Elemental: ANOTHER Box Office DISASTER for Pixar...

[Music]

folks I think it's safe to say that

Pixar has been struggling and it's

really weird to say it because like this

is the studio who had a unprecedented

and I mean that like name one other

company or Studio or just anybody who

came close to the winning streak that

Pixar LED during the 2000s it is

unrivaled like the best I can think of

is maybe like the Disney Renaissance and

I'm even thinking out outside of

Animation well I'm thinking of like you

know I guess the Harry Potter you know

I'm like I'll count that that was a

Clear Vision Pixar was dropping hit

after hit after hit of original content

original ideas and movies and stories

that were critically acclaimed and

financially juggernauts they were

Unstoppable like there's no wonder why

we look at Pixar and say you're one of

the greatest of all time once I say that

and I unjust but I think it's also fair

to say that Pixar assembled this past

you know decade or so they started to

stumble in the 2010s and they had their

hits they had some good ones like inside

out Coco I thought Monsters University

was pretty good but then you have things

like Brave wasn't that great in my

opinion I thought that Cars 2 wasn't

that good and it just never really

seemed like they could ever recapture

That Glory era and I'm gonna talk about

Pixar in a future video where I go more

in depth with it I'll actually have a

script so I know what I'm talking about

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Elemental a movie where like just

