Elemental - DisneyCember 

Fun Fact: This did especially well in South Korea since the director is the son of Korean immigrants and that informed the movie. It's personal for him and I like that.

This movie is now a classic to both my girlfriend and myself. She pointed out how neither Disney nor Pixar have really done a straight up love story for a long while and this was a great one to come back to.

Also, I think that when Wade and Ember touch. They create a small paper-thin layer of steam, which would make sense when you combine fire and water, you get steam

The difference between Elemental and Zootopia is Elemental tackles the psychology of relationships and Zootopia tackles society stereotypes. Nick and Judy were not in love with each other like Wade and Ember. While Elemental goes through society stereotypes it is not the focus of the film. It is simply giving you context of where Ember's family roots are. In Zootopia it is clearly the focus. Elemental's focus is expressions of love.

Also, I like how Ember's parents, when they arrive at Elemental City, speak Korean. This movie was obviously based on the director's experience as the son of Korean immigrants, and the fire community seems to represent all the East Asian enclaves in America cities, i.e. Chinatown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo.

The way they can touch is through a concept called the Leidenfrost Effect. In short, Ember's heat would generate an insulating layer of steam that would keep Wade from boiling away and Ember from extinguishing.

My wife and I are in an interracial relationship, and I gotta say, we were cracking up watching this. They hit SO MANY things on the head about the many oddities of our relationship, and the things we had to learn about one another’s upbringing, family etc. I had a great time with it.

I liked it a lot, especially the dynamic between ember and her parents. And when I saw the small documentary behind the chemistry, I understood more why I liked it

The Pixar film that got knocked down, but got back up again.

Got major Middle Eastern/Indian vibes from the fire people and as someone who was bullied as a kid for being Middle Eastern, it really resonated with me. Wade straight up acknowledges that he doesn't know the struggle Ember's had but still actually listens and empathizes to her story. The delivery on "You must have been so scared" friggin got me in the theater and got me to recommend it to my parents, who usually hate animated movies.

Ember and Wade's relationship is one of my favorite elements from this movie and their moments together are pretty friggin adorable and wholesome 🔥❤️💧

I actually really liked it. There is tropes, yes, but I think they infused it with enough nuance for it to work. I really enjoyed the romance between the two of them and the guilt that she felt for not taking over her dad’s business felt very true to me. I actually really felt the passion and emotional honesty that the director infused into it

I find it kinda amazing how this movie managed to bounce back so quickly.

In comparison to Zootopia, I do like how this movie is about how cities, as in urban design, can be hostile to minorities/immigrants. Like Zootopia is wholly accommodating to every animal type in its design, but Element City is mostly built to accommodate the non-fire elements. I thought that was cool.

On the six days of Disneycember Doug send me Six elements going wrong Five ice age meltdowns Four Bad wishes Three great adventures Two Marvel downfalls And a classic review from the past 🎄

Even though the movie isn’t the absolute best thing that Pixar has made, I’m glad that it ended up doing well at the box office after a rough opening. It was actually a cute movie with two likable leads and a sweet romance. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Not one of their best but it's solid.

I was hoping you would like it but I knew you wouldn't 😭 Personally, I love it. In contrast with Zootopia, this film touches on those same concepts with a simple intimate romantic story instead of a complex mystery and that worked better for me. I love how the characters are fleshed out and how they are based on their element yet still have more depth than just that. You mentioned you didn't see the chemistry between them, but I love their chemistry. I like you can see why they fall in love and what their dynamic is. I also love how the film, simple on the surface, has a lot of details about the characters and their relationship. For me, while this movie talks about some social issues, this film is more about love (partner love, family love, self-love) and it tells such a relatable and heartwarming story that hit close to home ❤ I get why you didn’t like it, but like you said, I'm glad it wasn't a flop and that it's founding an audience. It's in my top 3 Pixar films. ❤

This movie has some good stuff in it. The animation on the fire, water, and air people is amazing, the powers and abilities they have are are very creative, I love how they created an entire original language for the fire people. I also like the arc Ember goes through. As for the romance, I feel there's some chemistry between them, but it could've been done a lot better. Not one of Pixar's best, but not awful.

I enjoyed the simplicity of this film. It's straightforward and to the point with no agendas or hidden messages. I found its basic nature extremely refreshing.

Wade and Ember's relationship is so strong and realistic for a kids' movie. When Ember is telling her story to Wade, he empathises with her, despite admitting that he doesn't fully understand.

