- Starring
- Mamoudou Athie, Leah Lewis
- Director
- Peter Sohn
- Rating
- Not Yet Rated
- Genre
- Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family
- Release date
- June 16, 2023
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
Long gone are the days of Pixar-perfect animated features. With Elemental, today’s Disney · Pixar exquisitely displays their complete lack of pluck, subtlety, and skill of just a few short years ago.
Elemental
Set in the diverse and fictional city of Elemental (in which the citizenry is comprised of beings made from one of the four elements – get it?), Disney · Pixar’s latest piece of propaganda veiled behind a narrative veneer thinner than a Hunter Biden crack-ho follows Ember, the daughter of immigrants, as she tries to deal with her firey temper (do you get it? she’s made of fire). Once she does, she’ll finally be able to take over the family business and fulfill her father’s American…er Elemental dream, but that may be more of a challenge than anyone anticipated. That is until she meets and ultimately falls in love with the water elemental, Wade.
Wade is a pudgy loser who cries at the drop of a hat and has few redeemable qualities other than being polite. In a movie that contains cloud people who look like cartoon farts, the most unbelievable thing in Elemental is that the strong and assertive (at least until the film needs her to be otherwise) Ember would find anything appealing about the wimpy Wade.
Between the schlocky and unoriginal writing and bland and uninspired animation, never once in the film’s interminable 1 hour and 45 minutes do the two leads display any chemistry; but they’re not alone. Except for one or two brief moments between Ember and her father early in the film, every character interaction is predictive text formulaic and two-dimensional.
Not to be outshone, from the rainbow logo to the cliché racist security officer, the story’s themes are also handled with all of the grace and subtlety of President Biden dodging a bribery question. Instead of the deep and touching nuance of UP’s opening 10 minutes or the heart and universally experienced themes found in The Incredibles, Elemental spends most of its 105 minutes beating the audience over the head with poorly conceived reasoning, the most convenient inter-story movie physics ever in the history of animated features, and agenda-driven drivel.
The film’s main conflict is that, while the earth, wind, and water folks all live together in relative harmony in the wealthy part of town, the fire folk are treated as second-class citizens and are largely segregated from the others, going so far as to have an entire borough (made of brick) to themselves. The inherent problem in this hamfisted anti-bigotry metaphor is that fire is one of the most destructive natural forces known to man, and in Elemental, it is shown to be the case as well.
In one of the film’s many repeated gags, the main character tends to explode like living napalm when she gets frustrated, causing considerable damage to everything within a 30-foot radius. Furthermore, there are numerous instances of firepeople accidentally and intentionally incinerating or otherwise damaging property and even people. In one scene, Ember tells Wade of a time when a racist security guard wouldn’t let her father and her into a museum, saying, “But they said our fire was too dangerous and wouldn’t let us in.” Um, yeah… you’re made of fire. It seems more than reasonable to be cautious of an entire group of people who could kill you if one stubs his toe, let alone is shown to incinerate property with a thought.
All of this nonsense is couched in a love story that’s as watered down as its male lead, as the two star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the tracks dodge Ember’s father’s bigotry while simultaneously trying to locate and patch a leak that threatens all of Firetown. No, really. That’s one of the film’s primary sub-plots. The two have to find what ends up being a 20-foot rent in a key and centrally located canal lock that is easily seen from multiple locations.
Then, while the audience waits for Ember and Wade’s plot device… er… repair to break, they are treated to 40 minutes of meaningless conversations as well as a last-minute subplot that wrecks Ember’s character development, transforming her from a marginally sympathetic, loving, and hardworking daughter with a passion and deep respect for her family’s business to a stereotypical Leftist weenie who needs to find herself and express herself through art.
Despite a few moments when a hardworking and engaged father and entrepreneur are treated with a surprising amount of respect, Elemental is the least imaginative, most on-the-nose allegory in Disney’s recent past. Plagued by forgettable performances, uninspired animation, uneven pacing, and a subpar and boring plot, it symbolizes everything Disney has become. If you want a truly family-friendly cartoon, check out The Wingfeather Saga from Angel Studios.
ELEMENTAL ROLE MODELS
Ember’s father is a loving and engaged dad who is also a hardworking entrepreneur who built a successful business from nothing.
