Elemental (2023)

A short film opens the program. Carl Frederickson lives alone with his dog Dug and grows unusually anxious when an invitation arrives from Mrs. Myers, who now owns the Doberman once called Alpha and invites Carl on a date. Carl spends an entire morning trying to change himself to impress a companion he has not courted since his late wife Ellie: he tests new cologne, dyes his hair darker, fusses over clothing. Dug disapproves of the alterations and persistently nudges Carl back toward authenticity. When evening comes, Carl prepares to leave the house and Dug insists on accompanying him.

The feature begins with two firefolk arriving by boat at Element City's port. They step onto a pier dominated by water, earth, and air residents who treat them with suspicion and disdain; customs officials stumble over their original names and label them Bernie and Cinder. The couple opens a small shop in the marginalized district that becomes known as Fire Town. After Cinder gives birth to a daughter named Ember, Bernie erects their shop, the Fireplace, and sets a small, steady blue flame inside as a family relic and ritual object. Ember grows up wishing to inherit the business, but she struggles with a literal temper: when she becomes upset, her body flares and she can blow apart fixtures and scorch surfaces. A small earth boy named Clod who lives nearby admires Ember and brings her flowers, but anything he touches near her char immediately.

When Bernie takes a day off for the store's Red Dot Sale, he leaves Ember in charge. Customers crowd the cramped aisles and Ember becomes overwhelmed by the constant annoyances. She rushes to the basement to vent and uses a burst of heat to release tension; the blast fractures a nearby water pipe. Cold plumbing ruptures, water torrents into the space, and a city inspector made of water named Wade Ripple is forced out of the burst pipe and into the shop. Wade displays a different kind of emotional intensity from Ember: he is openly feeling, frequently moved to tears. He inspects the damage and records multiple code violations that could prompt closure of the Fireplace. Ember pleads with him, but he files the citations because he adheres to his duties. As he walks out, Ember chases him through narrow streets and over bridges toward City Hall, begging him to reconsider or to speak for her. When he reaches his office, Wade sees how much the shop matters to Bernie and haltingly offers to help by introducing Ember to the people who can reverse the violations.

Wade escorts Ember to the planning office and brings her before Fern Grouchwood, an earth official responsible for certifying or signing off on reports. While Ember attempts to speak, Wade speaks over her in nervous earnestness and insists the building be saved for Bernie. Ember loses control again and produces a blast of flame during the meeting; Fern rules that the shop must expect closure in a matter of days unless the underlying cause--the water leak--gets resolved.

Wade next brings Ember to Cyclone Stadium where Gale Cumulus, an air executive who oversees the city's regulatory decisions, is attending a cloudball match. Gale is a zealous fan of the Windbreakers and watches star player Lutz underperform. To rouse the crowd and spark Lutz's confidence, Wade starts a chant among waterfolk in the stands and coordinates a cheering wave made of flowing bodies; Lutz regains form, the Windbreakers win the inning, and Gale warms to Ember when Wade explains the leak situation. Gale is skeptical of Fire Town's claims because water has not flowed into that district for years; she agrees to delay enforcement on the condition that Ember and Wade find the leak and seal it.

The two hunt for the source from above in a second-hand hot air balloon that lifts them over neighborhoods. From that vantage, Ember grows emotional as they pass Garden Central Station, the place she remembers from a childhood when she wanted to see the Vivisteria, a flower that blooms in the presence of any element including fire. She recalls that when she and Bernie first tried to reach the station, they were rejected by other elements who labeled fire as dangerous, and a storm flooded the station before she ever saw the plant. Scanning the canals, Wade and Ember spot a compromised sea wall and a fractured dam through which shipping runoff is spilling toward Fire Town. They drop sandbags and choke the flow temporarily, slowing the water and protecting downstream neighborhoods for the moment.

As Ember and Wade spend time following leads, they begin to meet in secret and to form a romantic attachment. Their dates avoid activities that would be unsafe for a fire person in water: they invent other small adventures and find safe ways to be close. Ember tells Wade the story of how Bernie tried to hand a revered family heirloom--the Blessed Bow--to his own father when they were leaving Fire Land after a storm destroyed their home. Bernie's father received the bow but refused to return it later; he viewed Bernie's decision to leave as a betrayal and withheld the token. Ember confesses she keeps the blue flame in the shop because it connects her to their traditions and she wants to honor her parents. Even so, Ember hides her relationship with Wade from her parents, though Cinder claims she can smell love on her daughter.