judging the lay of the land a lot of

folks are like yo screw this movie I

don't care it looks awful I'm like whoa

hold on whoa hold on what's going on

here when I first saw the like the

concept for Elemental I thought hey it

looks kind of cute kind of fun fire and

water and elements okay that's something

that's very Universal to us humans you

know we we all know what a fire is fire

R we don't know we know about Earth I

watched avatar The Last Airbender I know

what's up guys elements are currently

hot in the streets right now James

Cameron is trying to do the same thing

with the water tribe and his own avatar

but honest to God you know elements fire

water ground air it's just things that

we know everyone it's very very

accessible and I think that ended up

being a bit of a detriment and a weird

twist of fate for the marketing and the

I guess concept being introduced to

audiences and consumers for Pixar

because I mean I just I'm surprised how

many people online and even friends of

mine who are like I don't care this

seems like such a novelty concept you

know what if what if elements what

emotions and that's always been the

thing for like the running joke with

Pixar like I saw this pop up in the

2010s where folks are like new Pixar

their their formula is what if blank but

emotions you know what a toy is but have

emotions what a fish what if emotions

had emotions you know and I'm like

that's funny you know I I get it but now

it's starting to become a bit more

obvious where it's like yeah it's a very

formulaic approach and it's to say like

because folks are like well you need

emotions you your movie because Pixar's

never made a terrible movie alright even

cars too I know what a bad movie looks

like folks trust me look at my channel

and you would know that I'm an authority

on that matter Pixar's never made a

terrible movie they've made

underwhelming films and it's only

Amplified because they've made fantastic

movies but like that's the problem is

it's Pixar's Legacy and how Pixar

nowadays is trying to live up to it and

how it's been very difficult but it's

also a lot of internal politics and

issues can ignore the mouse can ignore

you know the that jerk with Lassiter

there's just It's just tough they're in

tough Waters right now and if anything

Elemental is kind of being thrown under

the bus and it's a shame because the

movie's not bad as I'll talk about here

now because I'm just kind of ranting now

I will say this though the box office

projections for Elemental do not look

good this movie costs more than both

spider-verse 2 and the Mario movie

combined uh Elemental costs 200 million

to make I think this was the projection

it might make 30 million back its first

weekend that's bad

it's not good and and Pixar's been

having really bad luck with just you

know theatrical releases because of

covet because of streaming because of

Disney and it's also like that

conspiracy theory of folks saying like

it's Disney's sabotaging Pixar I don't

believe that because that would work

against Disney's you know like

shareholders and and making money no why

would you do that to yourself but like

as far as this being a very expensive

project that's not clicking whether it's

because of the marketing or lack thereof

or maybe this is just a concept folks

just aren't clicking with that seems to

be a very common thing right now I've

been noticing where people are just like

meh I'm good I don't care which wasn't

the case for turning red

um but also like light year came out

afterwards and folks were just kind of

like meh to that as well including

myself I thought light year was a big

letdown it's been interesting it's been

an interesting Journey for Pixar ever

since like Toy Story 4 but I digress

I'll talk about that some other time by

the way spoilers going into this

um if you want to avoid spoilers then

don't watch this video

uh but I will say that I did enjoy this

movie I thought it was a good film I

thought it was better than Luca and

Seoul and definitely better than onward

much better than light year uh it's one

of the better films that come from Pixar

as of late and my expectations though

we're low so I can't discount that you

know I went to see a spider verse two

and I'm like my expectations are high

and they were met Mario movie my

expectations were low and I was whelmed

though after the fact I'm just kind of

like that was really just a very very

plain generic average movie but who

would have guessed it's illumination of

course for Elemental I went into it I'm

like is this not going to be good oh man

everyone else is saying it's gonna be

bad okay here we go watched it I'm like

okay you know it said solid but it was

definitely a Pixar film you know

watching I'm like Yep this is a Pixar

movie uh it hits all the Bingo you know

points how do you play bingo I don't

know it got my bingo card it's like

family issues check you know inner

introspective emotional turmoil check

you know uh taking uh some fictional

lens and applying a very humanizing

storytelling element to it check you

know Pixar and it's a it's a formula

that has worked and it's not a bad

formula I think it's just that it's

getting kind of derivative just a bit uh

I mean I think it's because people are

growing up and cultures shift and and

the landscape is changing and and Pixar

needs to shift with it but I digress all

right so my big thing about this film is

asking myself how does this world work

all right I saw the trailer oh my God

it's like a dytopia but with elements

because I remember like watching

zootopia I'm like how does this world

work in zootopia with Disney Animation

those folks went above and beyond to

explain the world like there's even an

entire intro sequence where they're like

you got Judy Hopps going through like

the on the train traveling through

zootopia all the different kind of like

uh environments for different animals

and all the uh just the degree that the

city goes to to help accommodate this

and make it work and I'm like that's a

lot of cool effort that's neat I love it

I I'm I there's still a question where

I'm like how's the economy work with

like elephants versus mice but like I'm

like you know what you've done enough

homework and enough effort to make me

believe this let's go well for Elemental

I'm like wait it sounds like a water can

just straight up kill fire like just Ai

and there's a there's a part of the city

where there's like a water train that

goes over fire town and the water just

blasts off the side of the train tracks

and I'm like that could kill people

that's a lawsuit how is there not some

class action lawsuit right now the

synopsis of the film when that gets

concept and its premise it doesn't

really make sense to me because it's

like okay how does the city work how are

not people

every second because of how elements

don't really mix that well and I know

that's kind of like the point of the

movie like the metaphor fire and water

don't mix uh let's okay let's take that

lens and apply it to human culture and

and stereotypes and bigotry where like

the fire people are like it's a Koreans

because like the direction of this movie

