Pixar Disney's 'Elemental' Stars Explain Film’s Love Story To The Sacrifices Of Parents

Blavity

Watch Pixar Disney's 'Elemental' Stars Explain Film’s Love Story To The Sacrifices Of Parents - Blavity on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00 I'm actually gonna start with you.

00:01 If you had to describe Ember in a sentence or three words,

00:05 what would they be?

00:06 - Ember is fierce, family-oriented,

00:12 hardworking, and loyal to herself

00:15 and all the people that she cares about.

00:16 - A lot more than three words.

00:18 - She said, "Or a sentence."

00:20 - Okay.

00:20 (laughing)

00:21 - Oh!

00:22 - I'm having the last bit.

00:24 - This is a joke.

00:25 - Absolutely.

00:26 - You only get three words, though.

00:27 - Yeah.

00:28 You know what?

00:28 That's a fair trade.

00:29 That's what I deserve, y'all.

00:31 - Yes, and so, Mamadou, for your three words,

00:34 or a sentence, or weight, what would they be?

00:37 - Emotional.

00:41 Open.

00:47 Warm.

00:50 - Those are great.

00:52 - We both had, "Mm."

00:52 - Those are great.

00:53 - It's nice to be warm.

00:54 - Yeah.

00:55 And Leah, I also wanted to know,

00:58 where would you say we as viewers find Ember

01:01 at the start of the film

01:03 versus where we are left with her by the end?

01:06 - Wow.

01:07 What a great question.

01:08 Like, Ember in the beginning of the film,

01:10 I think she's very much set in her routine.

01:12 She has her family, and that's all she really needs.

01:15 She has her community, and she even says that to Claude.

01:17 Like, it would take an act of God

01:19 to get me over to that bridge.

01:20 - Or an act of Claude.

01:21 - Yeah, I used to slap her.

01:22 (laughing)

01:23 - I could feel it.

01:25 But, you know, by the end of the film,

01:26 after being so closed off

01:28 and not very inviting to other elements,

01:31 you actually find that, I mean, throughout the whole film,

01:34 Wade really helps her, you know,

01:36 see water people in a different light,

01:38 and also other elements, too.

01:40 She really gets to see their strengths

01:41 and realize that, you know,

01:43 people are all kinda after the same thing.

01:45 They just wanna belong, and they wanna feel love.

01:47 And so she's pretty open by the end.

01:49 I mean, she has enough courage to even tell her father,

01:52 like, the big thing,

01:52 that she didn't wanna follow that path.

01:55 And that's huge, 'cause she was very scared

01:57 in the beginning of the film,

01:58 but I think it was very masked as defensiveness.

02:02 - Yeah, and Mamoudou, you know,

02:04 Wade is very emotionally intelligent, in my opinion.

02:08 - Yeah, he is.

02:09 - Yet, Ember is a bit opposite

02:10 when it comes to expressing her emotions.

02:12 In what ways will viewers discover

02:15 that love comes in all forms and fashion,

02:17 through elemental?

02:19 - Say that again.

02:20 - Yeah, in what, I'm sorry.

02:21 In what ways will viewers kinda

02:24 be able to see how

02:28 love is expressed differently?

02:30 Like, it's okay to express love in different ways.

02:33 - I mean, it's just one of those things where just,

02:38 when you see somebody that's so themselves,

02:41 it's just like, it just makes you so comfortable,

02:44 and it kinda makes you wanna do the same thing.

02:46 Not imitate that person being themself,

02:49 but like, just share yourself in your most authentic self,

02:52 because it really is, it's attractive.

02:56 It's a wonderful thing to see somebody just be open

02:59 and share who they are.

03:01 And I think that kind of love, that self-love,

03:03 can only attract that kind of genuine love

03:06 from other people, and it just kinda spreads that way.

03:09 - Yeah, that was great.

03:10 And lastly, for both of y'all, while this is--

03:14 - Every time, every time, I answer the question.

03:16 (laughing)

03:19 - And lastly, while this is such a beautiful love story,

03:22 it's also a story about what it means to be that firstborn

03:26 or that only child and the pressures that come with that.

