Disney Pixar’s new movie Elemental, released on Tuesday, June 6th, has taken Pixar in a whole different direction. As the film is Pixar’s second-lowest box office debut, it finally introduced its first non-binary character. With the premise of introducing Earth’s elements, the main character Ember Lumen’s younger sibling, Lake, goes by they/them pronouns. The actress who voices Lake, Kai Ava Houser, seemed ecstatic for the role. She commented on Twitter, as per Daily Mail, “Big Announcement! I got to play Pixar’s first non-binary character.” The film also features the voices of Leah Lewis, who plays Ember, and Mamoudou Athie, who voices Ember’s friend Wade Ripple.
Other cast members include Ronnie del Carmen, Shelia Omni, Wendy McLendon-Convey, Catharine O’Hara, Mason Worthemier and Joe Pera. There is also a heavy French filled cast, including Athie himself.
The story takes place in Element City, where all the elements live in peace and harmony. Though Wade and Embers friendship seems to challenge Ember’s beliefs about the world they live in. Even with efforts to save Ember’s family store. According to Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, told Daily Mail that the movie “is so funny, full of heart, and frankly stunning to see. It was created for audiences to experience on the big screen and I love that it will make its world premiere at Cannes.” It is all thanks to director and storyteller Peter Sohn.
Given Pixar’s criticism for a lack of LGBT+ representation, the story manages to explore themes such as xenophobia and intercultural differences. Differences highlighted between how different earth’s elements can be, even when they live in harmony. Despite the film only making 29.5 million and being a flop a major flop in the box office, hopefully it can be Pixar’s first major step in inclusiveness in its films.
