[b] The film stars the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Catherine O'Hara.

The production team conducted research by spending many hours watching point-of-view city tours on YouTube like Venice and Amsterdam for inspiration.

After the birth of their daughter Ember, they set up their Blue Flame which represents their traditions and start their own convenience store called the Fireplace.

Despite Ember's attempts to stop him, Wade travels to City Hall and reluctantly files a report of his findings with his air element employer, Gale Cumulus, who will have the Fireplace shut down.

The next evening, Wade takes Ember to Garden Central Station to see Vivisteria flowers, a species that can thrive in any environment, which she was denied seeing in childhood.

While Ember is about the take over the Fireplace during a party, Wade appears and declares his love for her, while also accidentally revealing that she caused the broken pipe.

Although credited as "additional voices", other members of Wade's family appear in the film including: Other additional voices in the film include Dylan Buccieri, Assaf Cohen, Jessica DiCicco, Terri Douglas, Karen Huie, Arif S. Kinchen, Austin Madison, Cole Massie, Scott Menville, Alisha Mullally, Fred Tatasciore, Kari Wahlgren, and Secunda Wood.

He also stated: "We were among many families who ventured to a new land with hopes and dreams — all of us mixing into one big salad bowl of cultures, languages, and beautiful little neighborhoods.

"[22] In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sohn says the film's seven-year development period with Elemental is closely tied to his relationship with his family, and the idea first started following the release of The Good Dinosaur.

[33] When the full-length trailer was released on March 28, 2023, more cast members, including Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O'Hara, Mason Wertheimer, and Joe Pera, were announced.

He showed a picture of him as a child with his parents, saying, "Maybe it's because when I was a kid, I really didn't appreciate or understand what it meant to be an immigrant, to come to the U.S., and all the hard work that they did to give my brother and me our lives.

[42] To feel less like an alien version of real-world cities, production designer Don Shank and his team brainstormed the evolution of elemental beings and their civilization.

[50] The film was theatrically released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the United States on June 16, 2023,[33][51] in RealD 3D,[52] 4DX,[53] and Dolby Cinema formats.

[60] Nicole Clark for Polygon said fans are "pointing out the similarities to the Fireboy and Watergirl series of games, six in total, developed by Oslo Albet.

It depicts an original scene where a vast subway train approaches on a waterway with Ember being entered at Element City and then meets Wade.

[34][64] Charles Pulliam-Moore of The Verge commented positively, saying that "the movie's visuals are as imaginative as they are delightful", while noting that its "tough to say whether Elemental's take on beats from Guess Who's Coming to Dinner will land with audiences, especially considering how some of its characters seem prone to destroying one another simply because of how their physical forms interact.

"[65] The film was also promoted on the season 21 finale of the ABC singing competition, American Idol, where the main characters, Ember and Wade, are seen cheering in the audience after Iam Tongi was crowned the winner.

[c] In the United States and Canada, Elemental was released alongside The Flash and The Blackening, and was originally projected to gross $35–40 million from 4,035 theaters in its opening weekend.

"[87][88] During Elemental's fourth weekend, Variety wrote that while the film held well weeks after a "disastrous opening" there would be "no hope of recouping its $200 million production budget domestically.

"[89] By early August, Elemental managed to make a drastic turnaround, with many news outlets praising Pixar's unprecedented box office comeback upon the film grossing $400 million worldwide.

[96] According to a September 2024 report from IGN, the film needed to have grossed $600 million worldwide to be considered profitable for Pixar due to the profit-sharing model at Disney/Pixar.

The website's consensus reads: "Elemental may not satisfy as fully as the greatest Pixar pictures, but it remains a solid story told with dazzling visual flair.

The voices are primarily provided by lesser-known actors (Catherine O'Hara arguably being the highest profile name), which enhances the viewer’s immersion.

"[111] Ben Croll of TheWrap wrote, "With story beats and character turns that strain well beyond familiarity, Elemental matches formal adventure with storytelling timidity.

"[112] Siddhant Adlakha of IndieWire gave the film a B, and wrote in his review, "Despite its confused and overstuffed worldbuilding, Elemental has enough charming moments to get by, even if its meaning lies less in its ill-conceived immigrant saga, and more in the personal drama that lives a few layers beneath it.

"[114] Leigh Paatsch of Herald Sun awarded the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "The movie is great fun, too, landing in that hard-to-find, yet easy-to-enjoy sweet spot where a relatable romantic comedy meets an exciting tale of both adventure and redemption.

"[d][117] Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing: "Elemental does touchingly delve into the challenges and triumphs of being the child of refugees and growing up immersed in a culturally homogenous community.

"[120] Screen Daily's Tim Grierson noted that the film "contains hints of the studio's wit and poignancy while lacking the inspired execution that once seemed so effortless.

Kois believed that Pixar, known for its trademark humor, earned plot twists, and attention to detail, needed to overhaul its formula to regain its former success.

[122] David Fear of Rolling Stone criticized the film's heavy-handed message, writing, "The fact that Elemental can't seem to get past its own elevator-pitch premise or avoid tripping over its teachable lessons, much less wring laughs and sobs from an opposites-attract love story, is a bit of a shock.