1 00:00:01,042 --> 00:00:02,919 [whistling] 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:03,003 --> 00:00:06,339 [Peter] The best stories draw from elements of real life. 4 00:00:07,924 --> 00:00:09,551 I remember learning the violin. 5 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 6 00:00:10,135 --> 00:00:16,182 I was terrible, but there is a moment when you find C, and the violin will hum. 7 00:00:16,266 --> 00:00:18,268 'Cause you've hit it on the mark. 8 00:00:19,894 --> 00:00:21,730 It can happen with stories as well. 9 00:00:24,065 --> 00:00:29,571 Some stories can hit that C so well that it can vibrate through everyone. 10 00:00:30,905 --> 00:00:32,949 Like the universal chord. 11 00:00:34,325 --> 00:00:37,203 To do that, a storyteller pulls from real life. 12 00:00:46,463 --> 00:00:47,797 -Hey, how ya doing? -[vendor] Hello. 13 00:00:47,881 --> 00:00:49,132 Can I get a hot dog, please? 14 00:00:49,924 --> 00:00:52,510 I grew up in New York. I was born in the Bronx. 15 00:00:53,261 --> 00:00:54,971 My dad had two grocery stores. 16 00:00:57,807 --> 00:01:02,187 In school, when I was learning about the periodic table of elements, 17 00:01:02,270 --> 00:01:06,191 when you see that chart, it always looked like an apartment complex to me. 18 00:01:07,317 --> 00:01:10,195 People that live on top of each other just like in New York. 19 00:01:11,071 --> 00:01:13,990 Each one of those little blocks was a different culture. 20 00:01:14,074 --> 00:01:18,995 Copper living next to Zinc, but don't sit next to Helium, 'cause they're gassy. 21 00:01:20,330 --> 00:01:23,750 Giving each one of those elements a character made me laugh. 22 00:01:23,833 --> 00:01:27,003 And that became the beginnings of Elemental. 23 00:01:27,087 --> 00:01:29,923 [announcer] Please keep all limbs and branches inside. 24 00:01:32,550 --> 00:01:33,551 [no audible dialogue] 25 00:01:39,974 --> 00:01:42,477 [train crossing bell rings] 26 00:01:43,103 --> 00:01:44,646 [no audible dialogue] 27 00:01:44,729 --> 00:01:49,442 [Peter] Elemental is a movie where earth, air, water and fire 28 00:01:49,526 --> 00:01:51,069 are the characters in our community. 29 00:01:52,696 --> 00:01:54,864 And within this world of elements, 30 00:01:54,948 --> 00:01:57,534 there's a fire family that immigrated from Fire Land, 31 00:01:57,617 --> 00:02:00,370 and they're trying to find their place in a crowded city 32 00:02:00,453 --> 00:02:02,455 that's not so sure about fire. 33 00:02:02,539 --> 00:02:03,832 Dry leaves. 34 00:02:04,457 --> 00:02:06,793 [Peter] Bernie is a shop owner like my father, 35 00:02:07,293 --> 00:02:09,212 and he's brought his homeland with him, 36 00:02:09,295 --> 00:02:11,673 and he wants to connect that with the community. 37 00:02:12,674 --> 00:02:15,635 Cinder, his wife, is very traditional 38 00:02:15,719 --> 00:02:18,763 and believes that there's a certain way fire people should behave. 39 00:02:18,847 --> 00:02:20,306 It's true love. 40 00:02:20,390 --> 00:02:21,433 [both gasp] 41 00:02:21,516 --> 00:02:23,768 Which is more than I ever smelled on this one. 42 00:02:23,852 --> 00:02:26,062 Oh, goody, this old chestnut. 43 00:02:26,146 --> 00:02:28,398 [Peter] In this family, there would be a young fire girl 44 00:02:28,481 --> 00:02:31,568 who would fall in love with someone outside of her community. 45 00:02:32,318 --> 00:02:34,612 But water and fire don't get along well 46 00:02:34,696 --> 00:02:37,657 because they can put each other out or boil each other away. 47 00:02:40,118 --> 00:02:43,997 Here at Pixar, you're always bringing your life to whatever that you're doing. 48 00:02:44,831 --> 00:02:48,501 And for Elemental, the two sides of me that I was pulling from 49 00:02:48,585 --> 00:02:51,796 were of my relationship with my parents and their shop. 50 00:02:52,422 --> 00:02:55,550 And then my relationship with my wife who wasn't Korean. 