Elemental goes to Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar on Wednesday, September 13. Pixar’s latest animation project, set in a bustling city where anthropomorphic elements of nature live and breathe like ordinary people, arrives 82 days after its slightly delayed June 23 cinema opening in India. In the US and elsewhere, the film was released a week earlier on June 16, which represented an 89-day gap. That’s one day short of the 90-day period Disney has set for its new movies, a number that has inflated over time as a means of forcing more people into the cinema and driving more VoD purchases; In fact, select theaters across India are still showing Elemental.
In India, Elemental will be available to stream in just two languages - English and Hindi – continuing Disney’s trend of poor localization for movies not from the Marvel Cinematic Universe or something as monumental as Avatar: The Way of Water. Previously, animated films had a 30-day window before coming to streaming services, which now seems to have increased dramatically across the entire Disney catalog regardless of how they perform at the box office. Elemental has grossed $480.2 million (approximately Rs. 3,995 crore) worldwide to secure its place as the ninth highest-grossing film of the year, despite divisive reviews praising its visuals but criticizing its narrative aspect.
Elemental City’s fun fictional subway is a place where humanoid representations of fire, water, land, and earth live in harmony. This draws our focus to the blossoming relationship between a fiery young woman Ember and a cool, compliant man Wade who represents the liquid element. It’s clear they’re not meant to be together, which the film further emphasizes by portraying each element as awkward, incompatible neighbors – a kind of racial allegory represented by quirky, anthropomorphic characters. Like any other Disney animated film, Elemental also features the lingering theme of finding your purpose, which in Ember’s case is to not inherit or run her father’s restaurant. The film is directed by Peter Sohn, who previously directed The Good Dinosaur.
In addition to the base film Elemental, September 13 also brings the making-of documentary Good Chemistry: The Story of Elemental and the 2009 animated short film based on Up, Carl’s Date to Disney+ Hotstar. In it we follow old Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) who reluctantly agrees to a date at the request of his dog Dug, but realizes he has no idea how dating works these days. The short marked one of Asner’s last appearances before his death in 2021 and was shown in theaters alongside Elemental.
Elemental will be released on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar on September 13. In India, the film will be available to stream in English and Hindi.