Pixar's Elemental Took Seven Long Years To Bring Together

Animated films are typically time-consuming undertakings, but no studio puts in the work like Pixar. From greenlight to the release, the folks in Emeryville, California put in three to four years of work to meet the sky-high standard, visually and narratively, set by classics like "Toy Story," "The Incredibles" and "WALL-E." This degree of care tends to pay off. Pixar's track record over the last 28 years is unmatched by any rival studio. They've had their share of misses (especially of late), but when they put the pieces together they're the best there is.

"Elemental," Pixar feature number 27, hits theaters on June 16, and it sounds like one of the studio's most ambitious undertakings. The film is a plea for racial tolerance embodied by a romance between fire element Ember (Leah Lewis) and water element Wade (Mamoudou Athie). This might sound a tad simplistic, but, sadly, we live in stupidly divisive times where common decency needs to be reinforced. Given that director Peter Sohn spent seven years making this movie and drew on personal tragedy to imbue it with the kind of heart we expect from Pixar, it's hard not to root for "Elemental" to join the pantheon of animated masterpieces.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sohn discussed the difficulty of pulling the film together. As he told the trade publication:

"[I]t's been a while in terms of the actual build up of it. Before anyone came on, it was a while, and there was that sort of lonely. 'Does this idea have any value?' Once production hit, it's just been trying to figure out new technology, trying to figure out how we get characters to look like fire but not be terrifying, like fire when it can be. And then water, when you go full transparency, you just see right through it, it just looks like glass. And so to find that balance has been quite difficult and challenging."

I must admit that Ember's character design reminds me a little of Lewis Black's Anger from "Inside Out," but if the film works on a narrative and thematic level this won't matter at all. That Sohn lost both of his parents during the movie's lengthy production suggests that we might be in for an "Up"-level tear jerker. "[T]his movie is about thanking your parents and understanding their sacrifices," said Sohn. What with the state of the world, I'm ready for a kind-hearted blockbuster, and nobody does this better than Pixar. Here's hoping Sohn delivers.