51 00:02:56,259 --> 00:03:00,096 And the clash that that created within my family. 52 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:01,681 I'm Wade. 53 00:03:01,765 --> 00:03:02,974 I'm Ember. 54 00:03:06,227 --> 00:03:09,939 [Peter] New York City has gotta be one of the most diverse places in the world. 55 00:03:13,068 --> 00:03:15,779 [Salvo] If you go through the five boroughs, 56 00:03:15,862 --> 00:03:20,658 you could literally experience the cultures of the entire world. 57 00:03:23,328 --> 00:03:25,372 More languages, I think, are spoken in New York 58 00:03:25,455 --> 00:03:27,540 than any other city in the country. 59 00:03:29,125 --> 00:03:31,169 Immigrants and migrants, by and large, 60 00:03:31,252 --> 00:03:33,838 come to this country for work. 61 00:03:33,922 --> 00:03:38,718 [Salvo] They have resources in the form of motivation to do well, 62 00:03:38,802 --> 00:03:41,429 and, most importantly, to do well for their children. 63 00:03:43,264 --> 00:03:46,559 [Peter] My brother and I grew up in the grocery stores that my parents ran. 64 00:03:46,643 --> 00:03:47,894 [horns honking] 65 00:03:47,977 --> 00:03:50,480 [Peter] Anytime we made any money from the store, 66 00:03:50,563 --> 00:03:53,149 my mom would take my brother and I to the movies in the Bronx. 67 00:03:55,652 --> 00:03:58,697 Most of the movies were American movies that were in English. 68 00:04:00,323 --> 00:04:04,619 My mother absolutely loved Kevin Costner. 69 00:04:06,621 --> 00:04:09,374 His hair did something for my mom. 70 00:04:11,876 --> 00:04:15,130 She just could not get enough of Mr. Costner. 71 00:04:15,213 --> 00:04:18,008 You'd be sitting next to her, and she'd whisper… [speaking Korean] 72 00:04:18,091 --> 00:04:20,093 Like, "What did they say?" And I'd be like… 73 00:04:20,176 --> 00:04:23,013 [in Korean] 74 00:04:24,723 --> 00:04:27,892 [in English] But then I remember my mom taking me to the public library 75 00:04:27,976 --> 00:04:30,020 to see Dumbo for the first time. 76 00:04:31,479 --> 00:04:35,942 And I remember not having to translate anything for her. 77 00:04:36,026 --> 00:04:39,279 That these animals, she totally connected to. 78 00:04:39,988 --> 00:04:44,284 I remember her getting very emotional over the jailing of the mother elephant. 79 00:04:45,577 --> 00:04:48,997 I always loved that animation could be so universal. 80 00:04:50,832 --> 00:04:56,379 I just remember that feeling of connecting to something wholly in that way 81 00:04:56,463 --> 00:04:58,089 that it could be your story. 82 00:05:00,967 --> 00:05:02,093 We are in White Plains. 83 00:05:02,177 --> 00:05:05,221 We're just leaving to go back to my mom's place. 84 00:05:05,305 --> 00:05:08,224 In my mom and dad's car that, uh, 85 00:05:08,892 --> 00:05:11,686 I don't know what we're gonna do with now that they're passed away. 86 00:05:19,819 --> 00:05:21,321 My parents were from Korea. 87 00:05:23,198 --> 00:05:26,409 They both came to the United States in the late '60s, early '70s. 88 00:05:27,035 --> 00:05:30,955 My father decided to try his luck in business in New York. 89 00:05:36,795 --> 00:05:38,755 My mom came as a nurse. 90 00:05:43,802 --> 00:05:47,722 My parents were not supportive at all for my love for the arts 91 00:05:47,806 --> 00:05:49,057 when I was growing up. 92 00:05:53,603 --> 00:05:58,483 It's a cliché amongst Asian Americans of a certain generation 93 00:05:58,566 --> 00:06:04,531 that our parents never saw a job in the arts as a practical career. 94 00:06:05,949 --> 00:06:07,951 You're gonna be a doctor or a lawyer, 95 00:06:08,034 --> 00:06:11,204 but you're never gonna be an artist 'cause you can't live off of that. 96 00:06:14,582 --> 00:06:18,044 Elemental is not an autobiography by any means, 97 00:06:18,128 --> 00:06:22,048 but it was absolutely inspired by my life experiences in New York 98 00:06:22,132 --> 00:06:23,675 and my parents' stores. 