INAPPROPRIATE ELEMENTS FOR CHILDREN IN ELEMENTAL
- “Get off your lazy ash” is uttered once for comedic purposes.
- After being left briefly alone, a couple that may or may not be lesbians (the animation makes it difficult to tell) can be heard making out, but it’s really aggressive make-out sounds with a lot of panting and moaning. Then, we briefly see them groping one another before being interrupted.
- There are numerous instances of Disney’s “not-so-secret gay agenda” on display.
- When Wade, who doesn’t wear pants, is first introduced, he’s been misshapen into what resembles a very manly and muscular shape. When he turns around, we are “treated” to an anatomically accurate butt, crack and all.
- Some sexual innuendos will probably go over the heads of very young children.
- Although it is not explicitly stated, it is strongly implied that the two main characters end up living together unmarried.
WOKE ELEMENTS
- Elemental is the perfect metaphor for Leftist views of diversity. Here you have a mostly peaceful and cohesive society filled with a diverse group of people from completely different backgrounds and cultures. Then, on the other side of town is a relatively small group of people who are literally made of a deadly and dangerous substance with the ability to destroy everything around them just by getting too upset or even accidentally touching someone. Yet, the movie wants to preach that three-fourths of the society is bigoted for wanting to be cautious around them.
- Where 2016’s Zootopia used a giant cannon rammer to shove down such ridiculous progressive nonsense like a fox can be an elephant if it has a strong enough case of the feelsies, at least it was a well-paced, well-structured story in which the ever-present ideology was only the driving force behind the plot but not the plot itself. In Elemental, there’s never a moment in which some character isn’t spouting some racist cliché that no one in the cast or crew has ever heard said in real life.
- “Not all water looks alike.”
- “Go back where you came from.”
- “You speak so well and clear.”
- The lead male character is a watery blubbering beta who fits right in the friend zone.
- Ember insults Wade for coming from a “rich” family.
- Following your heart as the ultimate goal in life supersedes things like duty and responsibility or finding joy in doing good works.
- At the film’s end, the newly minted couple start their lives together while unmarried.
- It’s the gayest Disney film to date.
- At the beginning of the first act, Ember’s mystic mother does a “love reading” for a couple that seems like two women (it’s difficult to tell thanks to the subpar character designs – though I have a sneaking suspicion that that’s intentional).
- There are numerous instances of what appear to be same-sex couples in the background.
- Wade’s sister is a lesbian because she is (after all, she attends an art school).
- It’s been stated by others that this is a non-binary character. However, that’s never officially declared in the film. She is referred to as both she and her but does have a girlfriend and is dressed in what appears to be boyish clothing and sporting a short mannish “hair” style.
- Although it’s never officially stated, Wade’s unmarried uncle is a flamboyant painter who presents as super-gay.
- The entire film is a Leftist xenophobia allegory with loads of systemic racism built right in.
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
59 comments
Scott
June 19, 2023 at 4:50 pm
Pixar died when they forced out John Lasseter. It used to be Pixar could do. Now they have fallen all the way to the bottom with little to no creativity or skill and are entirely driven by ideology. Each old Pixar movie or series had its own unique art style, this was ripped off entirely from inside out. Also they used to be able to make a movie that had a message but it could be largely unnoticed and was still entertaining.
Troy
August 10, 2023 at 8:47 pm
This has to be the most dumbest reviews I’ve seen for a movie. Elemental is a beautiful love story that tells us to thank our parents for the sacrifices they made to us. The fact you gave Meg 2. The worst movie I’ve ever seen in my life a higher score shows the taste you lack. Do better.
TG
September 15, 2023 at 9:46 pm
Don’t you have something to protest in the street?
Spike Spiegel
October 17, 2023 at 10:43 pm
Don’t you have some books to burn and U.S. flags to replace with Trump flags?
john_it-doesnt_matter
November 5, 2023 at 1:08 am
dude you guys think a movie is bad for portraying a couple living together… “unmarried”. Jfc grow up.
craig
February 9, 2024 at 2:33 pm
Please read the context of the review…the context of these reviews are about the authenticity of the story and characters and plots and the review clearly lays out how there are so many “elements” in the film that are unnecessary, over political messages that are shoving a political agenda and narrative down people’s throats. Whether the viewer feels the love story is beautiful, the review is about how this love story fits into love stories in film in general, and also how it fits within traditional love stories. The male lead in this film is not charismatic at all…there’s nothing assertive about him at all…he’s the type that is the best friend (or gay best friend) to the girl…he’s a nice guy, but that’s it. And….there’s no point in having so many gay couples around subtly in a little children’s movie. Period. Lastly, the reviewer is correct. Doesn’t it get old watching children’s movies and having an absolutely worn out overused metaphor serve as the plot again and again? YES!
