Elemental appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a terrific presentation.
At all times, sharpness looked crisp and detailed. If any softness materialized, I didn’t see it, as I thought the image remained tight and well-defined at all times.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and the movie lacked edge haloes or artifacts. Of course, no print flaws popped up along the way.
In terms of colors, Elemental went with a broad palette. All those toys allowed for a wide variety of hues, and the image brought them out in a vivid and dynamic manner. HDR gave the colors added pep and vigor.
Blacks were dark and deep, and shadows seemed smooth and clear. HDR added range and impact to whites and contrast. This turned into a stellar image.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack also pleased. The film came with plenty that brought the mix to life with frequency.
Not much real “action” occurred, but the track worked hard to form a vivid environment. These blended together well and created a nice package of sound components from all around the room.
Audio quality was solid. Music sounded dynamic and full, while speech was distinctive and natural, so no signs of edginess occurred.
Effects appeared accurate and showed nice range, with solid low-end when appropriate. I felt highly pleased with this excellent track.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? The Atmos audio offered a bit more range and scope.
The 4K’s visuals boasted the expected improvements in delineation, colors and blacks. As great as the BD looked, the 4K took it to a higher level.
No extras appear on the 4K disc, but we find some on the included Blu-ray Disc, where we get an audio commentary from director Peter Sohn, visual effects supervisor Sanjay Bakshi, supervising animator Mike Venturini, and directing animator Gwendelyn Enderoglu. All four sit together for this running, screen-specific look at inspirations and origins, story, characters and themes, cast and performances, music and audio, design and animation.
Like many Pixar commentaries, this one can turn a bit self-congratulatory. However, also like many Pixar chats, it comes with a nice array of insights.
In particular, I like the balance involved. Tracks from other animation studios largely fixate on technical domains, but Pixar discussions spend a lot of time on story and characters as well.
That happens here. As a result, we find a pretty good mix of topics in this engaging piece.
An animated short that preceded theatrical screenings of Elemental, Carl’s Date runs seven minutes, 49 seconds. It features the lead from 2009’s Up as he embarks on a new social experience.
Given that voice actor Ed Asner passed away not long after he recorded his performance, Date acts as a nice sendoff. However, the short itself feels a bit lackluster and doesn’t bring back the charm of Up.
Three Deleted Scenes fill a total of 10 minutes, 43 seconds. We find “Mom Rejects Wade” (2:49), “Dante Challenge” (3:50) and “Brook Dinner” (4:03).
“Rejects” shows the initial way Ember’s relationship to Wade comes out, and “Challenge” lets us meet a potential suitor cut from the entire flick. “Dinner” also makes Wade’s mom into a villain, whereas she seems nice in the finished flick.
None of these really would work in the movie as it wound up on the screen. However, they offer some intriguing alternate options.
Each one includes intros from story supervisor Jason Katz, story artist Yu Nira Liu and story artist Anna Benedict, respectively. They offer some useful thoughts about the sequences and why they didn’t make the final film.
Two featurettes follow, and Ember and Wade lasts 10 minutes, 14 seconds. It provides notes from Sohn, Bakshi, Enderoglu, character shading principal artist Jacob Kuenzel, character & look development art director Maria Yi, characters effects leads Patrick Witting and Max Gilbert, character articulation lead Jonas Jarvers, character modeling lead Dave Strick, character designer Jeremy Talbot, character shading principal artist Jonathan Hoffman, effects supervisor Stephen Marshall, character shading and groom lead George Nguyen, and actors Mamadou Athie and Leah Lewis.
Here we get info about the project’s origins, design of the lead characters, and technical challenges. We get a tight overview of these domains.
Next Stop: Element City occupies 10 minutes, 13 seconds. It involves Sohn, Bakshi, sets art director Daniel Holland, production designer Don Shank, sets supervisor Jun Han Cho, set dressing artist Ben VonZastrow, lighting supervisors Amy Jones and Luke Martorelli, sets modeling artist Krista Goll, sets modeling lead Raymond V. Wong, sets manager Alyssa Mar, and sets shading artist Chris Bernadi.
“Stop” covers the design and execution of Element City. We find another useful discussion.
I hoped Elemental would break the string of lackluster Pixar movies, but that failed to become the case. Muddled and ineffective, the film feels like Pixar parody more than the real thing. The 4K UHD boasts top-notch picture and audio along with a decent array of bonus materials. Expect a disappointing film here.
To rate this film, visit the prior review of ELEMENTAL