Love can be complicated, but it is always worth it– just ask the characters in Elemental.
The new Pixar animated film explores a world where just as emotions run high, so does the love (and sometimes fear that is behind them).
“When we first started these characters, they were almost like superheroes, you know, of water, fire and all around, but very soon, we discovered, ‘Oh, they can also showcase emotions,” said director Pete Sohn, reflecting on the decision to showcase how authority over our emotions allows us to embody the power of nature. “Then it just started boiling down to the elements of our human nature.”
Tucked within the stories of the character is a journey that is very personal to Sohn as it is a reflection of his own life and decision to marry outside of his culture.
“When I was growing up we had a lot of pressure from our family to marry within our culture,” he said. “My grandmother’s dying words were, ‘Marry Korean,’ and then she passed away and I fell in love with someone who wasn’t and that created a lot of cultural clashes, but slowly through that relationship, even though little, there were a lot of misunderstandings and disconnections through love and empathy that healed everything and sort of united my family. Now, we all love each other and it’s all healed.”
Elemental follows the love story between Ember (Leah Lewis) and Wade (Mamoudou Athie), but it also highlights the pressures that come with working tirelessly to reassure your parents that the sacrifices they’ve made weren’t in vain.
“When I first met with Pete and we were just talking about the movie and our experiences,” Athie recalled. “I came to this country when I was five months old, I was a baby and my parents really sacrificed everything they had to just get over here and start and new life and we shared that same, I guess we all do, this debt of gratitude.”
“You feel like there’s a debt that can never be fully repaid,” he added.
Lewis echoed the same sentiment.
“In my case, my parents are not immigrants and I’m not a second-generation immigrant, but they did adopt me from Shanghai, China and my life mirrored Ember’s parents’ sacrifices in the way that my parents gave up everything they possibly could to help me fulfill my dream,” she shared.
Elemental producer Denise Ream hopes that the way Ember and Wade showcase love resonates with viewers on a level that is personal to them just as it has been for everyone involved in the film.
“I think that, hopefully, they can identify with the characters and feel [and see] how important it is to sort of open your heart to everyone around you,” she shared.
Elemental is in theaters now.