Wade returns to the Fireplace once and must pose as a city inspector to get past Bernie, who harbors distrust for water people. Bernie gives Wade a handful of coal nuts that are intensely hot; Wade eats one, is burned, and attempts to cool it with water, a gesture that infuriates Bernie and earns Wade a ban from the store.

The sandbag barrier at the dam fails after a day of heavy runoff, and a larger surge begins to breach into the canals again. Ember meets Wade at the broken barrier and conceives a solution: she melts sand with her flame to create tempered glass, forming a curved, reinforced panel that plugs the breach. Her glass seals the opening more durably than the sandbags, and Gale, surveilling the work from a distance, later approves the fix and halts enforcement of the violations at the Fireplace.

Wade invites Ember to meet his family at the Ripple household, a gleaming apartment where he lives with his mother Brook and several siblings and relatives. The Ripples are demonstrably emotional and familial; during dinner, an uncle accidentally shatters a glass pitcher and Ember quickly remelts and reshapes it into a more intricate design. Brook praises Ember's skill and later suggests a possible internship with a glass company, sensing Ember's talent could flourish beyond the Fireplace. The family engages in a lighthearted "Crying Game"--the objective being to maintain composure--but Wade ascends with Ember and gives a heartfelt speech about how much she means to him, deliberately tearing her up to win the game. On that evening Gale rings in to confirm that Ember's tempered glass at the dam holds and that the city will not close the Fireplace. Ember celebrates quietly with Wade, but she remains uncertain about her future as the shop's next proprietor.

Wade organizes a private outing at Garden Central Station. Gale creates a floating air sphere that allows Ember to be submerged safely; Wade guides her beneath the flooded concourse until they reach a grove of Vivisteria plants that open their petals when Ember nears. The flowers bloom, bathing the pair in iridescent light, and for a brief interlude Ember and Wade touch hands and then dance, creating trembling clouds of steam that drift between them. The intimacy and joy prove overwhelming for Ember: she pulls back, fearful of betraying her family and of the social taboo against inter-element relationships. Back at the Fireplace, Cinder performs a traditional smoke reading to determine the authenticity of Ember's love life and brings Ember and Wade into the ritual chamber. Wade holds Ember's flame against his chest to allow a wick to light through him, demonstrating that their connection can coexist, but Bernie arrives before the ceremony finishes. He senses a betrayal and forbids Wade from the shop.

Bernie announces a retirement celebration, a public event in Fire Town announcing his plan to hand the Fireplace to Ember. On the night of the party, Wade arrives despite knowing Bernie's likely reaction. He steps forward, publicly declares his love for Ember, and tries to plead for recognition. Ember freezes, torn between the life she grew up within and the life she might choose. Afraid of disappointing her parents and terrified of their disapproval, she says she does not love him. Cinder insists that the smoke reading indicated real love, but Ember, flustered and ashamed of the basement incident that started the entire crisis, admits that she caused the original pipe to burst. Enraged and hurt, Bernie calls off his retirement and tells Ember she cannot take over the shop; his trust is broken.

That night, a larger crisis looms. The tempered glass barrier that Ember created at the dam fractures under an escalating flow of incoming water. A cataclysmic surge tears through the damaged infrastructure, and seawater hurtles into Fire Town. Ember races through streets to warn residents and to shepherd them to higher ground. As waves crash into alleys and storefronts, the flood reaches the Fireplace. Ember rushes inside to protect the blue flame and to salvage family mementos. Wade, who had been preparing to depart Element City when the breach begins, dashes back toward the sound of the crisis to help. In the shop they maneuver through rising water and falling rafters; they manage to remove the blue flame from its alcove and preserve it. While evacuating, structural timbers collapse around them and they become sealed in a small interior room as water roars outside. Ember's body temperature and flame intensify under stress; the confined heat proves deadly for Wade, who is made of water. He begins to heat, then vaporize: his form turns from liquid into a mist and then into steam as Ember's flames push the ambient temperature beyond his tolerance. He grasps Ember in a final embrace and evaporates into the air, leaving no solid form behind.

