Pixar’s New Feature ‘Elemental’ Was Inspired By Director Peter Sohn’s Immigrant Upbringing In The Bronx

Pixar has announced its next feature film, Elemental, coming on June 16, 2023.

Directed by Peter Sohn (The Good Dinosaur, Partly Cloudy) and produced by Denise Ream (The Good Dinosaur, Cars 2), the studio’s 27th film will follow two elemental beings named Ember and Wade, one made of fire, and the other of ice. Sohn said in a statement, “Our story is based on the classic elements — fire, water, land, and air. Some elements mix with each other, and some don’t. What if these elements were alive?”

The two are from a city were all the elements – fire, water, land, and air – live amongst one another. Despite their seemingly opposite compositions, “The fiery young woman and the go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common,” according to Pixar’s brief synopsis.

The studio has also shared an early look at concept art of the film’s two leads and the city they call home.

Recent Pixar films like Onward, Luca, and Turning Red have drawn inspiration from the personal lives of the directors, and Elemental is no different. In this case, Sohn was 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,” Sohn said. “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.”