I adored this movie. It's so charming and endearing to me, especially when it comes to Wade's empathy. I also loved the resolve between Ember and her dad at the end. I teared up several times watching this, and I've watched it thrice already! Definitely a Pixar favorite for me c:

I literally got an advert for the movie when I clicked on this video 😂

I recently watched Elemental on Disney+ and instantly loved the art style, Ember's and Walt's relationship felt real instead of forced, but the vase repair and underwater flower garden scenes took my breath away.

As a kid of Korean immigrants, this movie struck quite a nerve in me and made me cry at the end. It's not just Zootopia done with elements, it's a cross-cultural romance that actually managed to nail at least somewhat the non-white experience is living in America. And it makes sense, as the director is also Korean American.

Wade and Ember definitely had chemistry, it’s one of the best things about the film and I love that it’s a simple storyline, Doug never really been into these type of films

Okay, after all the different things Disney has been doing, I like that it’s going back to basics.

I have such complicated feelings on this movie. The production was absolutely spectacular, like it's one of the most gorgeous Pixar films ever made. I loved the worldbuilding, the soundtrack, the creativity of it all. But then the story was the most generic, predictable thing in existence. The director said they were inspired by 90s rom-coms and it is extremely obvious. I almost feel the story would have been better if they focused more on the immigrant/fish out of water angle and like Doug said, really explored the struggles the fire people have living in a city fundamentally built against them.

Okay as rom com-inspired this was, I thought this was going to have one trope I despise where the two mains have a misunderstanding and split up However it’s due to backgrounds and pressure, mainly from Ember’s side. I loved how even Wade came back to Ember to talk.

One thing that Disney has been missing recently is romance, they don't really do those anymore. It was refreshing to see one again. Me and my fiancée had a blast watching it~

For the record I hate romantic comedies and yet I love this movie and it made me cry at the end so it clearly did something right.

It's *not* just Zootopia with elements! Yes, it explores prejudice and bias, but it's much more a love letter to immigrants and an exploration of the complex feelings and experiences of their bicultural kids who don't want to disappoint their parents or reject their sacrifices, but also want to pursue their own dreams. I highly recommend the special featurette about the film to gain more insight into Peter Sohn (the director) and his family.

The thing I love most about this movie is how realistic it is. You could literally replace all the characters with humans and the story would more or less be the same. These are realistic scenarios, realistic problems, realistic conversations and realistic feelings. Ember is, by no exaggeration, the most relatable character I've ever seen in my life. As someone with anger issues and have also suffered a lot because of it, I saw myself in Ember, and by the end that recognition brought me to tears. Yes, this movie made me cry. All these recent Disney movies that so many people have declared bad, like Elemental, Raya And The Last Dragon, Ralph Breaks The Internet, while I did recognize their flaws, I found value in them. And therefore, Elemental is genuinely my absolute favorite Pixar film.

This movie was a perfect example of how well word-of-mouth marketing can work. Much better than whatever marketing Disney was doing anyway...

Wow, Doug harshed a lot more on this movie than I thought he would. If I might present a little constructive rebuttal. -Zootopia was *about* Zootopia. It did a lot more worldbuilding because it was about how complicated societies function and malfunction. Elemental is a love story, a generational story. It doesn’t explore as much how Element city works because it isn’t the focus of the story. -On that note, maybe I’m looking at it wrong, but I see why Ember and Wade make a good couple. Wade empathizes with Ember, which is clearly not something she’s used to even from her own family. They love her, and she loves them, but she carries a lot of anger that she doesn’t express to them for fear of disappointing them. (Precisely because she loves them.) When she gets angry about the memory of not seeing the Vivisteria flower, Wade tears up and says how scared she must have been and she cools down almost immediately and admits that she was. Anger is a secondary emotion after all and Wade was able to see through that to get to what she was really feeling. On Wade’s part, his “voice” came more through his actions than what he said. As soon as he sends the report on the Fireplace, his entire motivation after that is helping Ember. Even if it costs him a lot of time and effort, he doesn’t care. At first, it’s personal responsibility, but as soon as they dam up the canal, he asks her out. He fills up the sandbags, he shows her his family, he gives her her dream of seeing the Vivisteria. It’s a tiny moment but when they’re underwater and he’s pulling Ember back to the surface, he says “try to breathe slowly” with much more strength in his voice than he normally speaks. Let’s not forget that one of what he thought were his last words were, “I have no regrets, you gave me something some people search their whole life for.” Wade is sensitive, yes, but he’s also a young man who truly finds his strength in the love he has for Ember. -Lastly, I wouldn’t count Ember not wanting to run the shop as a “liar reveal” because at the beginning of the movie, SHE doesn’t know she doesn’t want to run the shop! That’s kind of a big turning point for Ember’s character. That what she thought she wanted out of life wasn’t what she actually wanted but convinced herself that anything better or different didn’t matter because she had an obligation to her parents. Something that Wade encourages her to open up about.