Rescuers pry Ember from the wreckage and bring her out into a muddy, rain-swept street where Bernie and Cinder stand among other firefolk. Ember collapses in despair; she confesses to her parents the truth about the broken pipe and admits that she did, in fact, love Wade. Bernie tells her that the shop was never his dream above all else; his concern has always been for Ember. As the family mourns Wade's apparent loss, they hear the sound of water droplets pattering from the ruined ceiling into a bucket. Ember ventures back into the ruins and finds that Wade's essence condensed into droplets on the stonework above. She realizes water can exist on porous surfaces and that Wade might be coaxed back if he cries. Ember calls her parents and asks them to say things that will make Wade weep for her; she provokes Bernie and Cinder into voicing genuine emotions about love and loss. The sound of those sentences--words that make Wade ache--brings moisture to the cracked surfaces; small streams form and drip into a basin where Wade's presence begins to coalesce. As he condenses and regains form, the Ripples' family emotions and Ember's own tears accelerate the process. Wade reconstitutes himself as liquid and then as his familiar self, coughing and alive. Ember and Wade embrace, and they press a long, trembling first kiss.

No one dies in the crisis: Wade evaporates and then returns by condensation; the investors and officials who threatened the Fireplace withdraw enforcement in light of the disaster and the house is saved. In the months that follow, the Fireplace is rebuilt and reopened. Business thrives anew. Bernie follows through with a later retirement and passes the store into the stewardship of friends and community members rather than immediately into Ember's hands. Ember accepts the glass-making internship that Brook Ripple recommended; she tells her parents she will pursue the opportunity and leave Element City to grow her skills. Clod, the young earth neighbor, finds companionship with a little girl from Fire Town and continues to court playfully. On the morning Ember prepares to depart with Wade, Brook, Bernie, and Cinder escort them to the ship. Ember gives Bernie the Blessed Bow at the dock; Bernie hands it back to her as a blessing and as a recognition that his life's work was always her. Ember and Wade board the vessel together and set off for a new city and a new chapter, the blue flame safe and the family reconciled as the final scene closes.

The glass dam breaks, unleashing a massive flood on Firetown. Ember rushes to The Fireplace to save her family's blue flame, Wade arrives to help protect her and transfer the flame to a lamp, but they get trapped in a hot room where Wade evaporates into vapor. Ember cries, using the crying game to reform him from the moisture on the walls, they kiss, and later leave Element City together as she pursues glassmaking while Bernie retires and passes the shop to a friend.

The celebration for Bernie's retirement is underway at The Fireplace, filled with fire people gathered to hear him announce Ember as the new owner. Wade bursts in, openly declaring his love for Ember in front of everyone, but she rejects him publicly, insisting she does not love him to avoid disappointing her family. Bernie, hearing this and learning from Wade that Ember's temper caused the initial pipe leak, feels his trust broken, unretires on the spot, and cancels the handover.

Moments later, Ember steps outside alone and notices the tempered glass seal they had placed on the dam has shattered completely. A gigantic wall of water surges toward Firetown, threatening to drown the district and extinguish all the fire people who cannot escape in time. Ember races back to warn everyone and heads straight to The Fireplace to protect her family's sacred blue flame, the glowing heart of their heritage that her parents carried from their homeland.

The floodwaters crash through the streets, sweeping away structures and forcing fire citizens to flee upward to higher ground. Ember stands at the shop's entrance, her flames flaring desperately as she tries to hold back the advancing water with her heat, shielding the blue flame inside. She struggles alone, her body straining against the torrent.

Wade, spotting the disaster from afar, swims urgently through the flood to reach her. He arrives just in time, using his water body to block and divert the rushing currents away from Ember and the shop. Together, they move the blue flame into a protective glass lamp that Wade secures, ensuring it continues burning safely despite the chaos.

The waters keep rising, and the two become trapped inside a small, sealed room at the back of The Fireplace with almost no air circulation. Ember's intense fire heat fills the space, causing Wade's water form to boil and evaporate entirely into vapor that clings to the walls and ceiling. He fades away completely, leaving only mist behind, his body gone.

Ember, devastated, pounds on the walls and calls out. Her parents, Bernie and Cinder, and other family members arrive outside the flooded shop, trying to reach her. Through the barrier, Ember tearfully confesses to them that she does love Wade, that she never wanted to take over The Fireplace, and that she has her own dreams. As she grieves Wade's loss, she notices the lingering moisture droplets on the walls--remnants of him not fully gone.

