For a while, “Elemental” feels like little more than a reasonably clever idea, the latest from Disney affiliate Pixar Animation Studios finding an unusual way to illustrate the differences — and, ultimately, similarities — among folks of various cultural backgrounds.
However, this tale in which personified fire, water, earth and air residents live together in the metropolis Element City finds its footing as it leans on tried-and-true plot devices from romances featuring star-crossed lovers and stories about parents and their children.
“Elemental” is inspired by the experiences of its director, Peter Sohn, a second-generation immigrant, his parents bringing him to the United States from Korea when he was a child. He’d go on to marry an American woman after initially hiding the relationship from his family. (He says in the film’s production notes that his grandmother’s dying words literally were “Marry Korean!”)