The Collective
September 20, 2023 at 1:07 pm
I do miss the days where John Lasseter ran Pixar. But John Lasseter’s Behavior got him into a lot of trouble. You could say he was forced out or you could say his straying hand or unusual touching caused him to find the front door. Now Pixar is left to a different mind set of making movies.
Richard Voss
June 19, 2023 at 5:02 pm
And just this morning I was reading an article on how Pixar’s latest movie is the worst one ever—by objective (i.e., people who feel like paying for it) standards. So I thought, “I wonder if it’s woke.” So I looked around on the Internet for an answer. None. All Rotten Tomatoes had was an okay critic score (76%), a strangely strong audience score (92%), and weirdly upbeat comments from various and sundry people-bots. So I thought, “I’ll just wait for Worth It or Woke to review it.” Then, like magic, this very review popped in my mailbox in the afternoon, answering all of my questions. Woke? Yes! And that’s why Pixar is melting like that witch in that old movie. Goodbye, Rotten Tomatoes. Die a miserable woke death.
Drew
June 20, 2023 at 8:28 pm
Edited version
James, I like your work. I’ve seen a lot of your reviews and critiques and I love how you word things. I hate woke just as much as the next guy but I writing this comment because I honestly think you went too harsh on this movie in the woke department. Like I said before I can’t stand wokeness and I hate a lot of what Disney is trying to do. When I see new media and trailers my senses are on high alert just in case. In my opinion, when I saw every trailer for this movie I was like “wow, I can’t sense I single bit of wokeness to this” that’s a good sign. I even saw reviews from multiple sources and it was positively received more the most part. Then I saw this review and I was taken a back because it was the opposite of what I saw and pictured. The criticisms about the story, plot, characters and the such im fine with. It’s your opinion and breaking down of the movie and I enjoy different peoples thoughts and opinions. Your description of what is woke is something I had a problem with because I guess our opinions of what is woke in our eyes is different. I’ll explain my reasons.
I don’t believe that having gay or lesbian relationships in a movie should count as “woke”, heterosexuality and homosexuality should be seen as the same and as long as it isn’t shoved down your throat and is treated like just a normal thing then it’s not a big deal.
I think the separation of the four elements is less of an allegory for real world racism and more just the structure the movies world is based on, when you have three naturally harmless elements (Earth,Wind and Water) then have a destructive element like fire, naturally the other elements would be hostile or scared of fire. If that is enough to be called woke the “Avatar the last airbender” should be called woke too because you have four elemental tribes that hate each other in the show.
Ember making fun of Wade for coming from a rich family should not be something that’s classified as woke because that kind of topic is not something that can be labeled outright be labeled as woke.
Wade being a Beta (in your words) does not feel like a woke decision but rather a character decision. Ember is supposed to be confident and hardworking while Wade is supposed to be goofy but well meaning. It’s the opposite attracts trope. I’ve seen many media where a shy and introverted boy gets in a healthy relationship with a extraverted confident girl and wouldn’t even think about calling it woke.
That piece about them starting a relationship and not getting married is not something Woke. If they just made it the relationship official why would already get married and it not like the outright said that we shouldn’t get married or that marriage is for losers.
I said before that I respect your work and opinions and i’ve agreed with a lot of your critiques but I would definitely not give this movie the harsh woke rating you did. In this modern day Hollywood this movie doesn’t even scratch the surface the woke Hollywood at its worst and in comparison to other Disney works this is nothing. At maximum this is a 50% on the scale.
I hope that you can respect my opinions and takes and consider making the change the scale, Thank you
Anonymous Coward
June 21, 2023 at 6:55 am
Drew is woke, just does not want to be named as such.
Perhaps he is trans-based: He identifies as based, even though he is woke in his dna.
OG Luke
July 13, 2023 at 7:38 pm
YES
Troy
August 10, 2023 at 8:48 pm
Aw, you gonna cry that he has the right opinion than you? You’re a grown-ass man. Grow up.
