It’s been a while at this point since the once-mighty animation powerhouse of Pixar graced movie theaters with a feature film that captured the imagination of both viewers and critics. Last year’s Lightyear bombed, while the superior Turning Red skipped theaters entirely. The company will attempt to get back on track this June with Elemental, an upcoming film from director Peter Sohn–concerning, perhaps for the fact that Sohn also directed perhaps the most quickly discarded Pixar film ever, 2015’s The Good Dinosaur. He’ll be hoping for redemption here, and the (extremely familiar) first full trailer released today at least points toward a baseline of competence, if not inspiration. Elemental hits theaters on June 16, 2023.
The film takes place in a fantastical element city, in which residents composed of Fire, Water, Earth and Air must navigate their lives within communities that cater to their own particular elemental gifts and hindrances. The residents largely socialize only with their own castes, however, as we’re told that “elements cannot mix.” This is of course the impetus for a young female fire elemental to meet a handsome young, male water elemental, and … well, it’s pretty clear to all of us where this is going. Elemental stars a cast of both relative newcomers and veteran comic voices, including Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O’Hara and Joe Pera. It was written by John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh.
To be honest, it all feels rather on the rote side, especially when it comes to this particular allegory about acceptance, community and the push-pull between generations of parents and children. These are extremely common themes for animated features; nor does the film look to be pioneering much on the side of animation. In a post-Into the Spider-Verse world, or even following something like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, it feels like audiences may be hungry for a company like Pixar to truly embrace its next phase of evolution rather than simply playing it safe.
Regardless, you can check out the first full trailer for Elemental below for yourself.