03:29 So tell me, how did this story kinda mirror,

03:32 or was it art imitating life for you guys?

03:35 And we can start with you, Leah.

03:36 - I mean, in my case, my parents are not immigrants,

03:41 and I'm not a second-generation immigrant,

03:43 but they did adopt me from Shanghai, China,

03:47 and my life mirrored, I think,

03:51 Ember's parents' sacrifice in the way

03:53 that my parents gave up everything they possibly could

03:55 to help me fulfill my dream.

03:57 And that would've been absolutely crazy

03:58 if your little six-year-old or seven-year-old

04:00 was like, "This is my dream."

04:02 But they really believed in me,

04:03 and I do think that produced a sense of loyalty,

04:06 and not on their end, but for my own self,

04:08 a sense of expectation that, in the very end,

04:11 when I put so much pressure on myself,

04:12 my parents were like, "Why?

04:15 "We're just so happy that you're happy,

04:18 "and you don't need to live up to all these things

04:19 "that you think you need to be.

04:20 "You're just happy that you're you."

04:22 And that's kind of where Ember lands

04:24 at the end of the film, too, and like,

04:26 "God, I just love my parents."

04:28 But as we all struggle with growing up,

04:31 I definitely felt some of the growing pains

04:33 that she felt during this film, too,

04:34 when finding her own voice.

04:36 How about you?

04:37 - Aw, man, I just love that.

04:39 I don't even know, I was just,

04:41 oh, man, I wish I spoke to your parents more.

04:43 They seem so sweet as well.

04:44 - They were so jealous to meet you and your parents.

04:46 They were so happy.

04:47 - Yeah, I love that.

04:48 - But thank you.

04:49 - What was the question again?

04:51 - It was just, how is this art imitating life for you?

04:54 - Oh, right, oh my God.

04:56 Well, you know, it's funny, talking with Pete,

05:01 when I first met with Pete and just talking about the movie,

05:04 and we were talking about our experiences,

05:06 I came to the country when I was five months old,

05:08 I was a baby, and my parents really sacrificed

05:11 everything they had to just get over here

05:15 and start a new life.

05:16 And we share that same, I guess we all do,

05:22 share this debt of gratitude,

05:25 and that kind of, I remember Pete putting,

05:27 you feel like there's a debt that can never be fully repaid.

05:30 I feel that same way, but it's also not like a burden,

05:36 anymore, at least.

05:37 It's just like, my parents, your parents,

05:39 were at the premiere, and they--

05:40 - The debt of gratitude, that's a key thing.

05:43 - They were just so happy to see this beautiful thing

05:46 that we made as a result of also their efforts.

05:50 So we just kind of get to share in any successes

05:52 that we all have, so it's very cool.

05:55 - I love that, well, thanks y'all so much,

05:57 and I really love the film.

05:58 - Yeah, thank you. - Thank you.

05:59 - Pete, I'm actually gonna start with you,

06:01 because the dictionary defines elemental

06:04 as embodying the power of nature.

06:06 How does the film showcasing how having authority

06:09 over our emotions really allow that?

06:13 - I always took it as, for this film, for human nature,

06:17 in terms of how we connect,

06:19 and sort of the ingredients of all of that.

06:22 'Cause when we first started, these characters,

06:24 they were almost like superheroes,

06:25 throwing their water fire around,

06:28 but very soon, we discovered, like,

06:31 oh, they could also showcase emotions, the effects,

06:34 and so then it just started boiling down for that,

06:37 you know, the elemental, you know, the human,

06:40 the elements of our human nature.

06:42 - I love that, and Denise, while this is a love story

06:45 between Ember and Wade, it is also a story

06:47 about the pressures that come along

06:50 with being the firstborn or the only child.

06:53 Why was it important to highlight that in this film?

06:57 - I think it sort of started with, you know,

07:01 Pete's experience with his family,

07:03 and just realizing how much our parents sacrificed for us,

07:08 and how much we owe our family,

07:13 in terms of appreciating their sacrifices

07:16 and contributions to making our lives what they become.

