Pete Docter Was Confused By Elemental’s Bad Reviews

The latest film from Pixar, Elemental, seems to be receiving mostly positive reviews from both audiences and critics as of the writing of this article. For some time the film’s preview rating was a 50% critical score when the film screened at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Not a good sign leading up to the film’s release.



One person who was seemingly shocked by the negative views from critics is the current Pixar head Pete Docter. Docter took over the position of Pixar head after John Lasseter was let go following “circumstances.”



In a recent interview with Variety, Docter explained his reaction to the rather negative reception at the festival: 

“That was a confusing half-hour there. The film played, we got a seven-minute standing ovation, and you could feel the love beaming down from the audience to Pete. They really responded to it. Then the embargo lifted and some of the reviews were pretty nasty. I guess there are probably a lot of reasons for that. This is our 27th film. For some reason, we seem to be critiqued not only based on other movies but on our own stuff. So, people will say, ‘Oh, it’s not as good as my favorite Pixar film, whatever it is.”

He would then go on to say:

“On one hand, that’s flattering, and it’s also kind of a tough position to be in and very tricky. I’m not sure that we would say we regret going to Cannes or anything like that. It was such a fantastic audience of film lovers.“

Docter in the past has criticized the audience for “not getting” their 2022 box office flop Lightyear. So perhaps he isn’t one who takes criticism well.



Despite the current wave of positive reviews, Elemental is currently on track to bomb at the box office. Despite their best efforts, it is clear that Pixar isn’t in the same position it used to hold nearly three decades prior or even just a few years ago. 

Sources: Variety, Clutch Points