James Carrick
June 21, 2023 at 10:06 am
Hi Drew,
Thanks a bunch for taking the time to write.
One of the great things about being conservatives is that we are not all monolithic in our beliefs. This is precisely why our reviews list every instance of wokeness, both big and small. That way individuals can decide for themselves what is palatable or what is unacceptable.
Thanks a bunch.
Jimbo Bimbo
August 24, 2023 at 8:15 am
fair point. thumbs up.
Dave
June 26, 2023 at 12:29 am
Yeah, this is a concern troll garbage post and you can smell it a mile away.
If you want to redefine woke to your own standards, you are welcome to start your own site, “Drew”.
Steve
June 28, 2023 at 9:47 am
Any children’s programming containing gay & trans characters is woke.
It’s child “programming”.
Yes, they are coming for the children, and are feeling so good about their successes they aren’t hiding it anymore
Shelby
June 28, 2023 at 1:45 pm
Depicting homosexual characters as a normal thing is woke. Homosexuality isn’t normal. It’s okay to not be normal, but it’s a false depiction of the world. It’s especially bad when it’s done in children’s movies because the woke crowd is constantly trying to target children with their propaganda
Cami
October 6, 2023 at 2:55 pm
Anything that has been occurring naturally in human societies since the beginning of time is “normal” to some degree, wouldn’t you agree? I think it is wrong for children to be programmed into thinking maybe they are or should be homosexual without naturally finding out for themselves if they are or not, but it is cruel and incorrect to call a human being abnormal simply because they are attracted to the same sex. This has been happening for thousands of years. Hundreds of gay people have been driven to suicide or life-long depression because they couldn’t change themselves, they tried so hard to be straight and couldn’t “fix” it. That’s because there was nothing to fix in the first place. A gay person IS born gay, it is not the devil working in them, it is not a mutation – it is naturally occurring. (Now trans on the other hand, is a modern, woke, delusion. I do NOT think that should be shown in children’s movies).
Seth
October 6, 2023 at 7:43 pm
Both homosexuality and transgenderism are mental disorders and should be treated as such. They are not normal. What we’re doing by “normalizing” all of this is the equivalent of telling a paranoid schizophrenic that the voices he hears in his head are real and he should take their advice. Both were classified as mental disorders throughout human history until it became more important to be politically correct than scientifically correct.
Cami
October 6, 2023 at 9:49 pm
Homosexuality has been officially removed from the mental illness category since 1973. People are still guessing at what combination of environmental, genetic, hormonal, etc. factors cause someone to be gay. No one knows for sure, but it is definitely not a disorder that needs treatment. Being gay should’t be ‘encouraged’ to young children, but if they end up being attracted to the same sex as they mature, then that is simply who they are. It is not a disorder. It’s easy for us to call it abnormal as straight people. Transgenderism on the other hand definitely is a disorder. But it should never be compared to homosexuality in my opinion. Attraction cannot be fixed or treated and doesn’t need to be. Not liking your body or feeling like you’re the wrong gender however can and should be treated, before that person is ruined by hormone replacement and mutilation.
Michelle
July 18, 2023 at 1:01 pm
I agree with your perspective. I absolutely hate woke propaganda as well, but didn’t find it in this movie. If we weren’t in such dark times, I think it would be interpreted differently; simply as literally different elements. I think Transformers and Spiderman were much more politically woke. I found Elemental benign.
FreddyFazbearGunControlForever
July 20, 2023 at 7:44 pm
You are a dirty filthy GROOMER eating ORGANIC YOGURT!!!!! go back to BIDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seth
September 15, 2023 at 8:54 pm
Homosexuality isn’t normal and it isn’t the same as heterosexuality. You have clearly been brainwashed by the left. If this movie isn’t woke, what is, in your opinion?
Adam
September 17, 2023 at 3:55 am
hope that you can respect my opinions and takes and consider making the change the scale, Thank you
Lmao 🤣 the micro aggression and the double standards by the woke
Lr
November 5, 2023 at 3:56 pm
Too many typos and butchering of the English language. Take a basic English class, study Strunk and White, and stop being such a bully if other men. Calling people losers and beta males says more about you than it does about them.