99 00:06:25,343 --> 00:06:29,472 [movie reel clicking] 100 00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:33,852 All I wanted to be was an animator. 101 00:06:35,562 --> 00:06:36,646 That was the dream. 102 00:06:39,232 --> 00:06:41,484 The first spark, the thing that started it all, 103 00:06:41,985 --> 00:06:45,071 I saw a flip-book when I was a kid. 104 00:06:45,613 --> 00:06:48,533 I remember flipping it over and over again. 105 00:06:49,784 --> 00:06:56,124 There was such a magic, that idea that this motion was made up of still images. 106 00:06:57,250 --> 00:06:59,252 And that blew my brain as a kid. 107 00:07:00,587 --> 00:07:03,590 These are the books that I did some drawings in 108 00:07:03,673 --> 00:07:05,175 when I was seven or eight. 109 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,596 Cannot believe my brother found these. 110 00:07:10,764 --> 00:07:13,308 That's all I did in the corner of my textbooks. 111 00:07:13,391 --> 00:07:15,352 In the corner of any book that I ever read, 112 00:07:15,435 --> 00:07:16,811 there would be a flip-book. 113 00:07:17,937 --> 00:07:22,817 This corner is so dirty from flipping this thing so many times. 114 00:07:27,030 --> 00:07:29,282 This kid could've animated this bat better. 115 00:07:29,366 --> 00:07:30,617 [laughs] 116 00:07:31,826 --> 00:07:34,746 [sniffs] Oh, my God. They smell like childhood. 117 00:07:37,665 --> 00:07:40,585 I finally convinced my parents to let me go to art school. 118 00:07:43,463 --> 00:07:48,051 I went to high school in New York and then CalArts in Southern California. 119 00:07:49,803 --> 00:07:55,725 And out of school, got a job in LA that got me up to Pixar in 2000. 120 00:07:59,062 --> 00:08:01,731 I started off in the art department on Finding Nemo. 121 00:08:03,316 --> 00:08:05,985 Each show that I was on was either in the art department… 122 00:08:06,069 --> 00:08:07,696 Spot falls back out. Arlo catches him. 123 00:08:07,779 --> 00:08:09,989 …or story. Sometimes animation. 124 00:08:10,073 --> 00:08:11,616 -With the kiss? -Yeah. It's good. 125 00:08:12,909 --> 00:08:15,245 Then, once in a while, doing voice work. 126 00:08:15,328 --> 00:08:16,162 Look, lady. 127 00:08:16,246 --> 00:08:17,288 My first one was… 128 00:08:17,372 --> 00:08:18,707 Hey, look. 129 00:08:18,790 --> 00:08:20,750 …a mugger in The Incredibles… 130 00:08:20,834 --> 00:08:23,003 -[grunts] -…that Helen Parr knocks out. 131 00:08:23,545 --> 00:08:25,505 Hey, look-- [grunts] 132 00:08:25,588 --> 00:08:27,841 Emile would be the next one in Ratatouille. 133 00:08:27,924 --> 00:08:29,134 I'm hungry. 134 00:08:29,217 --> 00:08:32,095 And I don't need the inside food to be happy. 135 00:08:32,178 --> 00:08:33,388 All right, okay, okay. 136 00:08:33,471 --> 00:08:35,348 I think I'm getting something there. 137 00:08:35,432 --> 00:08:36,599 Might be the nuttiness. 138 00:08:37,308 --> 00:08:38,685 Could be the tang. 139 00:08:40,311 --> 00:08:42,022 Will you defend Oozma Kappa? 140 00:08:42,105 --> 00:08:44,524 And Scott Squibbles in Monsters University. 141 00:08:44,607 --> 00:08:45,942 My name's Scott Squibbles. 142 00:08:46,026 --> 00:08:47,736 My friends call me Squishy. 143 00:08:47,819 --> 00:08:53,658 I'm undeclared, unattached and unwelcome pretty much everywhere but here. 144 00:08:53,742 --> 00:08:55,702 Then I will meditate on this. 145 00:08:55,785 --> 00:08:58,872 I was also the voice of the Pet Collector in The Good Dinosaur. 146 00:08:58,955 --> 00:09:01,166 [hums] I name 'em, I keep 'em. 147 00:09:01,249 --> 00:09:03,168 From there, Sox in Lightyear. 148 00:09:03,752 --> 00:09:05,837 I can provide sleep sounds if you like. 149 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,589 I have several options. 