Elemental is a 2023 Pixar animated feature about Ember, a Fire resident of Element City, and Wade, a Water resident whose friendship challenges the boundaries between their worlds. Director Peter Sohn uses that fantastical premise to explore family expectations, immigrant experience, cultural difference and the sacrifices parents make for their children.
What is Elemental about?
Element City is home to residents made of Fire, Water, Air and Earth. Ember lives in Firetown, where her parents, Bernie and Cinder, run a shop. When she meets Wade, a Water resident, their connection brings two characters with seemingly incompatible natures into close contact—and puts Ember’s family duties and assumptions about her future under pressure.
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Elemental | $19.21 | Buy on Amazon |
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Disney Pixar's Elemental (Steelbook) [Blu-ray] [Region Free] | $99.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Monsters, Inc. | $3.99 | Buy on Amazon |
The elemental contrast is more than a visual gimmick. Fire and water make for immediate physical tension, while their different communities create a story about what it means to belong, to cross cultural boundaries and to negotiate family expectations. Producer Denise Ream described the film as “part comedy, part family journey and part culture clash,” according to the British Film Institute.
Is Elemental based on Peter Sohn’s life?
The story is fictional, but Sohn has said its emotional starting point came from his own family. He grew up in a Korean immigrant community in the Bronx, and his parents built a life in the United States while running shops in immigrant neighborhoods. He connected that experience to the film’s story of a family moving from Fireland to Element City and a daughter navigating life between her parents’ expectations and her own choices.
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#1 Best Overall
- Elemental journeys alongside an unlikely pair, Ember and Wade, in a city where fire, water, land and air-residents live together. The fiery young woman and the go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common.
“I was trying to capture that idea of people from other places who have gathered to create a life for themselves. That was the emotional hook for me, that my parents had come here from another place to make a better life for us,” Sohn told D23. BFI’s programme notes also connect the film to Sohn’s relationship with his wife, his parents’ expectations and his later appreciation of their sacrifices.
That personal context helps explain why Ember and Wade’s relationship matters beyond romance: it makes Ember confront how much of her identity comes from family loyalty, and how much room she has to define herself.
Rank #2
- Animation
- Comedy
- Fantasy
- Kids & Family
Who voices Ember and Wade?
Leah Lewis voices Ember and Mamoudou Athie voices Wade. The film was directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream. Its screenplay is credited to John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh, with an original score by Thomas Newman, according to Disney and Pixar’s production notes.
How did Pixar build Element City?
Pixar presents Element City as a metropolis with districts shaped by the needs and histories of its elemental communities. Ember’s family lives in Firetown; Water, Air and Earth residents have their own developed neighborhoods. The city’s canal network and water-themed Wetro transit system help connect those places.
Rank #3
- Animation
- Comedy
- Fantasy
- Kids & Family
The design team drew on canal cities such as Venice and Amsterdam, but Element City is a fictional setting rather than a straightforward stand-in for New York. Production designer Don Shank explained the intention: “We didn’t want to create this homogenous world. We wanted to celebrate all these different cultures and characters living and working together.” Pixar’s film page describes the city and its elemental districts.
How did Pixar animate fire and water characters?
Ember and Wade are not human characters wearing fire- or water-shaped costumes: their bodies are made of their elements. Pixar’s production notes describe making those forms move and express emotion in a clear, appealing way as a major technical challenge. Producer Denise Ream said the work proved harder than expected in D23’s account of the production.
Rank #4
The premise itself began as a question Sohn posed to friends: “What would happen if fire and water became friends? What would be the possibilities?” D23’s making-of feature discusses the production challenge behind turning that question into animated characters.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How long is Elemental?
The British Film Institute lists the film at 101 minutes. Movies Anywhere gives the runtime as 1 hour 41 minutes, the same length.
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Where can you watch Elemental, and what extras are listed?
Movies Anywhere lists Elemental as a digital title. Its listing describes English and Spanish language and caption options, plus a short, featurettes, deleted scenes and commentary. Bonus features and language options can vary by storefront, territory and edition, so check the specific listing where you plan to watch. The Movies Anywhere title page documents the features it lists.
What is known about Elemental’s box office?
The Associated Press reported a worldwide box-office gross of $496.4 million in 2025 and an opening of $29.6 million. These are reported historical gross figures; by themselves, they do not show whether the film was profitable.
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