Pixar’s Elemental: Filmmaker Peter Sohn’s personal tragedy infused the story

Filmmaker Peter Sohn’s parents both died during the production of Elemental, which very much informed the movie he made.

Elemental is in cinemas now. Picture: Pixar

Pixar’s last movie, Elemental, is a love story and a family story.

The love story is that of two opposite forces, fire and water, embodied in the characters of Ember and Wade, and how the impossible can happen if we all learn to find compassion for each other’s difference.

But there’s also the family story of Ember and her immigrant parents, a storyline very much informed by director Peter Sohn’s own experiences with his Korean-American parents who both died during the production of Elemental.

You can feel the personal investment of Sohn’s story in this accomplished film, and Sohn sat down with news.com.au at a Disney regional showcase event to preview Elemental.

Elemental is very much a love story. Is that where it started?

Yes, it did start there. It started off with what if fire fell in love with water. That was the main question that got us through all the development pitches. There’s the family drama too, but it’s all around the love story.

How much did the story evolve over time?

The north star has been trying to understand the love story even though the plot has changed and how they fall in love or don’t fall in love. That’s changed quite a bit as most Pixar movies do. They’re violent, you know, it’s constantly changing.

Is the north star a mission directive when you’re working on something?

That’s something I use for myself, I don’t think it’s a Pixar thing. It’s for me when you get into story troubles, trying to remember what the heart of the film is. And I do get lost.

There were parts of the story there because I had a lot of personal stuff that happened with my parents, and getting really emotional over it.

Peter Sohn directed Elemental. Picture: Valerie Macon/AFP

Did you end up working into the story what you were going through at the time?

I know there have been moments where I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, that got in there’. And that’s because I lost my dad early on in the production and I saw I had put my dad on a pedestal and my mum was a different thing.

I didn’t see that until we got to this one version of the story and everyone’s like, ‘You know what’s in there?’. I felt naked. Holy cow. It was really eye-opening for me to realise I’m still processing a lot of it through the making of this film.

I’m very sorry to hear about your dad.

Thank you. It’s an interesting part of it because both my mum and dad passed away during the making of this thing. And so much of this movie is about thanking our parents for the sacrifices they made.

When I was a kid, I took that for granted. But then as I grew older, the stories that they told me of coming from another country and trying to do this stuff, it hurt me so much in terms of, ‘I have to thank them for what they did’. And now they’re gone, that’s all I have.

It’s been this mania of making this movie. Am I doing it for them?

Once it premieres and you see it with all these people around you, will it be maybe a cathartic moment?

I don’t know. I’m kind of scared when you say that. But I’m super proud of the work that’s been going into it. It’s a really fun movie. There are all these characters that are pieces of all the crew and people making it.

There are little moments of a line of dialogue or a gesture, and the animator goes, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s so much like an immigrant mum’. It’s been really satisfying that way.

Opposites attract in Elemental. Picture: Pixar

Pixar movies often stir up these grand, emotional feelings. I’ve previously spoken to [Onward filmmaker] Dan Scanlon and [Luca filmmaker] Enrico Casarosa, and they both talked about their personal experiences influencing the stories they craft. Elemental sounds like a very personal story to you.

It’s been a really interesting balance to find out. I’ve learnt lessons of when it becomes too much, and the Pixar story which is you just have to continue to evolve it.

It couldn’t an autobiography but you can have those personal north stars to guide you without it being tracks you have to keep on. It’s so much about collaborating and wanting to have everyone’s input.

You’ve got all these characters that are elements. In so many ways, we see elements as almost binary – fire and water, hot and cold. How do you then shade nuance into those archetypes?

Honestly, I thought it would be a scary thing. There are two pieces of it. There’s the creative side of just taking fire and what we know of fire and trying to make that your foundation so you can exploit it and have fun with it.

As you’re doing that, all of a sudden, some of the personal stuff that we all brought to it started to bring that nuance you’re talking about, but it would be done in a way that would help us make decisions of who the character was in terms of how it tied to the element.

For example, with Ember, fire can be considered a hot-tempered personality but it could equally be passion. It could also mean being creative, having a spark. You start somewhere generic and then start to layer these very specific things.

And the next fire character would be different.

But still keeping them distinctly within their core element.

Yes, exactly, and that’s where the fun can happen. That’s where the emotions can happen. There are some characters that, to be frank, are binary and very much just for a joke here and there, but hopefully the main ones have a little bit more to them.

Peter Sohn with the voice cast of Elemental. Picture: Kate Green/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK

Do you think much about how different beats will hit different segments of the audience?

I don’t think about it in terms like that. It’s always like, I think my tastes are generally in those types of films where certain things could be a funny moment. I’m not saying that’s for kids, but I find it funny in a juvenile way. Or I find this other beat humorous in an adult way.

There are so many ways to go with elements that it was overwhelming and all of a sudden, I’ve added four jokes here and now no one is following the story anymore.

Comedians and comedy writers always talk about how it’s so much harder to make someone laugh than to make them cry.

I absolutely agree with that.

What’s the significance of having these ‘opposites attract’ characters?

I think it’s just trying to find that bravery to be vulnerable and understanding what empathy really is in every situation. For Ember and Wade, because they’re such primary characters in terms of being so opposite. What is that Venn diagram where they can find that connection?

We should be able to find that in our own world. Some way to find common ground. It can’t be as impossible as fire and water.

Elemental is in cinemas now

Edited for clarity and length

The writer travelled to Singapore as a guest of Disney

Originally published as Pixar’s Elemental: Filmmaker Peter Sohn’s personal tragedy infused the story