Elemental (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

73% Tomatometer 264 Reviews 93% Audience Score 2,500+ Verified Ratings

Disney and Pixar's "Elemental," an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. The story introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in. Read More Read Less

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Elemental

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Elemental

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Elemental may not satisfy as fully as the greatest Pixar pictures, but it remains a solid story told with dazzling visual flair.

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Audience Says

With a heartwarming message and stunning animation, Elemental proves Pixar hasn't lost its touch.

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Critics Reviews

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Elemental (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Clarisse Loughrey Independent (UK) Gentle and humane but never raw or vulnerable. Rated: 3/5 Jul 13, 2023 Full Review Elemental (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Wendy Ide Observer (UK) There are tonal parallels with Pixar’s Inside Out and Zootropolis, but while it has a peppy visual energy, Elemental lacks the wildly inventive storytelling of the former and the laughs of the latter. Rated: 3/5 Jul 9, 2023 Full Review Elemental (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Larushka Ivan-Zadeh metro.co.uk A bit like Inside Out meets Zootropolis – but not as fully worked out as either – it’s a movie of lovely, radiant moments. Rated: 3/5 Jul 7, 2023 Full Review Elemental (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Calum Cooper Cinerama Film There is no shortage of imagination in place, and the fluid animation, paired with the kinetic pacing and creative solutions to singular elemental problems, shows a dynamic engagement with the premise on the part of the director and animators. Rated: 3/5 Jul 19, 2024 Full Review Elemental (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Paul Klein FILMHOUNDS Magazine The animation is perfect, but the script is weak, and for a film like this the writing really needed to be much much sharper. It's all a bit damp. Rated: 3/5 Jul 5, 2024 Full Review Elemental (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Cory Woodroof For the Win (USA Today) It’s not often you get an original concept from Pixar that doesn’t work. Mar 1, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Angel It was such a cute movie! Must watch Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/29/24 Full Review your mom i love him i love her so kdrama coded but disney animation and the scene with the music is so cute theyre so cute i like how this covered immigration/first gen daughter struggles without forcing it so cuteee Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/19/23 Full Review BCC Great message and beautiful animation!! And the wrtiting was fantastic! Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/17/23 Full Review cannon Great movie little emotional Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/09/23 Full Review Matthew There is one word that perfectly describes Elemental, OVERHATED. This movie is legitimately one of the most entertaining of the year. The Character development throughout the movie is incredible. Watching Ember(the main female character) go from being hot headed and indecisive, to this strong and tranquil character who is willing to follow her destiny. It was very entertaining to watch, and I would recommend Elemental to any family who wants to have a funny, enjoyable experience at the movie theater! Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/08/23 Full Review Jahsoulay W. Omgosh!! AMAZING!! Pixar has done it again, I feel like since all the movies since 2020 have been mid, but THIS ONE! I cried about 5 times!!! So amazing, love the character development, the story, the meaning! Best movie since Inside Out and Zootopia hands down! Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Elemental

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Cast & Crew

Peter Sohn Director Leah Lewis Ember Lumen Mamoudou Athie Wade Ripple Ronnie del Carmen Bernie Lumen Shila Ommi Cinder Lumen Wendi McLendon-Covey Gale
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Movie Clips

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Elemental

Elemental: Extended Preview Elemental: Extended Preview 7:59 Elemental: Movie Clip - Our Blue Flame Elemental: Movie Clip - Our Blue Flame 0:38 Elemental: Movie Clip - You're So Hot Elemental: Movie Clip - You're So Hot 1:06 Elemental: Movie Clip - An Act Of Clod Elemental: Movie Clip - An Act Of Clod 0:54 Elemental: Movie Clip - Inspect This Elemental: Movie Clip - Inspect This 0:51 Elemental: Movie Clip - Check This Out Elemental: Movie Clip - Check This Out 0:39 Elemental: Exclusive Movie Clip - Living the Dream Elemental: Exclusive Movie Clip - Living the Dream 1:04 View more videos

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Elemental

Elemental: Featurette - Booth to Screen Elemental: Featurette - Booth to Screen 1:04 Elemental: TV Spot - Elements of Moviegoing Elemental: TV Spot - Elements of Moviegoing 0:44 Elemental: Featurette - Welcome to Elemental City Elemental: Featurette - Welcome to Elemental City 1:52 Elemental: Tickets on Sale Elemental: Tickets on Sale 0:27 Elemental: Trailer 1 Elemental: Trailer 1 2:19 Elemental: Teaser Trailer Elemental: Teaser Trailer 1:27 View more videos

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Synopsis Disney and Pixar's "Elemental," an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. The story introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in.

Director
Peter Sohn

Producer
Denise Ream

Screenwriter
John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, Brenda Hsueh

Distributor
Disney/Pixar

Production Co
Pixar Animation Studios

Rating
PG (Some Peril|Brief Language|Thematic Elements)

Genre
Kids & Family, Comedy, Fantasy, Animation

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 16, 2023, Wide

Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 15, 2023

Box Office (Gross USA)
$154.4M

Runtime
1h 41m

Sound Mix
DTS, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
Most Popular at Home Now
Elemental (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

FAQs

Why did Elemental flop? ›

Worse still for the consistently experimental and technologically innovative animation studio, the reviews for Elemental were decidedly middling to unkind: “dull-witted and syrupy” (Deadline); “the story beats are overly familiar” (Los Angeles Times); “The movie looks good … but its undercooked concept is a problem” ( ...

