While fire and water do not mix well, Ember and Wade find themselves forming an unlikely friendship.
And then I had this idea that I first drew about this water character coming to a dinner.
SOHN: It was really early on.
Disney/Pixar
Even when we pitched the idea, everyone said it was going to be very difficult.
DENISE REAM: From the get-go, basically.
Our boss was really worried about the fire, and that was something we heard a lot about.
ElementalConcept ArtDisney/Pixar
We never wanted realistic fire, but the character still needs to feel like fire.
So, I immediately started talking to the tools people and big R&D brains.
SOHN: Its hard to look back on it right now, because there wasnt anything before.
Even online, there were no real fire characters.
There was the Human Torch and Jack-Jack on fire.
So, all I had were drawings.
Ember is fire, not a human on fire.
How did that realization come about?
SOHN: Well I just knew that Im still not happy with the rigs.
Id love to push the rigs even further, you know?
Lets see what we can do with that and see where it goes.
REAM: From theanimationperspective, that was the hard thing to figure out.
We always want that hand animated feel thats so fun and perky, you know?
SOHN: Yes, I went into a mania.
Every dial has transparency his bubbles, the ripples, everything.
We had to rework some of the design to accommodate that look, but that wasnt the hard part.
The hard part was lighting.
What does Wade look like when the light hits him?
Wade changes in every lighting situation, where Ember has no shadows on her.
Shes essentially the same in every shot, except for her movement.
So that was challenging.
DEADLINE: Seems very challenging, especially because as you said, theres no reference for this online.
SOHN: Yeah, and its so expensive to do.
With current technology, it is so hard to render that pop in of volume in both characters.
The rendering power will work to render the skin of Woodys fabric and bounce off.
SOHN: Its very emotional.
Now that we got to the end, its so emotional and feels like youve raised a child.
I feel emotional as well because its been a long time.
Its happened through our life, personal lives, and the pandemic.
Theres just been so much work, but seeing what everyone came together to do just blows me away.
Everyone just puts a part of themselves into it.
SOHN: Oh, Im extremely proud.
REAM: That was my first movie, so it feels extra special for me to have that attached.
So, we are super proud.
