Pixar's "Elemental" appears to have flamed out at the box office. What factors, exactly,
led audiences to throw cold water on the prospects
of this charming-looking animated flick from a once-reliable studio?
Typically, Pixar and Disney releases are incredibly heavily promoted. Even films
like "Lightyear," which drastically underperformed at the box office,
saw lots of television ads, promotional tie-in releases,
and merchandise hitting the shelves before the movie hit theaters. But "Elemental" didn't
seem to have that same promotional enthusiasm behind it. Television ads for it were rare.
Disney-related fan websites noted that the company just didn't put much promotional
muscle behind "Elemental," leaving it to flounder much like Disney's winter release
"Strange World." The result appears to be the worst-performing Pixar release since
"A Bug's Life" in 1998, with a paltry $44.5-million worldwide opening weekend.
"This was not supposed to happen!"
Worse, when Pixar did try to get people talking about the film,
they caused a mild PR disaster. A tweet featuring Ember, one of the movie's leads
and a fire elemental, parodied the poster art for "Turning Red." The tweet proclaimed,
"Unleash your wildfire side with this Burning Red poster straight from Element City!"
Sadly, the tweet's release coincided with widespread Canadian wildfires
which sent hazy smoke into several cities in the northeastern U.S.,
resulting in Twitter users accusing the studio of insensitivity.
The tweet was deleted, but it's emblematic of the lack of thought that went into the
promotion of the film at large. It's possible that Pixar's offering was simply muscled out
by other recently released animated films such as "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." Or perhaps
Disney chose to allocate its marketing resources to "Indiana Jones and the Dial
of Destiny," or it already spent them on "The Little Mermaid." Whatever the case,
it's very clear that the movie didn't get a whole lot of marketing attention before being released.
Pixar fans usually turn to the studio for the exciting and unusual. Whether it's a tale of toys
that become sentient when people aren't around, a rat whose sole ambition in life is to become a
gourmet chef, a family of superheroes who have to live incognito thanks to government restrictions,
or a robot surviving in a post-apocalyptic world who finds purpose in true love, this
is a company that knows how to create unusual, original stories that still reflect real life.
"Elemental" doesn't exactly continue that tradition, though. The dull, beat-by-beat
storytelling is what holds the movie apart from other enchanting Pixar films. Unsurprisingly,
"Elemental" has failed to make much of an impression as an original concept,
bringing nothing new to the plate narratively, even as it presents a very nice visual experience.
"Stop talking!"
Well, we'd also just like to note that the film's allegory is a well-covered subject,
with its water, cloud, dirt, and fire people working as stand-ins for people of different
races, religions, and gender orientations. Ember's battle to break free and see the world
beyond the borders of Firetown is a metaphor for the second-generation immigrant experience,
and while it's arguably a message the world probably needs to hear right now,
it's also a set of themes that have been done to death by this point. Namely,
"Zootopia" tackled these ideas with more style seven years earlier.
There's nothing the summer box office loves more than family-friendly movies,
but theaters are currently awash with other films that kids and parents seem to be finding much more
interesting — or at least more entertaining — moviegoing experiences than "Elemental."
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," Disney's own live-action remake of "The
Little Mermaid," "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts," and springtime holdovers "Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" have all proven to be stiff competition.
While this might seem to portend doom for any project not based on a previously-established
franchise, audiences only need to look back to late 2021 to remember when "Encanto" swept
its way into the public's imagination and took hold of the pop charts with the song
"We Don't Talk About Bruno." There's plenty of room for something fresh to break through;
it just needs some extra oomph that "Elemental" seems to be missing.
To put it bluntly, the cast of "Elemental" doesn't have any big-name actors to buoy it up to greater
success. The film's best-known performers are Wendi McLendon-Covey, who voices Gale,
and Catherine O'Hara, who plays Brook Ripple. Comedy fans certainly know both their names,
but they're not necessarily proven box-office draws.
"When you make a film about elements, you are just settin' yourself up for the puns."
While It's arguable that movies like "Ratatouille" and "Toy Story" would
have been just as successful if every single member of the cast were unknown,
a film like "Elemental," which didn't necessarily have an immediate hook,
it's possible that added star power may have driven audiences to theaters in larger numbers.
Of course, big names don't always mean success. Chris Evans headed up the cast of "Lightyear"
and he wasn't enough to drag the film out of the box office basement. Disney's decades-long
history of hiring talented character actors instead of big-name celebrities to play its
animated characters has never damaged the brand before now. But in a world where there
are so many options at the theater, a little star power definitely helps draw dollars.
One has to wonder if Disney's decision to put three Pixar films, all of them intended to be
big-screen successes, directly on Disney+ had an impact. The COVID-19 pandemic, of course,
meant that theatrical releases weren't feasible in 2020 and 2021,
and the company also clearly wanted to drive subscriptions to the streamer.
There's some evidence that these decisions may have changed habits.
Some analysts have claimed that making so many of Disney's films direct-to-streaming
has taught families that they don't need to head to theaters to see them. That said,
it doesn't seem to apply in every case. "The Little Mermaid," was a box-office hit with
families, eventual Disney+ release or not. So if families are willing to show up to see some Disney
productions in movie theaters, why was "Elemental" such a miss? Maybe it's just a Pixar thing. It's
worth noting that the last Pixar movie to really score at the box office was "Toy Story 4" in 2019.
It's clear that Pixar is struggling to recapture a fresh point of view and find new ways to tell
its stories. The studio has definitely produced original, unique work before.
Hopefully, it will be able to climb back to those auspicious heights with time.