Remembering the crying game Wade taught her from his family, Ember begins reciting emotional memories to make the moisture "cry" and reform: she speaks of delicate butterflies, an old man on his deathbed, and her deep love for Wade. The droplets gather, swell with tears, and slowly coalesce back into Wade's full water body. He reforms completely, alive.

Ember and Wade embrace and share their first real kiss, touching without harm, as the floodwaters begin to recede outside.

In the aftermath, Bernie overhears Ember's confession and realizes the shop was never truly his dream--it was a means to give his family a new life. He forgives her, retires fully, and hands The Fireplace to his trusted friend Clod, who takes over its operation.

Ember's mother Cinder stays supportive with the family, including Gail who pairs with Fern. Wade's brother Brook and family remain in their water district home.

Ember accepts an internship at a glassmaking company beyond Element City. She and Wade prepare to leave the city together hand-in-hand, embarking on new adventures as a couple, free to build their future.

Elemental does not have a traditional post-credits scene, but there is a heartfelt surprise for viewers who stay through the credits.

During the credits, an original song by Lauv titled "Steal the Show" plays while the names of cast members and crew are displayed. Additionally, director Peter Sohn included a touching dedication to his late parents, who were Korean immigrants that moved to New York City before he was born. Sohn's parents' journey as immigrants directly inspired the story of Elemental and the character of Ember's family.

The dedication appears after a brief in memoriam section honoring members of the production team, including Ralph Eggleston, Thomas Gonzales, Amber Martorelli, and J. Garett Sheldrew. This personal tribute from Sohn connects meaningfully to the film's themes of understanding, healing, and bridging differences between characters from different backgrounds.

While this is not a comedic blooper reel or sequel setup like other Pixar films have included, the dedication serves as a more emotionally resonant and personal conclusion to the movie than a typical post-credits sequence would provide.

In the 2023 Pixar film Elemental, Ember Lumen, a fiery young woman destined to take over her family's shop, meets Wade Ripple, a sensitive water element city inspector, when he emerges from a burst pipe in the Fireplace's basement. Initially at odds as Ember chases him through the fiery streets to prevent him from reporting code violations that could shut down the shop, their paths intertwine during a high-stakes mission to locate and seal a massive leak threatening Element City's canals. Wade, with his fluid, translucent blue form shimmering under the city's glowing lights, convinces his boss Gale to give them a week if they succeed, driven by his empathy for Ember's plight and his own fear of job loss. As they dive into the dark, echoing sewers, Wade's emotional openness--tears flowing freely as he shares his love for the city's rhythms--contrasts sharply with Ember's simmering restraint, her flames flickering with suppressed anger from years of parental expectations. Their first collaborative fix fails spectacularly: sandbags burst under pressure, water cascading like a roaring waterfall, but Ember's ingenuity shines as she superheats the sand into shimmering tempered glass, sealing the breach with a radiant glow that reflects her growing confidence. These shared triumphs spark romance; Wade marvels at Ember's intensity during a vibrant airball game in the windy heights, while she discovers tranquility floating in an ethereal underwater garden of bioluminescent Vivisteria flowers, their petals pulsing softly around Wade's buoyant form. Yet, Ember's internal turmoil peaks at her retirement party--her flames erupting in rage upon learning Wade revealed her role in the initial pipe damage to her father Bernie--leading her to reject him publicly, her heart torn between familial duty and burgeoning love. The dam's glass seal shatters soon after, unleashing a cataclysmic flood toward Firetown; Ember races through rising waters, her family huddled in desperation, saving the sacred Blue Flame--a tiny, eternal spark symbolizing her heritage--while Wade evaporates into mist to shield her, his final words a heartfelt plea born of selfless devotion. Trapped in a submerged room, Ember confronts her repressed emotions, channeling the 'Crying Game' ritual to condense Wade's vaporized essence back into his familiar shape, their kiss sealing a bond that defies elemental incompatibility.