Jason
January 26, 2024 at 3:21 pm
That should read, “bully of other men.” If you’re going to be the grammar police, try not to screw up your own post. 🙄
craig
February 9, 2024 at 2:48 pm
Drew, not getting married in a children’s movie IS A WOKE TENNANT. Why do we have to celebrate not being married in front of little children? It’s the opposite of what traditional storytelling and culture stands for. Hence….woke.
If you feel that Wade is allowed to be written as a testosteroneless character, perhaps that may be fine but since it exists inside a movie with so many other woke elements, we have to assume it is contrived by design to fit the woke narrative. (it also doesn’t help that an indordinate amount of the disney and marvel themes in the past several years have intentionally installed characters and plots with wokeness. If Disney creative executives put on record how they hope that 50% of all characters be LGBTQ, (see the video of the exec saying it) I’m going to trust that if Ember is alpha and hetero, to satisfy Disney’s stated objective, Wade by simple math must be the oppositie. Hence…woke.
And Drew…Disney stated the movie is about race / cultural relations (looking past people’s differences). Horse’s mouth.
One last thing Drew….It is so unbelievable old and tired that people who are affluent must be made fun of and insulted by derogatory dialogue IN A CHILDREN’S MOVIE. That’s programming little children to dislike perceived “rich people” as bad which implies to children that as long as you’re not rich, you’re virtuous.
How bout this…BE SUCCESSFUL LITTLE CHILDREN AND YOU TOO CAN LIVE IN AN AWESOME PLACE AND ENJOY THE COMFORTS OF YOUR HARD WORK…THAT’S THE AMERICAN WAY! sooooo….Drew…..again WOKE.
It’s a kid’s movie, not a 2 hour grooming session.
jsteel
April 9, 2024 at 2:46 pm
Homosexual relationships are not the same as heterosexual. Also, this is a film aimed squarely at children. I think we can agree to keep adult topics like sex away from kids entertainment. A married couple, mother and father, is still the best and the norm as it has been for eons.
Eddie
June 21, 2023 at 9:40 am
Don’t change your scale. Call a spade a spade. This is the only place where someone actually takes the time to specifically call it out and identify it. As long as you’re reviews are not shill posts and are honest , then I will continue to check here first when movies release.
Adam
June 21, 2023 at 5:12 pm
It’s gay pride month and Disney so I kinda expected woke. Saw it on a Disney cruise honestly its a 3.5 to 4 stars for story line, vocals and animation. The woke was in the background throughout and liberal ideas are everywhere.
Dave
June 26, 2023 at 12:31 am
Why would you be caught dead on a Disney cruise?
Jay Leigh
June 22, 2023 at 7:07 pm
Great review. It’s so hard to find woke-quotients (“woketients”?) anywhere on Google for various movies, so I was thrilled to discover this site. You guys have found your niche for sure.
Tia
June 23, 2023 at 12:17 pm
Thanks for this review! I heard absolutely zilch about the ‘wokeness factor’ about this movie before it came out in theaters, but Disney lost my trust so deeply that there was no way I was going to see it or let my young kids see this movie. And here, seeing this review, I feel quite justified in my distrust of Disney’s “family friendly” stance. So I appreciate that you suffered through this film so I know I shouldn’t 🙂
Olint
June 23, 2023 at 8:16 pm
Thanks James for your review
@Drew if Elemental is 100% woke and not worth any penny. It is one of your tactics you woke mafia to soften your opponent’s position and seed doubts – “I am against woke [bullshit] but this and that is ok and it is not woke [because it hurts your feelings]”. Woke is contrary to being sensible, reasonable it is contrary to common sense, wokeness follows political correctness, woke is against unbiased science, against naturals laws, woke goes against logical thinking. Woke = ridiculousness, ludicrousness and ugliness. Exposing kids to sexual orientation in an animated movie is pure woke and another Hollywood attempt of discreet brainwashing.
Johnny YesPapa
June 25, 2023 at 4:07 pm
“Although it is not explicitly stated, it is strongly implied that the two main characters end up living together unmarried.”
Come on, man. I love the work that you’re doing helping us to avoid woke-fascist BS, but living “unmarried”? Seriously?
James Carrick
June 25, 2023 at 4:28 pm
Like I’ve said, I point it all out and leave it to you to decide if it’s too much wokeness to watch.