I really love the way the Fire and Water characters look, I love the detail they put in.

The fact that Elemental had a comeback makes me even sorrier for Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken

I think had this film been released 10 years ago, people would have been kinder to it. The reason why I believed it bombed at the box office is because people are tired of Disney for not doing anything original anymore. On top of that, they don't want to see stories that PREACH at them like they have done for the past few years. It is going to take alot of good will for Disney to earn the respect of the audience back.

Beautiful movie. Should have been called “The Little Engine That Could.” To go from an opening that disastrous to just shy of half a billion dollars (factoring in VOD, strong Disney+ numbers, and merchandise as well) is a testament to how much it connected with audiences who saw it.

I LOVED this movie. It's was such a beautiful love story. And theirs weren't any that huge high stakes involved with this movie, it was simply a lovely love story between two elements.

I saw re animation of the trailer for this film in which they did it "realistically" ie ember is a literal flame in clothing and wade is just formless water in the shape of a man No faces And honestly? It was kind of amazing. With just the direction and what tiny amount of voice acting is present in the scene, it Really makes you FEEL the emotion, even though you cant see what their faces are telling you, its all in the body language (elemental language?) Its kinda arthousy but honestly i feel like this film would have been far better had they gone that route

On the 6th Disneycember, the Critic gave to me: A Pixar sleeper hit ANOTHER SEQUEL! Torn apart by critics We need another season! Victim of the strikes And a cult movie with a fanbase.

I really enjoyed this film, and I was really happy once it broke even at the box office. It makes me optimistic for Pixar’s future.

I thought that this was a cute movie. Although the Fire/Water Allegories aren't subtle, I loved Wade and Ember's relationship, how she's able to open up around him, and how he empathises with her plight.

Elemental was better than Wish in all honesty!

Whoever created the trailer did this film a HUGE disservice

I didn't fully appreciate this movie until I saw Korean comics video on it. He mentions how in a lot of Asien cultures the children are expected to do what the parent wants them to. Like if they want to be a doctor or fireman but the parents want them to run their store. If they dont do as the parent wishes they will most likely be disowned. Same goes for cross culture marriage. So the reason Ember reacted the way she did and the parent reaction at the reopening party was actually based on real cultural consequences if she was in our world. She had to lie to them about both or risk being disowned which is what almost happens in the movie.

I loved this movie, it’s just really cute, and Ember/ Wade are such an adorable couple! It’s a bit cliche, but it’s wholesome as heck.

The trailer did this movie really dirty. It’s not perfect but I like the whole immigrant family plot.

The moral of Disney’s 2023 line-up is that Doug doesn’t like almost any of it (waiting for that Once Upon a Studio verdict)

On the 6th Disneycember, the Critic gave to me: Torn apart by critics We need another season! Victim of the strikes a cult movie with a fanbase a funny ice covered movie A good elemental comeback

I actually really love the contrast of Wade's family being emotional and sensitive and open with their feelings as opposed to Ember's family being a bit more reserved and keeping their walls up. I think a lot of people in cross-cultural relationships can really really relate to it in ways that Zootopia couldn't. This movie is not a re-tread of that. The structures of the city not being particularly accommodating for Fire beings i think can also be very relatable, and it gives them a reason to sort of carve out their own community. This movie isnt really a commentary on society, but on the boundaries of culture. It really resonated with me and my girlfriend, tbh. Writing it off as "woke" when its such a real story being told from such a realistic place, and comparing it to Zootopia is undeserved. The elemental beings in this movie feel more human than many human Pixar characters.

This is honestly my 2nd favorite movie of this year after The Super Mario Bros Movie

On the sixth day of Disneycember, my critic gave to me: Six Fire Vixens FIVE PIRATE ANIMALS Four Wishing Stars Three eyed Queen Two alien cats And One Koopa with a M O N K E Y gun

The marketing for this movie was... interesting to say the least.

I didn't think I would like this movie, but I surprisingly enjoyed it.

Wildly unpopular opinion here I’m sure, but for me, this did WAY more than Zootopia ever did. It’s been the most engaging Disney movie I’ve seen in years. And I **hugely** appreciated the fact that they let Wade react with empathy in situations where most people’s go-to reaction would be anger. Ironic to say for a water guy but WHAT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.

