Why "Elementary" is so much worse than previous Pixar cartoons

On June 15, the world premiere of the cartoon "Elementary" took place. Like any Pixar work, it was doomed to high expectations. Unfortunately, they failed to justify.

Elementary was directed by Peter Son (The Good Dinosaur, Partly Cloudy). Son worked on the script, as well as John Hoberg ("My Name Is Earl"), Kat Lyckell ("My Name Is Earl"), Brenda Hsu ("How I Met Your Mother").

"Elementary" tells about the city of Elemental City, where various elements live. Among them are the migrants Bernie and Cinder Lumen, fire elements around which an entire district has formed. They own a shop that will be run by their daughter Amber in the future. When Amber meets Wade, a water element, problems begin - she increasingly doubts that she wants to spend her whole life in a store.

Too simple romance

Amber and Wade are complete opposites. Amber is the daughter of migrants, a quick-tempered and sharp girl. Wade is a guy from a decent family and a good area, eerily emotional and constantly crying from touching stories. However, their main difference is that they are different, as if incompatible elements - after all, it is fire and water. But the further their relationship develops, the less clear why they cannot be together. It turns out a classic naive story that opposites attract, and the forbidden

love does not exist. As a result, the romantic line turns out to be boring.

The only thing that really gets in the way of the heroes is Amber's parents, who do not want their daughter to communicate with the local, indigenous element. At the same time, Wade's parents do not interfere in any way with their relationship. That is, only one side provokes an ethnic conflict, which is rather strange. However, everything related to emigration and integration into society, in the cartoon looks strange.

The Surface History of Migrants

"Elementary" is dedicated to the problems that children of migrants experience. Their parents gravitate toward their native culture, imposing it on their descendants as well. At the same time, the child is better acquainted with the environment in which he was born. It is not surprising that conflict arises between children and parents. “Elementary”, on the one hand, devotes a lot of time to it, on the other hand, uses clichés. Because of them, the characters lose their individuality.

At the center of the conflict is the family shop where Amber is supposed to work. True, the cartoon does not explain why the elders believe that Amber cannot choose. The opinion of the parents is presented as a given, with which the viewer must come to terms.

In order to emphasize the otherness of the family, other clichés are used: spicy food, their own music, and even a shrine. The more stereotypes shown on the screen, the less significant they look.

Great animation

Pixar has once again managed to create incredible animation - otherwise the studio does not know how. The result is a magical picture that brightens up the shortcomings of the story.

The abundance of details, the variety of movements and colors, the transitions between scenes - everything is drawn at the highest level. The city itself, in which the action takes place, turned out to be colorful. It seems that if you digress for a couple of seconds, you will definitely miss something important and beautiful - each scene is beautiful in itself.

Not the best Pixar

In recent years, Pixar cartoons began to lose balance - they turned out more adult stories than children's ones. “Elementary” is an attempt to return to projects in the spirit of “Ratatouille”, which could be of interest to both children and parents. It doesn't seem to work. For a child, the story is too complicated; for an adult, it is too simple.

Similar themes (albeit in a different design) were in "Zootopia”, but there both the characters and the story itself turned out to be more alive. There are too many clichés in Elementary, as well as emotionless drama. The only thing that pleases the new Pixar project without any “buts” is graphics. However, for a cartoon with a budget of 200 million, this is not enough.