How much rotten tomatoes does Elemental have? ›

ScoreNumber of Reviews
All Critics76%165
Top Critics64%45
1 more row
Jun 15, 2023

Why is Elemental woke? ›

WOKE ELEMENTS

Elemental is the perfect metaphor for Leftist views of diversity. Here you have a mostly peaceful and cohesive society filled with a diverse group of people from completely different backgrounds and cultures.

What did critics say about Elemental? ›

A sweet-natured love story, well-intentioned, animated and acted, but lacking the depth of some of the studio's greatest triumphs. It's the Pixar film that has to remind its audience what a Pixar film is. Visually, Pixar is in absolutely top form with the creation of Element City and its inhabitants.

Why didn't people like Elemental? ›

Elemental has several obvious glaring problems. For one thing, the attempt to make the elements' differences an overt metaphor for race/culture is shallow and misplaced at best most of the time. The story's themes and plot itself are about as worn-out and tired as the art of the story itself.

How much money did Pixar lose from Elemental? ›

Pixar is damaged as a big-screen brand. That was one of the rather glum takeaways from the weekend box office, which found “Elemental,” a $200 million-plus Pixar original, arriving to a disastrous $29.5 million in domestic ticket sales. “The Flash,” a Warner Bros.

Is Elemental worth watching? ›

4 out of 5 stars. Elemental is a good romantic comedy family pixar film that is fun and creative with having a world built with characters that are elements. Certain elements clash with each other and has a story about how two elements Wade and Ember who are fire and water.

Is there a movie with 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes? ›

100 Movies lists, but there are many others and several entries with dozens of positive reviews, which are considered surprising to some experts. To date, Leave No Trace holds the site's record, with a rating of 100% and 252 positive reviews.

Is 0% Rotten Tomatoes good? ›

On the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, films that every surveyed critic considered bad have a 0% rating.

What's controversial about Elemental? ›

The more questionable moments in the film depict allegorical instances of micro-aggressions, or full-on racially motivated harassment with element-appropriate racial slurs such as “windpuff” or “fireball.” When Ember and Wade start to grow closer, Ember opens up about when her father took her into Elemental City as a ...

Is Elemental okay for Christians? ›

The woke, occult content in ELEMENTAL is gratuitous. It adds nothing to the story and will annoy many family moviegoers who don't want their children exposed to such content. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.

Does Disney's Elemental have LGBTQ? ›

Elemental has two LGBTQ+ characters, but they are very, very minor characters. When Ember and Wade start to fall in love, Wade invites her to meet his family, which is quite an experience given that their apartment is flowing with water everywhere.

Who did Eddie Murphy play in Elemental? ›

Eddie Murphy is not part of the voice cast in Pixar's Elemental, despite the confusion caused by incorrect listings and Google search results. The confusion about Eddie Murphy's involvement in the movie stemmed from an old and incorrect IMDb listing that included his name.

What does Ashfa mean in Elemental? ›

Sohn mentioned that the plot was inspired by his childhood in New York, hence the nod to Korean words such as ashfa, based on the Korean word appa, meaning father. The similarities do not stop there. The fire element lives as a tight-knit community on the margins of society.

Is Elemental based on Indian culture? ›

While speaking of elements, the director Peter Sohn talks about the intricate Indian inspirations behind the film, creating a captivating narrative that resonates with audiences worldwide. One of the profound influences highlighted by Sohn is the majestic Varanasi River.

Why was the marketing for Elemental so bad? ›

If you were to just review all the advertisem*nts, Elemental bears a striking resemblance to Zootopia, and audiences probably just thought they were going to be spoon-fed the same tolerance metaphor again by the same studio, with humanized elements instead of animals.

What is the biggest Pixar flop? ›

Thankfully, thanks to Pixar's illustrious reputation, many of these films are still fondly remembered by audiences and regarded as classics today.
  • 7 'A Bug's Life' (1998) ...
  • 6 'The Good Dinosaur' (2015) ...
  • 5 'Lightyear' (2022) ...
  • 4 'Onward' (2020) ...
  • 3 'Soul' (2020) ...
  • 2 'Luca' (2021) ...
  • 1 'Turning Red' (2022) - $21.5 million.
Mar 16, 2024

How much did Elemental need to break even? ›

Elemental had a production budget of $200 million and likely a marketing budget of $100 million more, so considering the studios only get a part of the total box office as they have to share the earning with the theaters. So the $200 million film would need around $450 million to break even and start making a profit.

Why are Pixar movies flopping? ›

Summary. Pixar movies' box office performance can be affected by factors like poor release dates, underwhelming marketing, and the impact of streaming. Pixar's success lies in its ability to create stories that appeal to both children and adults, dealing with mature themes in a relatable way.

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