150 00:09:07,672 --> 00:09:13,011 Ocean Paradise, Lower East Side, ooh-- Dental Waiting Room. 151 00:09:13,094 --> 00:09:14,137 Good night, Buzz. 152 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:15,263 [hisses] 153 00:09:15,347 --> 00:09:16,973 [hisses] 154 00:09:18,141 --> 00:09:21,227 On the movie Up, I was on the character development team. 155 00:09:22,479 --> 00:09:24,856 I drew a bunch of different designs of Russell. 156 00:09:26,983 --> 00:09:31,154 One of them was sort of like a chubby version of myself. 157 00:09:31,946 --> 00:09:32,989 [laughs] 158 00:09:33,073 --> 00:09:35,158 A chubbier version, to be kind. 159 00:09:36,576 --> 00:09:38,411 Russell isn't exactly me… 160 00:09:38,495 --> 00:09:41,039 -[gasps] -[Peter] …but some of me got in there. 161 00:09:41,998 --> 00:09:43,166 The hat, for sure. 162 00:09:44,834 --> 00:09:49,005 It was something I'm very proud of, being Asian American, 163 00:09:49,089 --> 00:09:53,593 is that he's an Asian kid without an accent. 164 00:09:54,594 --> 00:09:58,723 There isn't any stereotypes to what being Asian is. 165 00:09:58,807 --> 00:10:00,975 He was just an Asian American. 166 00:10:01,059 --> 00:10:02,811 And I love being a part of that. 167 00:10:07,732 --> 00:10:10,360 It was a lucky path for me. 168 00:10:11,152 --> 00:10:15,198 All I wanted to be was an animator. That's it. Period. For my whole life. 169 00:10:15,281 --> 00:10:17,492 But I love telling stories. 170 00:10:17,575 --> 00:10:19,911 Like some sort of, like, cloud pulse that goes up. 171 00:10:20,495 --> 00:10:23,498 I had pitched an idea for a short, and, uh, they gave me a shot at it. 172 00:10:23,581 --> 00:10:25,250 So that was my first directing gig. 173 00:10:28,753 --> 00:10:32,048 And from there, I got to work as a director on The Good Dinosaur. 174 00:10:36,928 --> 00:10:38,138 And now Elemental. 175 00:10:39,264 --> 00:10:44,019 It all just came from loving the work 176 00:10:44,102 --> 00:10:46,104 and getting really lucky with the opportunities. 177 00:10:53,486 --> 00:10:58,324 One of the inspirations to make this film was this award 178 00:10:58,408 --> 00:11:02,328 that I luckily received in the Bronx right after The Good Dinosaur. 179 00:11:03,997 --> 00:11:06,541 My family and I had never been to anything like that before. 180 00:11:06,624 --> 00:11:08,918 They were all dressed up in really nice outfits. 181 00:11:10,170 --> 00:11:12,756 My dad put on his fanciest toupee. 182 00:11:13,548 --> 00:11:19,054 When it was my time to go up on stage, looked out to the audience, 183 00:11:19,137 --> 00:11:22,515 in front were my mom, dad and my brother and his wife. 184 00:11:23,266 --> 00:11:25,143 My dad was stoic, 185 00:11:25,226 --> 00:11:27,812 doing that sort of heavy breathing that he's not gonna cry. 186 00:11:27,896 --> 00:11:31,066 And my mom was-- had, you know, all that mascara ru-- 187 00:11:31,149 --> 00:11:33,276 like tire marks all over her face from crying, 188 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,488 and it really hit me really hard. 189 00:11:36,571 --> 00:11:37,572 "Oh, my goodness." 190 00:11:37,655 --> 00:11:40,283 How much they had sacrificed, and look at them now. 191 00:11:42,202 --> 00:11:46,414 I put that speech away, tore it up, and I just thanked them. 192 00:11:47,957 --> 00:11:52,212 I came back from New York, and I was describing the ceremony to people here 193 00:11:52,295 --> 00:11:54,714 and the relationship with the parents 194 00:11:54,798 --> 00:11:58,343 and some of the cultural clashes that one has 195 00:11:58,426 --> 00:12:01,262 being first generation versus second generation. 196 00:12:02,639 --> 00:12:05,392 Pretty much everyone said, "That's the heart of the film. 197 00:12:05,475 --> 00:12:07,686 That's the heart of the next thing that you're doing." 