Pixar’s Elemental movie turns up the heat in the 2023 animation film award race
In other news, water is wet
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Pixar is renowned for being a boundary pusher in the animation space – andElemental, the studio’s next movie, looks like it’ll continue that tradition.
The 27thPixarmovie, which follows hot on the heels of the Disney subsidiary’s two 2022 releases –Turning RedandLightyear– is set to arrive in theaters on June 16. It’s high time, then, that we were given a better idea of what its plot will be.
Luckily, Pixar as duly obliged, releasing an official trailer for Elemental – one of our most eagerly anticipatednew moviesof 2023 – that not only provides some new details about its story, but also gives us another look at the film’s jaw-dropping visuals. Check it out below:
Honestly, we can’t stop watching the satisfying fluidity of Wade’s water-y make-up or the constantly burning, fiery aesthetic of Ember’s design. It’s a seriously impressive feat to get these contrasting visuals to operate in the same VFX engine and look as beautifully natural as they do. Anybody else expectingElementalto be a shoe-in for a Best Animated Feature nomination at the 2024 Oscars?
As for the movie’s story, it seems it’ll center on a platonic or romantic relationship between the fire-based Ember and water-styled Wade. Right now, we only have a simple plot synopsis, courtesy of Pixar, to go on, which reads: “In a city where fire, water, land and air residents live together, a fiery young woman and a go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common”. This new trailer, then, reveals how Ember and Wade’s worlds collide and thematically explores the notion of how opposing races and forces can co-exist. A noteworthy message for our times, eh?
Elementalwill star Leah Lewis (Batwheels,The Half of It) as Ember andJurassic World: Dominion’s Mamoudou Athie as Wade. Newcomer Mason Wertheimer has been cast as Clod, a young, street smart Earth-based character, while Wendie McLendon-Covey (Reno 911!) will portray Gale, an air-based individual. Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek) voices Wade’s mom Brook.
Pixar’s latest feature film has been directed by veteran employee Peter Sohn, whose only other directing credit came on 2016’sThe Good Dinosaur. Sohn has voiced numerous characters in the Pixar-Verse, though, including Sox inLightyear, as well as executively producing, writing, animating, and acting as a story consultant on many other Pixar flicks. John Hoberg and Kat Likkel (My Name Is Earl,Black-ish) are joined by Brena Hsueh (How I Met Your Mother) as the film’s main writers.
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Analysis: a summer filled with hot animated offerings
With the animation genre proving to be a popular medium for audiences and creators alike in 2022 –Turning Red,Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, andPuss in Boots: The Last Wishwere all stunningly gorgeous films – it seems that 2023 is set to follow in its predecessor’s footsteps.
Given its penchant for breaking ground in the animation space, Pixar is helping to lead the pack withElemental. However, the film isn’t the only new release from the studio that’s set to wow cinephiles with its visually arresting animation style, hues, cityscape backgrounds, and technological innovations.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the follow-up to 2019’sInto the Spider-Verse, is also set to disrupt the animation medium with its own revolutionary art style and eye-popping colors – and it’ll arrive just two weeks beforeElementalon June 2, meaning the sixth month of 2023 will be an animated showdown for the ages.
Throw inThe SuperMarioBros. Movie– the joint Universal, Nintendo, and Illumination animated flick based on Nintendo’s legendary video game series – as well as Paramount’svisually strikingTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhemmovieand Netflix’s stop-motion animated sequelChicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, and this year could be the one where animated movies are taken far more seriously than before. Let’s hope the Academy and other film award organizations take note.
For more Pixar-based content, read up onwhy Pixar’s chief creative officer thinksLightyearflopped at the box office. Alternatively, find out which Pixar films made it onto ourbest family moviesandbest Disney Plus movieslists.
As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.
An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.
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