[News Figures] Peter Son, Creator of 'Elemental' Going Viral Through Word of Mouth

Korean-American... Capturing Immigrant Family Struggles in Film
Weekend Sees 'Crime City 3' Push Out 'Spider-Man'

Disney·Pixar animation 'Elemental' has taken the top spot at the weekend box office, drawing attention to director Peter Sohn, who made the film. Peter Sohn is Pixar's first Korean-American director and is said to have incorporated his autobiographical story into the movie.

Released on the 14th, 'Elemental' is gaining momentum through word of mouth. It dethroned 'Crime City 3,' which is nearing 10 million viewers, from the number one spot, pushing out strong contenders such as 'Spider-Man: Across the Universe,' 'The Prince,' and 'Flash.'

According to the Korea Film Council's integrated box office data on the 27th, 'Elemental' attracted 65,143 viewers to theaters on the 26th alone, securing the number one position at the box office. The cumulative audience count stands at 1,306,917.

Director Peter Sohn, who produced and directed the Disney·Pixar animation 'Elemental'
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Director Sohn was born in New York in 1977 and is a Korean-American. He studied animation at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), an art school established by Disney.

He worked as an animator, voice actor, and storyboard artist at Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., and Pixar. In 2015, he directed his first feature-length animation, Pixar's 'The Good Dinosaur.' In 2023, he directed his second feature, 'Elemental.'

Movie poster of 'Elemental'

He explained that 'Elemental' reflects experiences his family went through. At a press conference held on the 30th of last month in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Peter Sohn said, "My parents immigrated to the United States in the late 1960s and went through many experiences. There was immigrant hatred, but there were also people who helped them." He added, "I personally witnessed many things my parents went through and learned values from those memories." Regarding the film's explanation, he said, "It reflects my experience growing up in New York."

In particular, Sohn's parents ran a grocery store, and he explained that the characters were based on that situation. He said, "People of various races came as customers. My father couldn't speak a word of English, but he understood what the customers said, helped them, and empathized with them. I tried to incorporate that empathy into the characters, and because I personally felt the diversity of races and the value of different people growing up, I wanted to portray that through this film."

Currently, 'Elemental' is on a fast track to success, surpassing Disney animation 'Zootopia,' which attracted 4.7 million viewers, Peter Sohn's previous work 'The Good Dinosaur,' and other well-made Disney·Pixar representative works such as 'Soul' (2021).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.