This article appears in the new issue ofDEN OF GEEKmagazine.
Ember and Wade, the odd couple at the center ofPixarsElemental, are visual effects confections unlike any other.
In the early stages ofElementals production, Sohn lost his father, one of the storys main inspirations.
That resentment found its way into early iterations of the story.
I definitely went off the rails.
That was a really dark place for me.
Tragically, Sohn lost his mother near the end of the filmmaking process as well.
It shook him to his core.
That darker aspect of the story is still part of the movie, Sohn explains.
I wanted the story to be about inclusion and love.
Xenophobia and all it encompassesracism, economic discriminationare directly addressed within the greater metaphor.
But as Sohn says, theres much more to the story than that.
They had gone through a war.
They came to the country without knowing any English.
There were a lot of obstacles for them.
But Sohn emphasizes that their story isnt preaching to audiences about the virtues of cultural amalgamation.
Wade is a mirror character, Sohn explains.
Hes not there to teach anything.
Wade is there to show Ember who she is.
But for him, going to that uncomfortable place was an absolute necessity.
But thats just a part of making art.
Elementalreleases in theaters on June 16.