uh Peterson he directed a good dinosaur

he's worth a Pixar for 23 years and this

is a very personal story for him because

he's a uh a Korean immigrant his parents

were the first generation that went to

New York and instead of shop there and

this is a very much so part of his story

and his very personal life and I really

respect it I appreciate that it's also

really sad because his parents died

during the production of this movie and

it's like oh it's really bitter like

it's a Bittersweet beautiful sadness to

it and Peter like did a good job like

Peter's a good Creator uh I just feel

like sometimes it's just like the

climate of Pixar right now isn't working

to his favor and a lot of folks are

taking this compounded frustration with

Pixar and just dumping it on Elemental

um but hey you know I think there's

layers that peel back for that and ask

why I digress again I'm sorry

um I'm just reading with bullet points

here Folks by the way I'm stupid but

yeah the entire Logistics of the city

how it works uh it just doesn't make

sense to me

um I I just I'm constantly questioning

it how does fire not burn down

everything there's a scene where like

Ember and her father to flashback

they're trying to go into like some kind

of like uh exhibit to see a flower and

like they're like you can't come in here

you'll burn everything down and they're

like you can't do that you know it's a

discrimination I'm like well you know

you're fire you're you're actively

destructive I actually don't even know

how you're walking and not burning the

road like that's that's that's something

I kind of just rubbed me the wrong way

where I'm like how do I explain this

fire is uh it hurts if you touch it and

it can be destructive uh and to take

that as a conduit and then say it's like

a Korean immigrated family

um that's what it's like I'm just kind

of like oh that's an interesting way of

putting it because like humans are

humans are humans but fire and water are

like physically speaking you know of

course very different they're they're

completely different so I just kind of

felt this really weird like I see what

you're getting at movie with your themes

I see what you're trying to do with your

metaphors and your allegories but it's

just kind of weird to me and I just

don't know if it makes much sense in the

grand scheme it works I guess at the end

you know when they stick to the landing

but to me I'm like this feels just it

feels almost like there's too much of a

divide being like people are profoundly

different almost to the point of Fire

and Water they can't even mix and I'm

like okay but like but we're humans all

of us are humans we actually can mix

actually if anything if reality is worse

because we humans will have a bunch of

an excuse we're just but just

let's just stick through the fire

walking around I'm like yeah you burn

everything down I can kind of understand

why you need your own corner of the city

to survive and so much of this is uh

paying homage and it's based on like

immigrant families like Koreans who we

come over uh because that's what

happened for for Peter his family left

Korea during a very turbulent time in

that country a lot of folks did came to

America looking for possibilities

looking for hopes and and just a chance

to build a life that's safer and how

there's a lot of discrimination in that

process where other Americans were there

before are just being flat out racist

and jerks and and being bigots and how

there was a struggle and how a lot of

these immigrants needed to cut out their

own little town just so they could have

some of the former nucleus around and

and that makes sense you see that in

this movie with the fire family who

comes over I just think it's kind of

weird because like in the movie they're

like why did the fire parents leave the

Firelands a storm came by oh okay

uh why didn't you just stay and again

maybe I'm speaking of a place of

ignorance maybe so maybe maybe this is a

story that doesn't really resonate with

me with my questions compared to others

uh and I'm pretty sure that's that is

you know the case I I think this is a

very much so a perspective thing and I

have to remind myself and I'm not trying

to say I actively discredited it but me

as a consumer as a viewer I think it's

fair I can only share my perspective

where I'm like huh uh if the fire folks

were fleeing their land because there

was a active threat and there was more

fire people on the boat who arrived with

them then I know that there was a

community that arrived to set up shop

not just two parents who had nothing

because to me I'm like man it's really

fortunate again that the other fire

folks eventually showed up too because

if not you would have been screwed

because uh I I in this world that is

just like literally death at every

corner with water I don't know why you

moved here and didn't just stay at home

and build up again uh but I I feel like

I'm splitting ends here Amber's the

daughter of the parents who arrived uh

she grows up and there's a shop that

they have and she takes a lot of Pride

from her father uh helping to run the

shop and eventually it's she's like

inheriting the shop she wants her father

to retire because he's been working

himself to death and for a lot of

immigrant families that is the case

everybody's like you have you work

yourself to the bone that first wave of

immigrants of people trying to build

something out of nothing they are some

of the most determined people period and

they do it to leave a legacy and help

their children it's a very very noble

cause and that's the premise of the

story is how Ember doesn't really want

to work at the store that it's not what

she she can't really even bring herself

to admit it she feels the pressure from

her father of of this mantle being

placed upon her that it's her family's

Legacy that she's afraid that if she

like lets it down it'll just collapse

everything it was all for nothing she's

a bad daughter that she can't live her

own life it's like these are really very

human emotions and and like to No

Surprise there's no villain in the movie

there hasn't been a villain a real

villain a Pixar film I think in a long

time

um but there was something that somebody

that did uh show up where I'm like has

pics I've ever done this before it's a

love story uh I can't really think that

there has been a love story for a Pixar

film I can't really think what I mean I

guess flick you know if A Bug's Life

kind of maybe but like it doesn't really

come to mind

um Wade is the water guy he's the city

inspector he shows up after Embers like

taking over the building and uh there's

all this water pouring in because of

like bad pipes and he has to close down

like ember's place and she's like no

this will kill my dad literally please

don't shut it down they're trying to

figure out why the water's pouring in

the entire time they're growing closer

uh Ember is fiery duh she's got a lot of

like you know inspiration and drive and

passion while weight is more you know

he's more crying he's more empathetic

he's a bit of a pushover and sad and

emotionally like just taking it all in

