Disney And Pixar Sneak In “Non-Binary” Character In Box Office Bomb ‘Elemental’
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As Pixar’s Elemental drowns with the worst domestic box office opening in the animation studio’s history, the film’s tie-in books and the character’s voice actor revealed that the movie features a non-binary character that uses they/them pronouns.
LIGHTHEARTED FUN — In Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental,” go-with-the-flow guy Wade (Mamoudou Athie) ushers fiery young woman Ember (voice of Leah Lewis) out of her comfort zone to experience Elemental City like never before. Directed by Peter Sohn (“The Good Dinosaur,” “Party Cloudy” short) and produced by Denise Ream (“The Good Dinosaur,” “Cars 2”), Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental” releases on June 16, 2023. © 2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
RELATED: Upcoming Pixar Film ‘Elemental’ Expected To Have Worst Opening Weekend In Company’s History
Pixar’s historical box office bomb Elemental follows the lives of fiery young fire element Ember Lumen and a go-with-the-flow water element Wade Ripple as they confront the challenges of familial and societal expectations.
In typical Disney and by extension Pixar fashion, Elemental‘s landmark LGBTQ+ representation is Wade Ripple’s youngest sibling Lake Ripple who is a minor character with minimal screen time.
Lake Ripple, Ember Lumen, and Wade Ripple in Elemental (2023), Disney via Twitter
RELATED: ‘Elemental’ Gets Hosed At The Box Office, Has Worst Opening Weekend For A Pixar Film Ever
According to Sportskeeda, Lake was officially unveiled as Pixar’s first “non-binary” character in Elemental’s junior novelization and Meredith Rusu’s Unlikely Friends movie tie-in book where Wade’s youngest sibling was introduced using they/them pro nouns.
The 20 year old “non-binary” water elemental is also depicted to be in a relationship with a female elemental they met in art school named Ghibli.
Disney/Pixar Elemental: Unlikely Friends (2023), Disney Press
Lake’s “non-binary” voice actor Kai Ava Hauser further solidified the character’s gender identity in an announcement on Twitter.
“Big Announcement I got to play Pixar’s first nonbinary character!” Hauser proclaimed. “Meet Lake! I voice Lake in the new movie #Elemental! I’m seeing it in theaters tonight with my friends, so you can catch it in theaters too if you wanna see them.”
Kai Ava Hauser Twitter
Elemental only grossed $29.6 million in its opening weekend at the domestic box office. Currently, the film has grossed $39.8 million domestically and another $14.9 million internationally for a global gross of $54.7 million.
The film is just the latest in a string of box office failures for Pixar that includes 2020’s Onward and last year’s Lightyear. Other recent Pixar releases did not even get a theatrical release. Luca and Turning Red were released straight to Disney+.
SUPERFAN — In Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental,” fire-woman Ember (voice of Leah Lewis) and water-guy Wade (voice of Mamoudou Athie) track down air-resident and superfan Gale (voice of Wendi McLendon-Covey) at Cyclone Stadium where the crowd cheers for their home Air Ball team, the Cropdusters. Directed by Peter Sohn (“The Good Dinosaur,” “Party Cloudy” short) and produced by Denise Ream (“The Good Dinosaur,” “Cars 2”), Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental” releases on June 16, 2023. © 2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
What do you make of Pixar and Disney trying to sneak in a “non-binary” character into Elemental?
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