198 00:12:11,731 --> 00:12:13,066 -[panting] -Huh? 199 00:12:13,858 --> 00:12:15,819 -[announcer] Next stop, Element City. -[scoffs] 200 00:12:16,444 --> 00:12:19,989 [Peter] Element City itself was based off many cities 201 00:12:20,073 --> 00:12:22,742 from San Francisco to Amsterdam to Venice. 202 00:12:23,326 --> 00:12:24,869 But because I grew up in New York, 203 00:12:24,953 --> 00:12:30,166 there were a lot of places that inspired moments in the film. 204 00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:38,049 [ship horn blowing] 205 00:12:42,429 --> 00:12:48,351 Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty were huge inspirations to our film. 206 00:12:49,811 --> 00:12:54,441 This idea of a hopeful place where people all were welcomed was a big piece. 207 00:12:56,276 --> 00:12:59,946 Many Americans today trace their roots to Ellis Island. 208 00:13:01,948 --> 00:13:07,120 [Salvo] It was a tremendous celebration of what this country is all about, 209 00:13:07,203 --> 00:13:12,334 and it holds a special place in history for so many groups. 210 00:13:14,544 --> 00:13:17,589 [Polland] So many Americans are either immigrants themselves now 211 00:13:17,672 --> 00:13:20,884 or the children of immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. 212 00:13:20,967 --> 00:13:24,262 Whether it was people brought here voluntarily or not. 213 00:13:30,602 --> 00:13:34,314 Immigrants are always new blood to a culture. 214 00:13:35,023 --> 00:13:37,901 They shake things up in a good way. 215 00:13:40,403 --> 00:13:44,949 They bring an edginess. They bring ambition. 216 00:13:46,076 --> 00:13:47,660 They bring creativity. 217 00:13:47,744 --> 00:13:49,954 They bring resourcefulness. 218 00:13:50,038 --> 00:13:52,707 Ooh. Aw. 219 00:13:55,543 --> 00:13:57,087 [cheering] 220 00:14:03,843 --> 00:14:07,597 [Polland] This country has always been composed of people 221 00:14:07,681 --> 00:14:11,309 who have come from a variety of different places. 222 00:14:13,561 --> 00:14:16,314 My family's originally from Southern Italy. 223 00:14:16,398 --> 00:14:18,483 I was born in Moscow. 224 00:14:18,566 --> 00:14:20,860 Mom's side is from Finland. 225 00:14:20,944 --> 00:14:22,612 -From Korea. -China. 226 00:14:22,696 --> 00:14:23,571 From Harlem. 227 00:14:23,655 --> 00:14:26,032 -Her mom is from Puerto Rico… -[sniffs] 228 00:14:26,116 --> 00:14:27,992 …and her dad is from Dominican Republic. 229 00:14:28,076 --> 00:14:29,202 European mutt. 230 00:14:29,285 --> 00:14:32,205 You know, sixth-generation somethin', somethin', somethin', somethin'. 231 00:14:32,288 --> 00:14:34,833 But that's what makes New York City so special. 232 00:14:41,089 --> 00:14:44,759 [man over PA] Welcome to Element City. Please have your documents ready. 233 00:14:44,843 --> 00:14:47,762 -Your names? -[speaking Firish] 234 00:14:47,846 --> 00:14:49,222 [speaking Firish] 235 00:14:49,305 --> 00:14:51,641 Great. And how do we spell that? 236 00:14:51,725 --> 00:14:56,271 [speaking Firish] 237 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:01,109 How about we just go with Bernie and Cinder? 238 00:15:03,945 --> 00:15:05,613 Welcome to Element City. 239 00:15:10,368 --> 00:15:12,328 [horns honking] 240 00:15:12,996 --> 00:15:16,708 [Peter] My parents came to the United States separately. 241 00:15:18,418 --> 00:15:21,921 They would meet each other in the Bronx, there, at a church. 242 00:15:24,299 --> 00:15:27,510 My mother was very tall. My father was very short. 243 00:15:28,053 --> 00:15:32,640 Somehow my dad managed to be the same height as my mom in every photo. 244 00:15:34,976 --> 00:15:37,771 My mother didn't want to have anything to do with him when they first met, 245 00:15:37,854 --> 00:15:41,399 but my father's reputation sort of won her over. 246 00:15:42,317 --> 00:15:46,821 A priest said, "He's a very hard worker. He will provide you with a good life." 247 00:15:48,114 --> 00:15:51,493 After their first meeting, five weeks later, they would get married. 