On the sixth day of Disneycember, the channel gave to me Six elemental relationship goals Five Ice Age pirates!! (Badam-bam-bah) Four awkward Wishes Three Owl Houses Two groups of female Marvels And Dennis Hopper saying "Monkey"

I actually saw it on Father’s Day with my family and we actually really enjoyed it and for us it was more a love story of Ember and her Father and honoring her relationship with him and the respect she has for him at least that was our takeaway Great Review Doug Can’t Wait For Your Next Disneycember 😊

I'm so glad you still are making relevant content youre freaking hilarious and you've been around forever I love your content!!!!

i saw this movie in the theatre with my sister (who is a physics, chemistry teacher) and she was able to spot all the chemical elemental jokes including how Ember and Wade can touch, the Leidenfrost effect

Wow I couldn't disagree more, Doug. I thought this was a beautiful telling of the plight of the immigrant. And who doesn't have immigrant grandparents or even parents? I think Ember went a bit too far in the breakup when she essentially treated him like a rich white kid. I think it was an unnecessary part that had not a whole lot to do with the story, but they do treat her like she was awful for saying it. But other than that, I thought it was fun. I actually sympathized with Ember when she got pissed while running the shop. And the dude that played Wade has amazing vocal range. I also disagree, I've seen Ember and Wade's love 100x over. Ember, the stubborn, more traditional male stereotype. And Wade, the goofy more emotional female stereotype. I see those relationships in real life, and I see them on screen. Also Wade connects with all his family members, and even connects with both his female wind boss, and Ember, and Ember's mom.

It was kinda nice to just see a love story, which aren’t made as much as they used to be. Also, I recommend watching the making of elemental. The filmmaker behind it infused tons of inspiration from his upbringing, his relationship & paid homage to his parents in this film. That makes it more authentic and less generic feeling😊

Can’t say I agree this movie made me ugly cry and I think it’s one of the better movies that Disney is done in a while at least since Encanto

I really enjoyed this film. What I mainly appreciated was ember's relationship with her family and how she held the pressure of being an immigrant kid that wants to help their family's life and how that can affect your personal life (it's important to find a balance in your personal and family life). Not everyone can relate to this kind of message but I think it's worth acknowledging.

I saw this movie and it have a more deeper meaning to it than it being another cliche troupe or even like Zootopia. A fire family from another land came to a bigger part of world to live and have a better life for their daughter Ember which somewhat ties in to immigration, which I could kinda see that with director being asian descent as well how this story is told. One thing when going into this movie is that you have to find a deeper meaning to it rather than see it as a standard family movie that's more than repeatitve troupe one does seen a dozen times.

Really liked this one. Perfect for a stay-at-home evening. One of maybe two movies that made me cry, too (I was hungover here though, which may have helped). After first watch, I'd say it's one of Pixars best, honestly, though maybe it won't hold up for rewatches. There's missed potential at places, but I was never bored and genuinely interested for the entire run-time.

The film that went from Pixars biggest bomb to a surprising story of box office redemption.

It’s good this film became a Box office hit after its failure the first month. Pixar has its potential to get back on track despite what others think

“Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked…”

I’ll say this I really dig the visuals to this movie. The way the people look in it are really cool and the way Ember ‘s body moves reminds me of something like the fire in a Ghibli movie.

I know you said Elemental is a story that’s been done before but to be fair we now live in a time where there isn’t much originality as there used to be. If a story has the same message as an already existing one that doesn’t mean it’s bad. We as humans are hesitant to try new things, we often stick to stuff we’re familiar with. I feel like Disney are afraid to try new ways of making movies, fearing they’ll disappoint us without even knowing they’ve been doing it for years now to the point anyone new from them is rarely good. They just keep coughing up live action remakes of classics we all grew up with and loved. There is like only one decent remake I’ve seen while the others I’ve seen are bad. And now they’re ruining Star Wars and the MCU. Not all of what they gave us is bad, but shows and films like Thor love and thunder, eternals, and especially the sequel Star Wars trilogy are proof that they’re loosing their magic. Like you Doug, I hope they rise up from this and get their act together. I hate that Disney are making me hate them

Fun Fact: Elemental movie was based on the director’s life experiences growing up in New York City with two immigrant parents.

The ending was at least enough to make me cry 😿

"Zootopia is the 'In The Heat of The Night' of Fisney Films" Well, I've never heard that one before 😂

With Elemental, I couldn't really feel any chemistry between the two characters either. And given the powerful message of breaking down social barriers for love, that's arguably the most important thing to get right in the movie. Also, the "liar reveal" moment late in the film kinda bugged me as Ember was a little too mean in it. Definitely not a terrible movie though overall.

One of the better Disney movies to come out of 2023 and it flopped but since its' on Disney+ I have been watching it again and again.

