Lumen), Ronnie Del Carmen (Bernie Lumen) and Mason Wertheimer (Clod).
Elemental is directed by Peter Sohn (known for his work on full-length picture The Good Dinosaur and the short, Partly Cloudy) and produced by Denise Ream (The Good Dinosaur and Cars 2). Unfortunately, those aren’t exactly ringing endorsements. I personally liked The Good Dinosaur, but it didn’t win over many people and Cars 2 is the least popular film in the trio of movies. Hopefully Elemental will do better than both of those films. It would be shame for Disney to suffer three flops in a row. Fortunately, the teaser trailer was good and the new official trailer looks even better.
Writers for Elemental include John Hoberg and Kat Likkel (best known for their work on quirky comedy TV series like Downward Dog, Galavant, My Name is Earl and Better Off Ted) along with Brenda Hsueh (How I Met Your Mother, Truth Be Told and Sullivan & Son). The score will be provided by Thomas Newman. It will be his fourth animated film to score after Finding Nemo, WALL-E and Finding Dory.
Elemental opens in theaters on June 16, 2023.
Main Image: Disney/Pixar
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