If Pixar can’t be the first, they can at least be the latest to compare forbidden love to fire and water. In a new trailer for the next Disney/Pixar animated spectacle Elemental, the metaphor goes glossily literal, introducing viewers to Element City, where fire, water, earth, and air live in a certain bustling harmony. That is, as long as the residents—anthropomorphized elements—follow the city’s one rule: elements cannot mix.
Helmed by Peter Sohn—the architect of Pixar’s 2015 flop The Good Dinosaur—Elemental is Pixar’s only slated film for 2023, and leans into a classic set of sweeping themes: finding yourself, trying to impress a somewhat fuddy-duddy parent, and ever-so-chastely falling in love. In the film’s first teaser trailer, released last November, protagonists Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis) and Wade (voiced by Mamoudou Athie) brush hands on the subway, meeting for the first time. In the latest trailer, Ember and Wade’s world gets a whole lot bigger, which makes their relationship that much dicier.
As the new trailer indicates, Wade is the go-lucky dreamer of the duo. “Why does anyone get to tell you what you can do in your life?” he tells Ember when she laments how her father (Ronnie del Carmen) would react to her new friend. He’s most definitely not a bad boy, but from the look Ember gives him, he has a certain Coexist-bumper sticker charm that’s working perfectly for her.
Despite how young love can feel, it’s not just Ember and Wade in the universe together: Element City is no ghost town! Rounding out the (as-of-yet) introduced cast are Shila Ommi as Ember’s mom, Cinder; Catherine O’Hara as Wade’s mom, Brook; Wendi McLendon-Covey as Wade’s “stormy” boss, Gale; Mason Wertheimer as Ember’s earth neighbor, Clod; and Joe Pera as local bureaucrat Fern.
Elemental arrives in theaters on June 16.