No matter your age, if you’ve ever seen a Pixar movie you’ve likely fallen in love with the combination of story magic, soulful characters and mind-blowing digital animation. Now, Pixar is out with Elemental, a new film set in a fictional urban landscape called Element City, whose residents are made up of wind, fire, water or air. The film is directed by Peter Sohn from a script by John Hoberg & Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh. I chatted with John and Kat over Zoom to hear about the process of creating a story based in the elements yet inspired by the immigrant experience and share their advice for new writers.

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Bringing Authenticity to the Characters

John and Kat became a writing team in 2003, a couple of years after they were married. Together, they started off with TV comedies like Hope and Faith, and later My Name is Earl. But Kat says she never intended to partner professionally with her husband.

“I had my writing career first,” says Kat, “I was writing animation and I did a lot of Nickelodeon stuff and some Disney stuff. When John and I got together, all of our friends and family went, ‘Oh, that's so cute! You guys are going to be partners!’ I was like, ‘No way, man, I have my own career.’ And then within two years, we teamed up,” she says with a smile.

As a team, John and Kat balance each other in very important ways. John admits he’s incredibly logical in his approach to story while Kat is very emotional. “In the best way, Kat writes from her gut,” says John, adding, “If she's sick with a 102 fever, if it's not true to what a character would do, she's not going to like to give in on that.”

Elemental (2023)

It turns out their dynamic was perfect for writing the two protagonists in Elemental: Ember (Leah Lewis), a feisty, temper-prone gal made of fire and Wade (Mamoudou Athie), a young man made entirely of water who prefers to go with the flow. Director Peter Sohn set up a lunch with Kat and John and discussed the ways in which the two characters could grow.

“Pete was really trying to figure out how to deepen Ember and Wade – the characters weren't quite there yet. I think he saw that in us,” says John. Though the two characters have cultural [and elemental] differences, it’s the love that makes it all work and John and Kat were able to bring that to the writing.

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An Immigrant Story

The character Ember is the only child of immigrant parents and understands that her parents have sacrificed greatly to leave their hometown, Fireland, in hopes of giving her a better life in Element City. Ember’s father Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) expects her to take over the family shop when he retires, but Ember discovers she may have her own dreams.

Elemental (2023)

Kat says she related to Ember since her own parents are second-generation immigrants. Kat says she was expected to go to college and get a good job, but nothing too highbrow or fancy. “It was like, ‘Think about your family and think about the economics and think about the support of your family before you think about your own self want.’ That was a real struggle we had in my family. I was kind of the weird creative one, although both my mom and dad have little tiny creative sparks, they both went in completely different directions,” says Kat.

The filmmakers also listened to over 100 Pixar employees share their personal first- and second-generation immigrant stories that culminated in both tears and laughs. Working from shared immigrant experiences and their own understanding of familial obligations, Kat, John, and the entire story team had to decide on Ember’s main objective. This objective would not only define Ember’s journey but also the movie.

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Discovering the Character Objective

When the Pixar story team develops a story, they explore a lot of different avenues until they find the perfect storyline. “One of the big tricks with Ember,” says John, “was in an early version of the movie, she kind of knew she wanted to get out of Firetown at the beginning. It had kind of a Disney Princess vibe, right? Where you go on the roof and sing about what you really want. But it didn't feel right. And also, it made her feel really young,” he says.

Elemental (2023)

There was a lot of discussion about what specifically Ember wanted. “The key to the whole character, I think, is when we landed on Ember's prime directive of what she wants: to be a good daughter. And to be a good daughter means to take over the shop and do what her parents want. And she thinks the problem is she's got this temper,” says John. But Ember ­– with the help of Wade – discovers that underneath that temper is her true desire to express herself creatively and follow her own path, not her father’s. John says that getting past the shame of not being what your family wants, is something he and everyone else involved could relate to. Though painful at first, it’s the path to finding true happiness in life.

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Story Advice

Stories should always be personal to the writer, but it can be hard to really open yourself up emotionally and be vulnerable. But it’s what is necessary if you want that story to resonate with an audience, says Kat. “As a new writer, don't be afraid to look deeply inward for your story because every story starts with that hidden space inside of you that you don't want people to see. That's where your good story is. It's not just the mechanics of ­– I've got this plot thing, that plot thing, that big car chase. If you don't have the emotion behind those things, your story will always fall flat. So, start with the emotion first and then build your story from there,” she says.

Read More: The Secret Screenwriting Themes Behind All Pixar Movies

Elemental (2023)

Advice from Meg LeFauve

John said that they worked for a bit with Meg LeFauve, who’s best known for the Pixar film Inside Out and, as a bonus, shared the advice she gave them.

“Meg said this key thing about Inside Out that I thought was incredible and so insightful. She said the opening 12 minutes of that movie, what we had to do is get you, the viewer, to buy into Joy's worldview that sad things are bad, and life should be happy,” says John. Once the audience agrees with Joy and is onboard for her happy journey, the audience will go through the same self-discovery Joy does. “So, you emotionally go through the same change she does when you discover that actually, you need sadness in your life, too. I think that’s at the core of [Elemental], too. … When you meet a character, they've got all these status quo defense mechanisms up to hide that one vulnerability. And I think your job as a writer is to take those away through the story until you reveal this truth about them that they didn't even want to face.”

Elemental is currently playing in theaters.

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