so you see their strengths you see their

quote unquote weaknesses how they

complement each other they work together

Inspire one another but opposite lives

you know you're fire on water how could

we be together the parents aren't a fan

of the water especially the parents uh

the dad the dad's like I don't want this

water guy he sucks but you see over time

how they're trying to open up about

their emotions how Wade lost his father

how he learns from Ember that there is

like

um life is brief and you have to seize

the moment and how they both just rub

off at each other and fall in love and

I'm like wow I love starting a Pixar

film you know cool uh and also there's

like I guess I guess I mean tell me if

I'm wrong folks but this is like an

interracial thing I would imagine you

know I actually have no other way of of

how to even like you know how else do

you spit it

um with just the vehemently opposite uh

cultures and people and and how it's

like oh you're you're a water guy you

know you're you're your bougie Tower

with your family we are all insulated

and it's like you know there's some

friction there and it works and and you

see Amber kind of struggle with trying

to accept the reality of the situation

where she like doesn't want to run the

shop she wants to be a glass blower she

wants to use the glass to build homes

for the water folks again this is a very

uh where's Utopia I felt like the world

kind of took into account like things to

protect the small animals and this world

it's like if you're fired do not come to

the city you will die and also I'm a

little bit confused by the other

elements too like the ground you know

that the fire like eats wood to like

repair themselves unlike is the wood

from the plant people and there's water

and then there's water people so is that

just dead water like Waits and his dad

died how does water die how does this

work this world doesn't make sense I'm

confused how can the Firefox even go

anywhere without burning feeding down

what's the cloud people their air but

it's a cloud that's just water in a

different form what's does it makes

and I was asking myself am I

overthinking this am I being am I being

a jerk am I am I specifically asking too

many questions and not letting my my uh

you know I need to suspend my disbelief

and I'm like no it's just there's just

so many things where it doesn't make

sense and you better believe there's a

lot of gags in this film but I'd say

we're like a negligible degree of like

you know fire water what if you know

water person gets hit by a car oh

they're fine but uh I was just asking a

lot of questions the entire time and I'm

like city inspector uh OSHA more like

close this city down when everyone's

done everyone's dying but I will say

this though the characterization is

great I think there's some really

fantastic designs I think the designs

are great I think the concepts it really

needs I think they got really creative

with like using like Ember with how she

her her form will change the color the

way she flickers same thing with Wade

with crying and how he takes different

shapes there's a lot of creativity uh

that's not just cliches or tropes or or

grabbing the lowest hanging fruit to

make a very you know whole joke about

elements there's there's some you know

there's some thought there's something

that's the thing is Pixar never has

fallen off when it comes to like

inspiration purpose passion dedication

because visually speaking this film's

beautiful I mean there's a lot of

thought there's a lot of some of those

things where we have to admit as viewers

who don't know animation where we don't

we don't work in the industry there's a

lot of things we take for granted where

if someone broke it down like who worked

on this film they'd be like you have no

idea how hard this is you have no idea

uh and that's I guess that's just the

way it is because we're consumers we we

don't have the time to get you know to

know how the sausage gets made we just

want to eat it and move on so it's a

interesting Dynamic but that being said

like seeing how ember's body and Wade's

body are constantly shifting like it's

always moving uh they're features their

eyes their body it's that's really

fascinating I think it's a really neat

that's a neat idea and I enjoyed it a

lot and again ember's design I think

she's hot oh my God no I did not just

say that was enough me dude where do I

go from there on

but I suppose overall uh because I'm

just ranting at this point I can see the

themes I can see the metaphors I can see

the sincere authentic very personal

story from Peter and what he's trying to

share I can see how this is a movie that

came from the heart I can see how

there's a lot of effort and and Merit in

this movie but man it it really just

goes to show that I think it's just

Pixar's filmography in a macro sense

that is making it really hard for folks

to really care about Elemental and that

sucks it sucks to see a film you know be

holding the bag and and there's this

this accrued sense of of just like I'm

good from viewers who are like I've seen

this before we're good you know it's

like inside out meets zootopia but with

water and fire I'm good man that sucks

because this movie is not bad at all

it's good I actually think it's really

really good but like also the music and

the audio mixing really good isn't one

there's a Wonderful soundtrack I think

it's fantastic so I guess overall all uh

this movie I was satisfied good pacing

solid themes uh logistically a nightmare

with the world and it's a problem it

took me out of it a lot I think against

Utopia did a better job but at the heart

of it all with the characters the story

and the journey I think it's pretty damn

good I just think that Pixar right now

is stuck I think they need to get bold I

think this the fact that folks got more

hyped for a for a sequel to a Shrek

spin-off and said movie Puss in Boots 2

was unbelievably good and and felt new

both on a narrative level and Visually

says it can be done people are just

hungry for something different and Pixar

keeps giving up they keep serving up

their signature dish that we've been

having for like you know only 30 years

so change it up get bold try something

different you all can do it I know you

can uh I think you need a spider verse

you need you need something to really

kick into high gear and go and I know

like the folks who work their care and

I'll talk about more in my future video

I want to have empathy here with the

same time like there's a reason why we

have a standard for Pixar because they

defined 3D animated films in a way that

no one else will ever come close to ever

again but those are my overall thoughts

about

um Elemental where there's some

predictable uh plot points and and

things on my bingo card yeah you betcha

but uh still done well uh Hey folks if

you saw the film let me know what you

think Down Below in the comments uh

would you bang Ember

are you more of a Wade kind of guy I

mean look at that cake I should go to

church all right uh see you all next

time

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thank you