Dean
June 25, 2023 at 10:46 pm
I took my little girl, it was $5 each, across the street from hotel and I was forced a bit. I didn’t catch many of the woke sightings but we did see the rear-end in the beginning, we laughed, and the flamboyant uncle, couldn’t miss him. The movie was in Spanish so I probably missed a few of the comments mentioned in the review. I would have to say, two people from different backgrounds falling for each other I wouldn’t consider woke, it has been in movies for a long time. Now, how they set it up, 3 elements vs 1, that part was driving the racist theme which I am getting tired of seeing. Beta Wade, yep, can’t get more woke than that especially the crying all the time. What I am getting really sick of in movies and almost all shows, the need to sneak in the homosexual part. I don’t care if people are gay but, unfortunately, the random, non-plot scenes now seem to be the norm. By coincidence, we went to McDonalds for a happy meal the day before and there it was, Elemental. Good thing we got the Ember toy because I think if I got Wade it may mysteriously disappear and I would cry too…lol Thanks for the link to Wingfeather, we will be watching it.
jason
June 25, 2023 at 11:30 pm
is it weird that there are more people named “james” that have been convicted of sexual assault than there are those named “ember”?
Dave
June 26, 2023 at 12:34 am
Considering ember is the name a parent at the top 1% of the woke pyramid would give their kid if they actually chose not to abort it, then no it’s not surprising.
Zachary
September 16, 2023 at 9:05 pm
What psychopath names their kid ember 💀
Wayne McLennan
June 30, 2023 at 5:37 pm
I was so tired of reading reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. My Partner recommended WIOW and I am thrilled with the reviews I am seeing here. More upfront, honest, and reality based reviewing which helps steer me towards more entertaining movies again ( Wow…that’s novel!) that don’t have an underlying WOKE agenda. I don’t go to films to be lectured. Keep up the good work. I will be checking out your site regularly!
ChoketheWoke
July 3, 2023 at 12:49 pm
Disney should try exposing children to scientific truths. e.g. Simplified explanations of evolutionary biology that explain there are only two sexes and ‘gender’ is originally a result of feminist writings designed to push the blank-slateism of radical left ideologues. Those who deny, or are at war with biological reality are enemies of both civilization and truth.
Xena
July 19, 2023 at 3:16 pm
This is the blandest animated movie I’ve seen in ages, but that’s standard Disney/Pixar fare these days. At least we weren’t subjected to another mediocre musical.
Speaking objectively, the characters are all underdeveloped and one dimensional even at their best, the plot is wafer-thin, the visuals are okay but cannot cover for everything else (seriously, the lighting and rendering was wasted on this movie). Also it’s abundantly clear that no one in production knows anything about infrastructure. The city’s only port has severe and visible damage that could easily cripple one of the many ships that pass through daily, and no one ever noticed? A city inspector discovers it by accident. And why does Ember’s house have any plumbing if it’s part of the fire quarter and it’s established pipes are never used? No one ever thought to remove them, sell them for scrap? And the flooded stadium no one cares to fix? This derelict city is far more interesting than any character and will remain a mystery.
No one is fleshed out beyond their one defining characteristic. Wade and family are so understanding, crying every chance they get, even playing games to make themselves cry, which is a repeated gag that’s also a plot point. Disney keeps using generational trauma as the main plot point so it’s fast becoming a bad cliché. Ember having an artsy hobby doesn’t bother me, but it would have made better sense to see more of it considering it’s supposed to be important to the plot, and so much of this movie is wasted on poorly written allegory. The romance is supposed to be the main plot but it’s pretty easy to forget.
Elemental would have been endearing as a 5min short, but is an utter bore at nearly 2hrs (109min). Save your money and skip this movie.
Aima Heaux
July 29, 2023 at 10:00 am
“Elemental is woke because the plot is a clear allegory for unfair treatment and discrimination of immigrants, interracial relationships and ignored infrastructure to marginalized communities” My god just say that you’re racist. Everyone knows it. This is literally a children’s movie that has exaggerated it’s allegory for discrimination towards immigrants in order to make it easy for children to understand and the fact that most of you don’t even understand that just shows how childish this “anti-woke” mentality is.
Don
August 1, 2023 at 8:15 am
What are you doing commenting on a racist site?