Honestly, I think my favorite things about this movie was that it started out badly, but then overtime, it made enough money that it surpassed the Flash movie. Honestly, that is probably the funniest thing I've seen all year

On the sixth day of DisneyCember, the critic gave to me. Six Daddy Issues FIVE PREHISTORIC PIRATES !!! Four Wasteful Wishes Three Owl Beasts Two Marvel Trashes And a World of Dino People !

I absolutely adored and loved this movie!

I actually like Elemental. It’s not Pixar’s best movie, but it’s better than the last movies that they released.

Honestly, this and _Onward_ are two of my favorite Pixar movies.

On the 6th day of disneycember the critic gave for me: You know this should have beeing the fourth day since how can i say theres "6 elements"? FIVE NEW CONTINENTS 4 Stars of wishes 3 Broken spells 2 Swapping places And a weird videogame movie for me

The way how you describe it, is exactly how I see and feel about it.

On the sixth day of Disneycember. The critic gave to me Six Tempers Blowing Five Salty Sloths Four Kings To Vent To Three Cartoon Epics Two Singing Planets And a plumber from the 90's

Doug: "She literally blows her top." Me: "There's bare fire breasts in this?!"

I feel mixed on Elemental. I like the message especially for this who are families of immigrants. I'm glad Peter John, the director of Elemental and the Good Dinosaur, got to make a movie to reflect something about his parents. (I can't fully remember I just know it was about his parents.) I think the trailer did the movie dirty. I thought it would be a Romeo and Juliet romance story and it wasn't. I think the movie is just... decent. Not great, but not bad. I don't think it will be in everyone's top 10 Pixar movies but I don't see it being people's least favorite Pixar product

There’s two reasons why Elemental struggled at the beginning: 1). Time of release. The movie was released the same month as Across The Spider-Verse [a movie that every Spider-Man fan (including kids) wants to see]. While you can see what's going to happen in Elemental when you first watch it, audiences will have no idea what direction the that Across The Spider-Verse goes (when first watching it). 2). How Disney have been treating Pixar. When COVID started, Disney put Pixar movies went straight to streaming on Disney Plus. That is the case for Soul, Luca, and Turning Red (which is also why they are putting all three movies in theaters next year). Because of this decision, people just assume all Pixar movies would be released on Disney Plus rather on the big screen first. You can argue that all because of COVID, but movies like No Way Home, the Mario movie,& Top Gun 2 made a lot of money at the box office.

As a descendant of immigrants I saw my grandparents a lot in Ember’s parents. I think the generational story was pretty good and realistic. I love Zootopia too, but I do feel like this wasn’t a full copy of the movie. The world building was pretty cool too.

This movie is *SCORCHING* past expectations on Disney+ 🥵

Honesty I thought it was a good film but I will admit I think the biggest let down of the film is that it isn’t a larger adventure. Not that it needs to have a fate of the world climax or a major villain or a crisis, but for a film called Elementals I was kind of hoping for something where the characters are allowed to explore more and learn about the different elements and what can be learned from them and how they get around their unique advantages and disadvantages. But the film really only focuses on the fire world and not much else and this kind of needed more of a plot where we the audience are able to explore this world more. I hope this does get a sequel cause there is a lot of potential for creativity and exploring different themes and ideas and could be a much more grander story.

I loved this movie...

Fire elemental named Ember. How creative

I won’t pretend this movie is amazing, but even as someone who was aware of all the cliches, I really enjoyed it. I really bought the romance, I really enjoyed the visuals, I was really invested in the story even when it was predictable. For me the climax nearly made me cry, because I was so invested in these characters that really emphasized how much I enjoyed this movie. I think Doug makes valid points, but I guess this is why movies are subjective. I admit I am easy to please, but the enjoyment I had for this movie is not something I feel with movies I just find decent or passable. I genuinely found a lot to like in this movie at the end of the day!

DisneyCember = ChannelAwesome

Sorry Doug. I think this is a beautiful touching movie and i felt alot of magic watching it. After watching so many movies, ofc you know all the tropes and such. The secret is to still be able to enjoy em nevertheless. I enjoyed them all here and I LOVE this movie. And I totally believed the romance, I totally felt it.

I’ve been wanting him to review this movie 🎥 for a while and now he’s finally done it

Unity is based off of compromise. Giving in so your neighbor has the same living conditions as you

3:50 How ironic that in a film about the elements the main couple don't have any chemistry.

Wade having a "thought bubble" was surprisingly the funniest part of the movie for me.

The somewhat comeback for this film is insane like wow & community grew fact as heck