#SPOTTED: PETER SOHN IN TORONTO FOR DISNEY • PIXAR’S “ELEMENTAL”

Just a couple weeks ago, we got a proper look at the official Trailer for Disney • Pixar‘s long-awaited upcoming feature, ELEMENTAL, directed by Peter Sohn (The Good Dinosaur). The brilliant-looking film is set in a city where fire, water, land and air residents live together. A fiery young woman, Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) and a go-with-the-flow guy Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), are about the learn exactly what they have in common.

Sohn has voiced characters in marquee films like Lightyear, Ratatouille and Monsters University. He came to Toronto to present footage for what surely will make a big splash this Summer for the world’s greatest animation giants. This Film is over five years in the making and while it is slated for a June release, it still is in its finishing touches, as its lighting meticulously is being tempered in this its final stretch before the world gets to see it.

Sohn recalls his journey making Elemental and i overcome with emotion thinking about his heartfelt journey. He lost both his parents in the span of a couple years and really this Film is all for them. “I was in the Bronx and I was looking into the crowd and there was this huge diverse group of people and my parents were there in the front – these yellow faces up there – they were crying and I just lost it”. “I had a speech I was going to give, but I didn’t give it because I was so overwhelmed by seeing them. I thanked them for giving me and my brother life and there was someone in the crowd going, ‘You better thank them!’. I went back to Pixar in New York and told them the story and they were like, ‘Peter you have to do that as your story!’. That is the thing I came back to when I was getting lost.”.

Sohn tells us about the laser-precision focus in Pixar‘s winning storytelling recipe. “At Pixar, creating emotionally-genuine performances through animation is a top priority. I love that this art form is about connecting emotionally. On Elemental we had a new layer to weave into these performances – to tie the energy of the effect to an emotion, if that makes sense.”. He adds, “Our Animation Team learned that rather than one style fit all, different moments have different needs and elemental energies. They referenced that real elements evoke emotions depending on their energy… and those energies we were trying to tie into those performances.”.

Though this hasn’t taken eight years to make like other studio classics like Up and Coco, Elemental certainly has been challenging for Sohn and the Crew in a good way. “There were so many moments where the Crew was like, ‘We’re not gonna be able to do this’, and there was such a passion of what they had all done. I’ve never done anything this personal before, but it was an emotional experience for me because the Crew connected to this and put all of that love into the Film and I can’t wait for the audience to finally see the Movie.”.

On a parting note. Sohn is asked by Moderator Marriska Fernandes which element he identifies with most, He says, “I wish I was more fire but I am a sap… that emotional side is what I click with, so I’m water for sure.”.

Walt Disney Studios Canada release Disney•Pixar’s ELEMENTAL June 16, 2023.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Walt Disney Studios Canada)