248 00:15:52,911 --> 00:15:56,998 I'm a honeymoon baby, and so nine months later, I was born. 249 00:16:01,503 --> 00:16:02,504 When I was a kid, 250 00:16:02,587 --> 00:16:07,384 I didn't really emotionally understand what it took for them 251 00:16:07,467 --> 00:16:12,847 to come here with nothing and then build a life in New York City, 252 00:16:12,931 --> 00:16:14,265 especially at that time. 253 00:16:18,478 --> 00:16:22,649 The world of the 1970s in New York City was a very difficult one. 254 00:16:23,817 --> 00:16:26,653 The population of New York was actually decreasing. 255 00:16:27,404 --> 00:16:30,240 People were moving to suburbs or getting out of the city. 256 00:16:31,032 --> 00:16:35,787 [Salvo] The people who stayed, many of them struggled to make a living. 257 00:16:39,833 --> 00:16:43,586 [Peter] My father came to New York with $150. 258 00:16:44,337 --> 00:16:45,588 He came here with nothing. 259 00:16:47,298 --> 00:16:49,050 In '70s of New York, 260 00:16:49,134 --> 00:16:53,847 $75 would get you three months' rent in an apartment in Harlem. 261 00:16:55,056 --> 00:16:58,435 The other $75, he rented a hot-dog cart. 262 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,941 He saved up enough money to get a grocery store in the North Bronx. 263 00:17:06,192 --> 00:17:09,195 [Polland] Opening up a grocery store in the Bronx 264 00:17:09,279 --> 00:17:13,533 in the 1970s would be very arduous work. 265 00:17:16,411 --> 00:17:21,124 [Salvo] And there was a lot of racial and ethnic change and a lot of hostility. 266 00:17:22,667 --> 00:17:24,544 [Peter] Rocks get thrown at you. 267 00:17:25,128 --> 00:17:27,547 Or other times when you get robbed at gunpoint. 268 00:17:28,631 --> 00:17:31,509 [Salvo] But immigrants still came here in the 1970s, 269 00:17:31,593 --> 00:17:33,762 because the situation and the conditions here 270 00:17:33,845 --> 00:17:36,389 were far better than in their countries of origin. 271 00:17:36,473 --> 00:17:40,143 And they saw opportunity, even in the midst of a fiscal crisis, 272 00:17:40,226 --> 00:17:43,063 the likes of which we have not seen in quite a long time. 273 00:17:55,867 --> 00:17:57,243 [customers chattering] 274 00:17:57,327 --> 00:17:58,411 -Jo-Joseph? -Yousef. 275 00:17:58,495 --> 00:17:59,829 Yousef? Nice to meet you. 276 00:18:00,413 --> 00:18:02,707 Yeah, my dad used to own this shop. 277 00:18:03,500 --> 00:18:04,501 -And, uh-- -Been a while. 278 00:18:04,584 --> 00:18:05,960 Yeah, it's been a long-- So sorry. 279 00:18:06,044 --> 00:18:11,091 This is my dad's first grocery store that he had built from scratch. 280 00:18:14,928 --> 00:18:17,639 This is so amazing. 281 00:18:19,599 --> 00:18:24,145 My dad built all of this. This was all by his hands. 282 00:18:25,146 --> 00:18:26,481 It hasn't changed much. 283 00:18:27,065 --> 00:18:30,485 Um, definitely, it's got a nice new life in this. 284 00:18:34,364 --> 00:18:39,869 My father had an insane work ethic that a lot of immigrants have. 285 00:18:41,204 --> 00:18:44,165 He'd have to get up in the morning, go to Hunts Point Market, 286 00:18:44,249 --> 00:18:45,667 bring the produce in. 287 00:18:45,750 --> 00:18:48,670 It would be these long days from 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning 288 00:18:48,753 --> 00:18:51,131 till like 11:00 at night, seven days a week. 289 00:18:51,965 --> 00:18:54,009 You know, my mom was the cashier in the center here. 290 00:18:54,092 --> 00:18:58,263 They had built this big wooden box, the nest of the shop. 291 00:18:59,139 --> 00:19:02,017 Now, that was something that we were trying to recreate in the film. 292 00:19:02,100 --> 00:19:03,351 [car honks] 293 00:19:03,435 --> 00:19:04,269 [both] Welcome. 