In Elemental (2023), Ember and Wade's quest to seal the canal leak begins in the murky depths of Element City's underbelly, where Wade's watery senses detect a hairline crack in the massive dam, vibrations humming through his liquid body like a distant drumbeat. Ember, her flames casting dancing shadows on the damp concrete, assists as Wade piles heavy sandbags against the fissure, his form rippling with effort and quiet hope for their budding connection, but the temporary patch fails under surging pressure, water exploding outward in a chaotic spray that soaks Ember's edges, nearly extinguishing her. Undeterred, Ember harnesses her inner fire, eyes blazing with determination fueled by her desire to save the Fireplace and prove herself beyond her father's shadow; she superheats the sandbags, transforming the gritty material into a sturdy pane of tempered glass that glows molten orange before cooling into a translucent barrier, locking the water securely and earning Wade's awestruck admiration. This innovative seal holds initially, allowing moments of joy like their date at the airball game, but cracks under the strain of an incoming ship, foreshadowing disaster as water levels rise ominously.

The flood devastating Firetown in Elemental (2023) stems directly from the failure of Ember's glass seal on the dam, her proud creation fracturing under escalating pressure from an arriving ship's wake, which amplifies the overflow in a thunderous breach. Unbeknownst to revelers at Ember's retirement party--where Bernie beams with paternal pride, passing the shop torch amid festive flames--the dam groans and splinters, unleashing a colossal wall of water barreling toward the vulnerable fire district, streets flooding with icy torrents that sizzle against buildings. Ember, fresh from her explosive argument with Bernie over her hidden resentment toward inheriting the store and her romance with Wade, feels a gut-wrenching guilt as the deluge engulfs her home; she dashes through steaming puddles, scooping the fragile Blue Flame into her protective blaze while her parents cling in terror, their forms dimming in the chaos. Wade, ever the hero, evaporates into vapor to buy her time, his essence swirling in the air with unspoken love, heightening Ember's emotional reckoning amid the rising waters.

Ember's fury erupts at her retirement party in Elemental (2023) when Wade, in a heartfelt public confession of love amid the warm glow of Firetown's lanterns and the scent of spiced embers, inadvertently reveals to the gathered crowd--including her stern father Bernie--that Ember caused the initial pipe burst in the Fireplace basement through her uncontrolled rage. The festive atmosphere shatters as whispers spread like sparks; Ember's flames surge violently, scorching nearby decorations, her face a mask of betrayal and shame as years of suppressed frustration--stemming from Bernie's immigrant sacrifices and her forced destiny to run the shop--boil over. Deeply wounded by Wade's emotional transparency clashing with her cultural imperative to uphold family honor, she rejects him outright, voice cracking with pain, ordering him to leave while her heart aches with the love she's denying, all before the oblivious partygoers and her devastated parents.

During the devastating Firetown flood in Elemental (2023), Wade sacrifices himself by evaporating into a misty vapor to protect Ember and her family, his watery body dispersing into shimmering droplets suspended in the flooded room's humid air as icy waters rise, his final gaze filled with unwavering love and acceptance of their impossible romance. Ember, clutching the Blue Flame with trembling flames, confronts her deepest fears--losing Wade mirroring her dread of failing her heritage--her emotions peaking in raw sobs that recall the 'Crying Game,' a ritual from Wade's watery world. Channeling her repressed passion, she cries out, condensing the mist back into his fluid form with tears mingling in the air, their reunion culminating in a tender kiss that symbolizes harmony between fire and water, her flames dancing safely around his ripples.

Yes, Elemental (2023) is generally family-friendly, rated PG by the MPAA for brief language, thematic elements, and mild peril, and suitable for children aged 3-4 and up according to most parent guides, though some reviewers recommend caution for younger kids due to slower pacing or mild thematic content.

Potentially objectionable or upsetting aspects for children or sensitive viewers include:

• Mild peril and suspense from plumbing leaks threatening to flood areas and characters in tense situations, though violence is absent and on par with typical Pixar films.
• A fiery character's explosive temper leading to brief outbursts of anger.
• Emotional scenes with water characters frequently crying or weeping as a recurring gag, which may feel overwhelming.
• Very mild romance with tension around characters from incompatible backgrounds touching (described by some as erotically charged), plus vague references like "hanky panky" or "looking hot," and a brief upper male nudity moment when a character removes his shirt.
• Brief language and subtle innuendo that might confuse younger kids.
• Thematic elements like family deception without consequences, prejudice between groups, and nonscriptural beliefs such as a sacred flame ritual.