Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

I’ve seen the latest Disney/Pixar film called ‘Elemental’ on Disney+. I must admit, when the trailers for this film came out at cinemas this year, I wasn’t particularly impressed by the film’s premise. A film about a world inhabited by anthropomorphic elements of nature e.g., fire, water, air, earth, etc.

I poo-pooed the idea then. I felt that Pixar was running out steam. Thus, I didn’t watch the film on the big screen. Usually, I tend to watch more recent Disney/Pixar films on Disney+ anyway, like with ‘Elemental’. Apparently, the film became a sleeper hit when released at cinemas, which says a lot. 😐

Despite that, when checking out ‘Elemental’ on Disney+, I found the film quite decent. It’s not a great film by any means, but I did enjoy the story and the characters, especially when the film deals with prejudice and such in the form of elements where fire and water intermingle with each other. 🙂

The story follows a fire element called Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis) who meets water element Wade Ripple (voiced by Mamoudou Athie). They spend time together in Element City while trying to save a convenience store, owned by Ember’s father, Bernie (voiced by Ronnie del Carmen).

Essentially, ‘Elemental’ is a romantic comedy-drama film where Ember and Wade fall in love with each other. This could be considered a representation of racial intermingling once fire and water fall in love with each other, just as a black person can fall in love with a white person in the world today.

I don’t know if this is an idea that’s been done lots of times in various forms over the years, but it’s interesting to see it in ‘Elemental’ when fire and water fall in love with each other. Ember has a pretty impulsive spirit whilst Wade has an optimistic approach to life in his interaction with Ember. 🙂

Apparently, ‘Elemental’ is a Pixar film directed by Peter Sohn, who is a regular Pixar contributor, having voiced Emile in ‘Ratatouille’ and voiced Sox in ‘Lightyear’. He’s also been a story artist, an animator and executive producer on films like ‘The Incredibles’, ‘WALL-E’ and ‘Luca’. Pretty versatile.

‘Elemental’ as a film was inspired by Peter Sohn’s growing up in his youth as the son of immigrants in New York City during the 1970s, highlighting the city’s distinct cultural and ethnic diversity. The film is also inspired by romantic films like ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’, ‘Moonstruck’ and ‘Amélie’.

Not that I’ve seen those films myself, but it’s interesting how Peter Sohn put this film together as a director and conceived its story with others. It puts more light on the man who voiced Remy’s brother in ‘Ratatouille’ as well as Sox the robot cat – the best character that appeared in ‘Lightyear’.

As well as Ember, Wade and Bernie – Ember’s dad – there’s Cinder Lumen, Ember’s mother and Bernie’s wife, voiced by Shila Ommi, who is also distrustful of the water elements. There’s also Gale Cumulus, voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey, an air element who is Wade’s employer in the movie. 🙂

There’s also Brook Ripple, Wade’s mother, who’s voiced by Catherine O’Hara. I didn’t realise it was her in the film. 😀 Catherine O’Hara played Kate McCallister, Kevin’s mom in the first two ‘Home Alone’ films. I’ve also seen her lately in ‘Tall Tale’. She’s going to appear in the 2024 film ‘Argylle’ very soon.

‘Elemental’ has been an enjoyable film to check out on Disney+ lately. I can’t call it a great Disney/Pixar film, but I’m pleased I saw it and it does have a happy ending for our two main leads. I may have disregarded the film’s premise once I saw the trailers, but the concepts in the film are intriguing.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