Harrison
August 20, 2023 at 12:19 am
Good review, although I have to disagree with one tidbit you mentioned:
“Where 2016’s Zootopia used a giant cannon rammer to shove down such ridiculous progressive nonsense like a fox can be an elephant if it has a strong enough case of the feelsies”
With that scene, I truly don’t think they were trying to push identity politics. For one thing, it was way more unpopular back then to even think of a kid (as faked by the smaller fox in the film) identifying as something other than what they were born as, even more so the years before the film was released during its writing phase. I think it was more like how a kid pretends to be a doctor and you tell them that they can be a doctor if they want.
Second, if their goal was to inject identity politics, then they REALLY shouldn’t have recorded and animated the entire alternate take of that scene. It basically made fun of gender identity, with Nick saying that his “son” thinks he’s an elephant.
And finally, if a character identifying as a different species in that movie’s universe symbolized people identifying as different genders, it would have contradicted any themes or messages involving different cultures or races. A fox identifying as an elephant, if taken as a form of symbolism, would be like a black person identifying as a white person or vice versa.
Of course, that’s my take on it. I’ve seen Zootopia claimed as both left and right-leaning. With the conservative themes present in the movie, the backlash it got in 2020 being called “copaganda”, and, as you put it, “the ever-present ideology was only the driving force behind the plot but not the plot itself”, I see it in a more right light.
James Carrick
August 20, 2023 at 1:53 am
I appreciate your perspective. It’s always interesting how differently people can view the same thing.
Jimbo Bimbo
August 24, 2023 at 8:59 am
Check out this, you’ll probably love it as much as I do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC_5baiL8Io (The Original Plot of Zootopia – The Tame Collar)
TK47
September 15, 2023 at 7:08 am
Thank you for the detailed review, i love this site and cant believe how i lived without it. Wish you all the best
Franco Arias
September 19, 2023 at 5:43 pm
Lol why do you all hate gay people so much?
Selrisitai
September 20, 2023 at 5:31 pm
No one said anything about hating gay people. That’s like saying we hate people who smoke, drink excessively, lie, are sexually promiscuous, have children outside of wedlock, use profanity, et cetera, et cetera.
You can do a bad thing and still enjoy a place in society, whatever place you can manage to reach through your dedication.
What some of us don’t like is homosexuality—a perversion—being depicted as normal and good. If you don’t want to depict them in a goofy way, that’s fine, just don’t have them at all, but in a children’s film this is as ridiculous as having OnlyFans models in the background.
And, of course, you can put these things in your movies, that’s perfectly fine. It’s our prerogative to not watch the movie.
Franco Arias
September 20, 2023 at 6:09 pm
A perversion is merely a distortion of the perceived normal state of something. Lets look for something that doesn’t normally happen that could be perceived as such..say, dwarfism. Are you opposed to depicting dwarves in movies because they are not “normal”? Do you follow the same logic for every subject that escapes your normalcy?
Selrisitai
September 20, 2023 at 11:43 pm
A perversion is turning something to a wrong use, not merely a different one. If we’re using different dictionaries, then disregard the semantics: When I say perversion, this is the definition I’m using, which pretty much makes all of your argument irrelevant since you were using a different definition which just means, “something aberrant from the normal.” A proper but irrelevant definition.
That said, the phrase “your normalcy” neutralizes the value of this conversation, at least as it pertains to the two of us, because we have fundamentally different worldviews. You think homosexuality is [xxx], and I think it’s bad. For everyone. But especially for children.
Where could we possibly go from here?
Incidentally, dwarfism is a perversion of regular human development, but in this instance we would be using your definition, so they’re O.K. 😉
Crybaby Count
October 5, 2023 at 11:00 am
That’s absurd. Gay people are biological normal AF or they wouldn’t exist.
James Carrick
October 5, 2023 at 11:11 am
So, is all behavior that human beings exhibit normal because it exists, or just homosexuality?
Crybaby Counter
October 5, 2023 at 10:58 am
The fact this is a website is a testament to stupidity.
Douglas
October 29, 2023 at 8:32 pm
Why is it bad that an unmarried couple lived together or that there were gay couples in the background?
Steve
November 8, 2023 at 3:36 am
Dude who hurt you?
Another
December 9, 2023 at 9:55 am
This is obviously a satire review