Elemental is hot stuff, according to Disney. The Pixar animated movie, released in June of this year, is reportedly Disney’s biggest streaming release of 2023. Elemental first came to Disney+ on the 15th and has compiled over 26 million views on the streaming platform in three days, taking over the top spot held by Turning Red, which premiered last year. The movie’s meteoric streaming and surprising theatrical success earlier this summer have led audiences and critics alike to label it as a “sleeper hit.”
‘Elemental’ Takes Disney+’s Top Spot of the Year
Elemental first hit theaters on June 16th, 2023. The movie tells the story of Element City, where Earth, Fire, Water, and Air elementals live together but are culturally separate, with residents of each elemental type normally keeping to themselves. Here, we meet Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis), a quick-witted fire elemental whose surprise friendship with laid-back water elemental Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) forces her to re-examine everything she thought she knew about not only the world but also herself.
In the buildup to its release, critics and audiences alike were somewhat underwhelmed by Elemental’s premise, and not many people had high hopes for the film. While reviews from the film’s theatrical release don’t have much praise for the film’s story, Elemental is widely recognized as a visual feat of animation. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a critic score of 74% and an audience score of 93%, highlighting its “heartwarming message” and “dazzling visual flair.”
With reviews like these, it’s not surprising that in the three days that Elemental has been on Disney+, it’s amassed over 26.4 million views, making it the platform’s top premiere of 2023. According to Deadline, Elemental’s total stream time also awards it the title of the biggest animated release by Disney and Pixar since the release of Turning Red, starring Sandra Oh and Rosalie Chang, last March.
Pixar’s Elemental is currently available to stream on Disney+.
