The Art of Elemental presents the story behind the newest film from Pixar Animation Studios in a truly unique and inspiring way. According to Producer Denise Ream, the film highlights “the tremendous sacrifices that parents make to fulfill the universal dream of giving their children a better life.” That said, Elemental and the moving moments behind the film communicated in this charming book are sure to set young and old hearts aflame.
The next in this fan-favorite, collectible series of Art of titles, The Art of Elemental is also the perfect gift for aspiring artists, animators, aspiring film buffs, and fans alike. It features stunning artwork from the film's creation—including character designs, storyboards, color scripts, and much more—as well as exclusive interviews from the creative team along with behind-the-scenes details.
While the series continues to wow fans with the exclusive art showcased therein, the text and insight is equally inspiring. Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter introduces readers to Elemental Director Peter Sohn; Sohn’s budding ideas behind the very beginnings of the film, and the challenges the team faced in creating what they hope is to be another animated masterpiece. Sohn himself writes the Introduction and makes readers feel more like friends as he shares his childhood and family experiences that inspired many of the film’s themes. The book ends with important acknowledgements by Producer Denise Ream who fondly notes, among other things, that Sohn “shared his very personal and heartfelt family story with the world, and we are all the better for it.”
The book maintains a wonderful consistency with the other books in the series as well as bringing new fun features to readers. One great example of this is the mini flipbook section, which demonstrates Ember’s flame as being “fueled by emotions rather than true physics” and conveys that groundbreaking development in this film of “a flame character of this complexity [which] had not yet been made in Pixar history.”
The format of the book wastes no time in getting to the good stuff. Following Docter’s foreword and Sohn’s introduction, the book briefly summarizes the “Elemental-izing” process before taking a deeper dive into all the cleverness behind each of the specific elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Numerous easter eggs are showcased in a way that makes me so excited to see the film (and, no doubt, to reflect on it after viewing). Among them, the worldbuilding puns and creativity made me smile and appreciate just how much effort (and fun!) the team put in. For example, some of the food in Firetown is aptly named as follows: Fire Smacks (cereal), Frosted Flames (cereal), Kindling Bar (candy) and ash-flavored Soot Soot tea.
The Art of Elemental is another great addition to the infallible series by Chronicle Books that adds its own flair and insight into the latest exciting Disney Pixar classic. Fans will want to delve into and explore this new Pixar project through production art, stories, and making-of details exclusive to this book.
While we wait impatiently for Elemental to arrive in theaters on June 16, check out Chronicle Book’s The Art of Elemental which is available now!