Op-Ed: Pixar's 'Elemental' Replaces 'Zootopia' as the Perfect Immigrant Story Minus the Copaganda

Critics loved Pixar’s Elemental (2023). But it suffered a lackluster opening weekend, continuing a downward streak for The Walt Disney Company’s animation departments. So what happened?

Related: Peter Sohn Explains Why ‘Elemental’ Will Be Better Than ‘The Good Dinosaur’

Despite a few trailers and a limited-time addition to World of Color at Disneyland Resort, the Elemental marketing was lackluster and confusing. When the reviews called it the perfect immigrant story, fans were confused. Based on the trailers, I believed I was in for a combination of Zootopia (2016) and Inside Out (2015). Here are all the elements, here’s how it all works, and they all live together in harmony. Yay!

So when I sat down in my local movie theater late last Thursday, I was sure my review would be “Cute, but forgettable.” I had already put Elemental in the category of other recent Pixar flops like Lightyear (2022) and The Good Dinosaur (2015). But I was so wrong.

Instead, I left inspired and engaged. What I witnessed was a story of family love and what it means to sacrifice everything for a better life. Elemental juggles the desire to please your family with the need to live your own life. Once again, Pixar told a love story about more than the hilarious couple at its center, one that’s approachable to children but offers deeper meaning for adults.

Some reviewers maintained that Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia would remain the superior animated immigration story with its massive box office success, subsequent animated series, and the upcoming sequel. But as much as I loved the film upon its release, Zootopia aged like milk.

Premiering just four years before 2020’s nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, it’s easy to cringe at the clear and present pro-police propaganda behind the lead character, Judy Hopps. While the movie is also about her relationship with Nick Wilde and the mysterious illness harming the animals, Hopps’s dream of becoming a police officer is central to Zootopia. 

The message of co-existence remains inspiring but difficult to swallow when millions of Americans still fear police brutality. Sure, Disney movies are fictional. But the implication that it was easy for different species to instantly get along after years of mistreatment and conflict, all centered around the difficult life of a police officer… it doesn’t sit right anymore.

Elemental is a love story between its lead characters: Ember Lumen, the fiery daughter of an immigrant shop owner, and Wade Ripple, a city inspector from a wealthy family. But it’s so much more than that. The couple grapples with the inability to touch because of their differences but also addresses Wade’s privilege.

Ember doesn’t feel she has the luxury to do what she wants because her family sacrificed so much. Wade feels she should express her feelings over everything else. And her parents? They want their little girl to be happy… but not with water, when water people have historically mistreated them.

The Lumen family adjusted to life in a city that wasn’t built for them. They created a self-sufficient community despite the constant hatred around them – all because they wanted to protect their daughter. And in the end, they all realized that the real dream was their daughter’s happiness, not the shop they built for stability.

Elemental addresses generational trauma, revealing the shaky relationship between Ember’s father and grandfather and his efforts to break the cycle. It addresses generational wealth and the luxury Wade has to live based on his desires instead of struggling to get by. It reminds us that we can all work harder to understand each other and the complicated backstories that make us who we are today.

How does Elemental (2023) compare to Zootopia (2016? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.