Pixar has been releasing animated films for so long now that the 7- and 8-year-olds who delighted in “Toy Story” and “A Bug’s Life” back in the day are now old enough to be taking little ones of their own to films such as “Soul” and “Luca” and now “Elemental,” a strikingly beautiful and wondrous adventure that isn’t top-tier Pixar but contains more than enough elements, if you will, to carry the day.
Those mid-1990s films were visually impressive, but they’re starting to look like old-timey drawings compared to the candy-colored, screen-popping, insanely detailed and incredibly fluid look of recent animated Pixar gems such as “Elemental,” which will hold your attention even when the relatively simple story arc stalls from time to time. With the obligatory positive messaging about following your dreams and not letting others dictate your path, and how even drastically different cultures actually have a lot more in common than meets the eye, “Elemental” is sweet-natured, engaging, silly and heart-tugging. It’s solid summertime entertainment for, yes, the whole family.
