Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Elemental Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 21, 2023

Note: Disney sent the Wal-Mart retailer exclusive release of Elemental 4K for purposes of this review, but collectors should be aware there are both a Best Buy SteelBook and a Disney Movie Club edition available in the 4K UHD realm, in addition to the standalone 1080 release, which as of the writing of this review seems to be the only one available.

Mismatched partners are often described as going together like oil and water, but Elemental tweaks that slightly to ostensibly attempt to "combine" fire and water. I'm a bit of a religion / philosophy buff, and as such, I've long been interested in the history of what are often called the four "classical elements" that supposedly comprise all of the sensible (and in fact insensible) world, namely fire, water, air and earth. This quartet was originally promulgated by Empedocles, an ancient Greek philosopher, and it's rather interesting to note that Empedocles himself linked the elements to Greek Gods, Zeus, Hera, Nestis, and Aidoneus, in much the same way that later writers and thinkers would link the elements to the so-called "fourfold name of God", YHVH (often incorrectly translated as Jehovah), with Yod being fire, He primal being water, Vav being air, and He final being earth. The wizards at Pixar, having already brought all sorts of supposedly "inanimate" objects to life, might now be jokingly described as having moved on to concepts, which I guess maybe has already been explored in such related fare as Inside Out, and with regard to that Pixar - Disney collaboration which had a 3D release theatrically and on Blu-ray, as of the writing of this review it doesn't look like Elemental is going to get a 3D Blu-ray release.

As is obvious on a surface level, but also addressed in some of the supplements included with this release, there's a none too subtle reference to immigration to a so-called Promised Land in this story, with an opening vignette that documents the arrival of "fire creatures" Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen) and Cinder Lumen (Shila Ommi) arriving to Element City, a metropolis which houses creatures who are either fire, water, air or earth. Soon enough Bernie and Cinder have "sparked" a little one named Ember (Leah Lewis), who grows up to be something of a, well, hothead. Her Dad and Mom run a local shop which caters to other fire creatures, but when a plumbing emergency arises, water creature Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) shows up to effect a repair, and an instant love/hate relationship is fostered between Wade and Ember.

What's simultaneously kind of intriguing but also maybe a bit frustrating about Elemental is how it takes a rather unusual assortment of characters but then plops them down in a completely routine formula that will evoke memories of all sorts of other properties featuring mismatched couples and their families ranging from Romeo and Juliet to Bridget Loves Bernie. There's almost a built in irony in terms of some of the creative staff's assertions in supplements that they didn't want "human like" characters, because Ember, Wade and all of the many sidebar characters are seemingly intentionally humanized, if not physically in "true" human form. That perhaps introduces a slight feeling of disconnection, but Elemental has such an inviting design aesthetic and generally genial ambience that it may not really, um, matter (element pun intended) much.

As such, Elemental may come off as a, well, tale as old as time, given some new blandishments this time out courtesy of its concept. There's a lot of the Pixar genius at play in this piece (note, for example, how the dirigibles delivering air creatures deflate when they drop folks off, only to reinflate when they pick up new passengers), but there frankly may be too much happening in any given frame at one time to be able to properly process everything. That aspect may actually help at times to elide some of the

Elemental Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Elemental is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista and Pixar with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While I would strongly recommend those with the equipment to opt for the 4K UHD version for both its increased detail and HDR nuance, this 1080 version is a knockout presentation by any standard. Detail is superb throughout, though again I'd argue that the "believability" of some of the elements, notably both the fire and water creatures, may be aided by some of the added detail in the 4K UHD version. While not immune to the improvement in the 4K UHD version, I'd say the the nice looking detail on the earth creatures is probably the most impressive in this 1080 version. The film is a riot of production design, and it may pay some viewers to actually freeze frame at moments to take everything in. One thing that almost assaults the senses is the incredibly vivid palette, which tends to understandably be skewed toward reds and purples with the fire creatures, and more deep blues and teals with the water creatures. Those two sides of the spectrum ably cover the warmer and cooler tones, and if there's one minor flaw here, it's that a lot of the imagery plays out consistently in those extremes, without "meeting in the middle" all that often.

Elemental Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Elemental features an expressive DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, one which is itself beautifully immersive, with clear emanations from the surround channels starting with the Disney masthead music. And in fact Thomas Newman's score is a highlight here, offering superb engagement of all the side and rear channels and featuring some really gorgeous World Music approaches. I don't know if Newman had been listening to one of my favorite artists, AO Music, but his score reminded me quite a bit of Richard Gannaway's superb cross cultural productions, which often combine things like Miriam Stockley, ethnic choirs and pulsing multi-instrumental backgrounds (for those unaware of AO Music or who haven't yet heard Newman's work for this film, both can be reminiscent of certain compositions used in various Cirque du Soleil productions). The use of the elements of course provides recurrent and often quite fun effects, I'd say especially in the watery variety. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

I'm not sure if there's a general authoring error or I simply have a ghost (element?) in the machine, but this disc repeatedly defaulted to the DTS-HD HR 5.1 track rather than the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track in different players at disc boot up.

Elemental Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Carl's Date (HD; 7:49) is a wonderful short featuring the irascible human and dog duo from Up.


• Ember and Wade (HD; 10:14) addresses aspects like character design.


• Next Stop: Element City (HD; 10:13) gets into some of the thought process of crafting the metropolis for the elements, and it's kind of sweet that Sohn states he wanted it to feel "hopeful", something that is not always the case with real life big cities.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 10:43) features some introductions from Story Artists.


• Filmmaker Commentary features Peter Sohn, Sanjay Bakshi, Mike Venturini and a fourth female participant whose name I think might be Gwen Enderoglu, but who I can't find on the film's IMDb credits page.

As mentioned above, Disney sent their Wal-Mart 4K UHD release for purposes of this review, but it looks like this release comes with a digital copy and slipcover.

Elemental Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some who share my interest in ancient philosophies will know that some occult strands actually posited a fifth element, namely ether (often thought of as spirit), an element which actually gave birth to the term quintessential, and in that regard, as well intentioned and often brilliant as Elemental is, it may be lacking just a bit of that all important item. Lovers of inventive animation and nicely immersive sound design should still find this a delight for the senses, if not always for the intellect and/or heart. Technical merits are first rate, though I'd recommend getting the 4K UHD version if you're really interested in the film and have the proper equipment. Supplements are also appealing. Recommended.