Elemental Parent Guide

Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) has a lifelong dream – running Fireplace, her father’s neighborhood store. That goal is threatened when she loses her temper, bursts pipes in the basement, and comes across city inspector Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie). Wade issues numerous tickets and informs Ember that the store was built against code and must be closed down.

Determined not to have her father’s life’s work destroyed, Ember chases Wade through Element City, finally persuading him to help her save the shop. As the two work together, their relationship deepens but they face a unique obstacle. Ember is a Fire – a person made of flame – and Wade is a Water – a man composed of H₂O. Fire and water don’t mix. In fact, as everyone knows, they will destroy one another if they touch.

Elemental is a uniquely appealing movie. It’s rich, thoughtful, sweet and, best of all, contains limited amounts of negative content. There are scenes of peril involving fire and floods, an implied death scene, and some very minor sexual innuendo. Little ones might be scared by the dangerous moments, but there’s nothing else to worry about here.

Where Elemental shines is in its exquisitely detailed worldbuilding. The city has inhabitants who are made of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water and the filmmakers have given them distinct physical characteristics and dwellings. Water people are weepily emotional and live in glass skyscrapers. Air dwellers are made of clouds and live with a pastel color palette. Earth residents are plants who come in many different shapes. In a humorous take, puberty is signaled by the growth of flowers in their armpits – a quirk that is repeatedly played for laughs. Fire people eat charcoal, wear metallic clothing, and live in brick, stone, and clay homes. As with other Pixar films, the detail is astounding and the artistic renderings superb. It will take more than one viewing to absorb all the minutiae the animation artists have packed into this production.

The movie doesn’t just look good; it also tells an absorbing story. This is obviously a film about diversity, but it does more than just repeat that “diversity is good” – it demonstrates that diversity is beautiful. As Ember and Wade get to know each other, they marvel at the wonders of each other’s worlds and talents. There are truly breathtaking moments in this movie when Ember makes glass, Wade creates a rainbow, or the couple take an underwater voyage to see a magical tree.

The film also tackles difficult issues – perhaps too many to fit comfortably in its runtime. Fire people are clearly an underclass in Element City and the story addresses prejudice, exclusion, class differences, cultural preservation, and clueless good intentions. A major plotline concerns Ember’s struggles with her parents’ expectations. As a daughter of immigrants, she feels trapped by the magnitude of her parents’ sacrifice and must learn to express her own hopes and talents. The script follows a well-trodden path but does so with gentle honesty.

Real originality comes in the movie’s love story. Ember and Wade are the unlikeliest odd couple – an explosive, radiant woman with anger management issues, and a chill, emotionally open guy with surfer dude vibes. Somehow it works. Their relationship is fraught with peril but also lit with acceptance, love, and joy. That’s not something you see every day in a kids’ film but being able to tap into these elemental emotions explains why Pixar continues to dominate the world of family entertainment.