07:21 - Absolutely, and at the end of the day,

07:24 this beautifully depicts the possibilities

07:26 that await us when we step outside of our comfort zone.

07:29 So tell me, how was bringing this story to life

07:32 a direct reflection of your personal journey?

07:36 - Yeah, when I was growing up, you know,

07:40 like we had a lot of pressure from our family

07:42 to marry within our culture, marry Korean.

07:44 My grandmother's dying words were like, "Marry Korean!"

07:47 And then she passed away.

07:48 And I fell in love with someone that wasn't,

07:51 and that created a lot of culture clash.

07:54 But slowly through that relationship,

07:56 even though there was a lot of sort of, you know,

08:00 misunderstandings and disconnections,

08:03 through love and really empathy,

08:05 that healed everything and sort of united,

08:07 and you know, my family now, we all love each other,

08:10 and it's all healed, but that was a big piece of it.

08:13 - Yeah, and what about the storyline

08:15 between Ember and Wade?

08:17 They both showcase love differently.

08:19 How do you hope that resonates with viewers?

08:22 - I think that hopefully they can identify

08:27 with the characters.

08:28 And I feel that we all,

08:33 that just, it's so, how important it is

08:35 to sort of open your heart to everyone around you.

08:39 Yeah.

08:41 - Yeah, and speaking of just opening your heart,

08:43 it really pulled on my heart strings,

08:46 because the film also touches on the immigrant experience.

08:50 So, specifically as it pertains to maintaining

08:53 all of those family customs that you touched on,

08:56 while still being open to others who may be different,

08:59 what was the reasoning behind like really painting

09:03 the full picture of that?

09:04 - Well, growing up, I grew up in New York,

09:09 and so much of it was, you know,

09:11 either trying to fit in or making, you know,

09:14 defining what your cultures were.

09:17 And growing up with that, you know,

09:22 at first I didn't really understand it,

09:23 but as, you know, I saw my parents interact,

09:25 could I see the real value of the richness

09:27 of that diversity and how it sort of really did

09:29 make us all better, that connection, you know,

09:31 made our community lives better, you know,

09:34 through food, through all the traditions,

09:35 it just made everything really rich and exciting.

09:39 And as cliche as that sounds,

09:43 it really moved my family forward

09:46 in so many different ways.

09:47 - Yeah, and Denise, like from beginning to now,

09:51 people are about to watch this film and really enjoy it.

09:54 What was the most exciting part of this journey for you?

09:58 - Wow, I mean, it's just, it's honestly just been

10:01 the entire journey from beginning to end.

10:04 What was exciting is getting a group of people together

10:07 that felt passionate about the project,

10:10 that there were a lot of people at Pixar

10:12 that personally connected to the story.

10:14 We have a lot of people at the studio

10:16 that have a similar background to Pete,

10:18 they're first or second generation immigrants.

10:20 So for me, that was what was most rewarding,

10:24 hearing their stories and then seeing those stories

10:27 that they're infused in the film.

10:29 And so that really does, is incredibly gratifying.

10:34 Yeah, it's been the most challenging thing I've ever done,

10:37 but also I would say the most gratifying,

10:40 the thing I'm most proud of having done.

10:42 - Yes, and how about you?

10:44 How do you feel?

10:45 - Yeah, the same.

10:46 I mean, like, you know,

10:47 this has been a love letter to our parents.

10:49 And so, you know, ever since this thing started,

10:52 it was all about trying to understand them more

10:54 and make those connections

10:55 and really appreciate all the sacrifices that they had made.

10:58 And as this film was going, I couldn't agree more.

11:01 Some of the stories that we got from our coworkers,

11:04 we tried to reflect in the film.

11:05 So anytime I watch the film now,

11:07 I'm always thinking of their stories

11:10 and how we all were really, really, you know,

11:13 sincerely trying to respect and honor all of that.

11:16 - Yes, well hats off to y'all.

11:18 It's an amazing story and I really enjoyed the film.

11:20 - Thank you.

11:21 - Thank you, Shanique.

Category

Transcript

Recommended