Since the ’90s, Pixar has made animated films exploring questions like: What if toys had feelings? (“Toy Story”). What if cars had feelings? (“Cars”). And what if feelings had feelings? (“Inside Out”). Now, it’s time for “What if elements had feelings?”
On Monday, Pixar announced its upcoming 27th film, “Elemental,” coming on June 16, 2023. The film follows two adorable beings made of fire and water who, despite their fundamental, elemental differences, realize they have a lot of similarities.
The logline reads, “The film 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.”
Peter Sohn, who directed Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur” and the “Partly Cloudy” short, will helm the new film. It will be produced by Denise Ream (“The Good Dinosaur,” “Cars 2”). The movie is also inspired by Sohn’s childhood in New York.
“My parents emigrated from Korea in the early 1970s and built a bustling grocery store in the Bronx,” he said in a statement. “We were among many families who ventured to a new land with hopes and dreams — all of us mixing into one big salad bowl of cultures, languages and beautiful little neighborhoods. That’s what led me to ‘Elemental.'”
“Our story is based on the classic elements — fire, water, land and air,” he added. “Some elements mix with each other, and some don’t. What if these elements were alive?”
Up next, Pixar has “Lightyear,” a spinoff of the “Toy Story” franchise where Chris Evans voices the human astronaut who inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy. “Lightyear” releases in theaters June 17.