Disney/Pixar's Elemental debuting Summer 2023

[BrianL]

I saw Elemental tonight. It's really good - creative and interesting with the usual Pixar feels. Renderman was working overtime I might add with all of the fire and water effects - the detail is breathtaking! The story follows a typical young couple in an impossible love type thing, but it's so interesting. It's a little like Zootopia, but more forthright with it's allegory. It feels like a classic Pixar movie, which is no bad thing. I highly recommend it.

 

[tinkerhon]

Just back--- saw it in 3D--- 3D or no 3D, in a word... its breathtaking !! We absolutely loved it !!! The score is hauntingly beautiful, and perfect for the theme- the love story is so touching, and so well done ---- the main theme (behind the love story) might be a reach for the little, little ones, but my guess is that they will love it anyway-- I asked DS12 how he would describe it, and he said ... "Dad, its like the most beautiful dream just came to life!"

 

[leiaorgana]

Haven't seen it yet but my friend saw it last night and she couldn't say enough good things about it. She really loved it and said it was a wonderful story and that she really liked the relationship between the 2 main characters. She was a big fan of the recent Little Mermaid live action film too. She's not one to mince her words so I trust her review of it to me and I'm looking forward to seeing it when I have the chance.

 

[tinkerhon]

Haven't seen it yet but my friend saw it last night and she couldn't say enough good things about it. She really loved it and said it was a wonderful story and that she really liked the relationship between the 2 main characters. She was a big fan of the recent Little Mermaid live action film too. She's not one to mince her words so I trust her review of it to me and I'm looking forward to seeing it when I have the chance.

I would see it again in a heartbeat !!! Our audience (packed house) ate it up !! Huge applause at the end !!

 

[E&Cmom]

I came to read the reviews here before buying tickets for Sunday. It is our Father’s Day plans. My family especially DH Pixar fans and my eldest is an Illustration Major so a great Father’s Day activity for us. Glad to see the positive reviews.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

We really enjoyed it. Was it my favorite movie ever? No. But I don’t regret the $50 I spend on ticket (for a regular showing, at 10:30 in the morning !).

 

[Skippyboo]

I saw it this afternoon. I liked it. Thought it was going to be a Romeo Juliet type movie but’s it’s really not.

 

[E&Cmom]

We saw it today and love it. The animation for the fire was amazing.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ Falls Flat, Adding to Worries About the Brand​

The original animated film took in $29.5 million at the box office, by far the worst opening in Pixar’s three-decade history.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, if everyone says this movie is good and looks great, what do you attribute the really bad opening weekend to?

 

[Smugpugmug]

Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ Falls Flat, Adding to Worries About the Brand​

The original animated film took in $29.5 million at the box office, by far the worst opening in Pixar’s three-decade history.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, if everyone says this movie is good and looks great, what do you attribute the really bad opening weekend to?

My two cents...

1. Lots of competition for movies this month (June). Many people might not have enough time and money to go see multiple movies per month, so they're pickier with what to go see.
2. Trailer made the movie look boring and generic. Not saying it is, but that is the impression many people got from the trailer. I see this sentiment a lot on other social media sites like Twitter and Reddit. For some people, it did not look like a "MUST see" movie in the theater.
3. In the same vein as 1, people may be waiting for it to drop on Disney+ rather than spend the money to go see it in the theater
4. General fatigue/disinterest in Pixar movies for X, Y and Z reasons.

 

[BrianL]

My two cents...

1. Lots of competition for movies this month (June). Many people might not have enough time and money to go see multiple movies per month, so they're pickier with what to go see.
2. Trailer made the movie look boring and generic. Not saying it is, but that is the impression many people got from the trailer. I see this sentiment a lot on other social media sites like Twitter and Reddit. For some people, it did not look like a "MUST see" movie in the theater.
3. In the same vein as 1, people may be waiting for it to drop on Disney+ rather than spend the money to go see it in the theater
4. General fatigue/disinterest in Pixar movies for X, Y and Z reasons.

I don't really think it's a "Pixar Brand" problem. Most movie-goers don't even care what studio made a movie, or they may not even know. Toy Story is a brand. Cars is a brand. I bet a new entry for either of those would still do well. It's the unkown and original concepts that falter as audiences right now want that "comfort food" more than risky properties. It's unfortunate but true.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I don't really think it's a "Pixar Brand" problem. Most movie-goers don't even care what studio made a movie, or they may not even know. Toy Story is a brand. Cars is a brand. I bet a new entry for either of those would still do well. It's the unkown and original concepts that falter as audiences right now want that "comfort food" more than risky properties. It's unfortunate but true.

I think your first point is also another issue. Pixar movies look so similar to the Walt Disney Animation Studios projects in terms of style that it makes it hard to differentiate them.

And I've also seen the sentiment of the Pixar brand problem across social media, so I think it does exist though probably not in a massive form.

 

[BrianL]

I think your first point is also another issue. Pixar movies look so similar to the Walt Disney Animation Studios projects in terms of style that it makes it hard to differentiate them.

And I've also seen the sentiment of the Pixar brand problem across social media, so I think it does exist though probably not in a massive form.

But that's from people who post on social media about animation and Dinsey in general. That's not the majprity of the movie-going audience no matter how much impact that they think they have. It's hard for us nerds to picture, but most people who are considered movie-goers only see one or two movies in theaters a year and many of those don't even decide what they are seeing until they get there! That's where fortunes are made or lost.

 

[Karin1984]

I think I'll go for option 2.
My first thought was: This looks great, but this story I have seen a thousand times before.
I think more people had that.

And next to that a lot of competition.

 

[tinkerhon]

Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ Falls Flat, Adding to Worries About the Brand​

The original animated film took in $29.5 million at the box office, by far the worst opening in Pixar’s three-decade history.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, if everyone says this movie is good and looks great, what do you attribute the really bad opening weekend to?

Ton of competition, and the marketing for the movie was terrible -- absolutely terrible--- because its really a very good movie !!!

 

[BrianL]

Ton of competition, and the marketing for the movie was terrible -- absolutely terrible--- because its really a very good movie !!!

Marketing was a big issue in this case for sure.

 

[Karin1984]

Ton of competition, and the marketing for the movie was terrible -- absolutely terrible--- because its really a very good movie !!!

Good point, besides the trailers on youtube, I haven't seen much marketing here in the Netherlands. Similar to Strange World.

The Little Mermaid was everywhere.

 

[tinkerhon]

Good point, besides the trailers on youtube, I haven't seen much marketing here in the Netherlands. Similar to Strange World.

The Little Mermaid was everywhere.

Good point, besides the trailers on youtube, I haven't seen much marketing here in the Netherlands. Similar to Strange World.

The Little Mermaid was everywhere.

Exactly... and the merchandise marketing not that great either--- hard to find anything for the kids.. did see some stuff at shopdisney, and Hot Topic has some adult clothing

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Unless this movie has insanely good legs it will likely lose $100+ million dollars. I want to see Disney turn it around, and they really could use a hit right now.

- Bad movie performance
- Bad Disney+ performance
- Bad stock price performance
- Extensive layoffs of over 7,000 employees
- Two senior executives leaving in one week

We desperately need some good Disney news right now.

 

[BrianL]

Unless this movie has insanely good legs it will likely lose $100+ million dollars. I want to see Disney turn it around, and they really could use a hit right now.

- Bad movie performance
- Bad Disney+ performance
- Bad stock price performance
- Extensive layoffs of over 7,000 employees
- Two senior executives leaving in one week

We desperately need some good Disney news right now.

Honestly, those senior executives leaving is probably a good thing. Iger has some house-cleaning to do in general.