Elemental director Peter Sohn says his parents set the spark for Disney and Pixar’s upcoming animated film
From
BERENICE BAUTISTA Associated Press
Apr 12, 2023 4:13pm ET
4 minutes read
MEXICO CITY — MEXICO CITY (AP) — ‘Elemental’ director Peter Sohn says his parents set the spark for the upcoming Disney and Pixar animated film.
Son invited his parents, who both immigrated to the United States from Korea, to an event. Seeing them from the stage filled him with deep appreciation for everything they had done for their family.
“I saw them and felt very emotional as I thanked them for all the sacrifices,” Sohn said in a recent video call interview for “Elemental,” a film about a family of fire elements that migrate to Element City, a location where it was there are also inhabitants of water, air and earth. The themes of family, tolerance and building relationships run through the film, which premieres this summer.
The film focuses on Ember, a fire element who loves working in her father’s shop but has trouble controlling her explosive temper, especially around uncomfortable customers. Ember’s life in Firetown, a suburb with many Fire residents, is turned upside down when a plumbing accident causes her to meet Wade, a water element and inspector who lives in Element City. Ember and Wade meet and she enjoys being out of Firetown. They realize that their differences – and elements – are not an impediment to friendship.
The production team faced the challenge of bringing the characters to life.
“We designed all sorts of different characters, from toys to cars… And that was another challenge,” said Spanish animator Jordi Onate. “We had to break all the rules that we knew from body mechanics… We did a lot of research into how water behaves and how fire behaves in certain situations, and beyond that, we tried to get them to talk.”
But the fact that they are elements also gave the animators the opportunity to give the characters special powers. For example, Ember is a girl of fire. She can use this fire to restore broken glass and weld metal.
“This is, in my opinion, one of the most complex projects we’ve worked on at Pixar simply for that reason; We’re used to animating people or animals and you have references for that, but in this case we were trying to figure out how a character made of fire or water would move,” said Colombian animator Luis Uribe Córdoba. “We’ve had about three or four weeks to try stuff and watch videos of how fire or water behaves in slow motion.”
The development of the project started seven years ago. Mexican artist Paula Assadourian was one of the first to help Sohn find the essence of the characters and story. Assadourian, who began work on the film in 2019, was responsible for creating the storyboard ahead of production.
“I think Elemental is a very special film because it’s how Ember comes to terms with who she is and what she wants to do; whether she wants to continue on her path or stay close to her roots and family and what people expect of her,” Assadourian said. “Wade changes Ember, or wakes her up to say, ‘You can do so much more with your life.'”
Son, who is not only a director but also an animator, voice actor and artist, previously directed The Good Dinosaur and has worked on several Pixar films such as Incredibles 2, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, Up ‘, ‘Toy Story 3’ and ‘WALL E.’ But ‘Elemental’ is the most personal story he’s been involved with.
The film shows that tolerance and empathy can fight evils like xenophobia. Sohn says the “idea of xenophobia” was a part of Elemental from the start.
“The idea of xenophobia was always in history from the beginning (before the pandemic),” he said. “Because my father and mother experienced the same xenophobia, it wasn’t anything new… (But) the idea of Asian hatred starting in such a blunt way was really chilling. I remember my mom called me and said don’t go to San Francisco. She was scared and growing up she had never been so scared; it was a real fear.”
The film’s layers prompted producer Denise Ream to work with Sohn from the beginning of the project.
“There were layers to the story that I really appreciated, I just reconnected with the idea of thanking your parents, it really struck me,” she said. “I was really excited about the visual and technical challenges that really got me fired up. I knew (it) was going to be hard – it turned out to be a lot… harder than I thought – but I like everything about it.”