294 00:19:04,352 --> 00:19:07,313 [Peter] There would be this hub where our main characters sort of live. 295 00:19:07,397 --> 00:19:08,815 Kol-nuts, coming up. 296 00:19:08,898 --> 00:19:09,899 Kol-nuts, coming up. 297 00:19:09,983 --> 00:19:13,445 [Peter] That shop is not only the place that Ember grew up in, 298 00:19:13,528 --> 00:19:17,490 not only a place for the community, but Dad's dream. 299 00:19:17,574 --> 00:19:21,745 To give Ember, like my father to my brother and I, a new life. 300 00:19:22,412 --> 00:19:24,998 This shop is dream of our family. 301 00:19:25,081 --> 00:19:27,917 Someday, it'll all be yours. 302 00:19:28,001 --> 00:19:31,463 My dad was building all of this stuff for my brother and I. 303 00:19:31,546 --> 00:19:35,383 And by the time I was getting into, you know, middle school and high school, 304 00:19:35,884 --> 00:19:40,388 um, it would soon become a reality where he would talk about learning the business. 305 00:19:40,472 --> 00:19:44,392 I am so proud to have you take over my life's work. 306 00:19:44,476 --> 00:19:46,728 [Peter] "This can be a possible future for you." 307 00:19:46,811 --> 00:19:47,687 [crowd cheering] 308 00:19:48,438 --> 00:19:49,898 [Peter] The places that they worked, 309 00:19:49,981 --> 00:19:53,568 they didn't see how someone could get a job in the arts and have a life. 310 00:19:55,070 --> 00:19:57,364 In their protective way, it was always a "no." 311 00:20:02,035 --> 00:20:03,995 Ember is our main protagonist. 312 00:20:04,079 --> 00:20:06,915 [laughs] Winner, winner, charcoal dinner. 313 00:20:06,998 --> 00:20:09,793 [Peter] She's a twentysomething, young fire woman. 314 00:20:10,543 --> 00:20:13,505 She is a really dutiful daughter. 315 00:20:14,297 --> 00:20:15,965 She loves her parents, 316 00:20:16,049 --> 00:20:19,052 and she's very appreciative for the sacrifices that they've made for her. 317 00:20:19,135 --> 00:20:20,637 -[coughing] -Are you okay? 318 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:21,846 Just tired. [sighs] 319 00:20:21,930 --> 00:20:23,098 Let me help. 320 00:20:23,181 --> 00:20:25,016 [Peter] One of her main issues is her temper. 321 00:20:25,100 --> 00:20:27,477 No. [blows] No, no, no, no. [blows] 322 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:28,937 Just give me one for free! 323 00:20:29,020 --> 00:20:30,855 That's not how this works! 324 00:20:30,939 --> 00:20:32,941 [Peter] And it's sort of an obstacle for her. 325 00:20:33,024 --> 00:20:34,317 [inhales deeply] 326 00:20:34,401 --> 00:20:38,571 [Peter] But she has a talent that becomes more of her identity. 327 00:20:39,072 --> 00:20:39,989 Done. 328 00:20:40,073 --> 00:20:42,367 [Peter] And that gets triggered by someone that she meets. 329 00:20:42,909 --> 00:20:44,369 [screams] Fire! Fire! 330 00:20:44,452 --> 00:20:45,995 -[screams] Fire! -[Ember] Hey! Hey! 331 00:20:46,079 --> 00:20:47,163 Oh, sorry! 332 00:20:47,789 --> 00:20:48,998 You're so hot. 333 00:20:49,541 --> 00:20:50,750 Excuse me? 334 00:20:51,835 --> 00:20:53,962 No, I mean, like, you're smoking! 335 00:20:54,045 --> 00:20:56,172 -No, I didn't mean it like that. -Are you done yet? 336 00:20:56,256 --> 00:20:57,590 -Yes, please. -Come this way. 337 00:20:57,674 --> 00:21:01,052 [Peter] Wade Ripple comes from a world of privilege. 338 00:21:01,761 --> 00:21:07,058 Water is most of the Earth, so the city should feel like water's the majority. 339 00:21:07,142 --> 00:21:09,185 Water was there first, and then earth came second, 340 00:21:09,269 --> 00:21:11,271 and air would be there, and then fire, last. 341 00:21:11,354 --> 00:21:12,605 So he would come from privilege, 342 00:21:12,689 --> 00:21:16,651 and he wouldn't know that feeling that the world isn't built for you. 343 00:21:23,533 --> 00:21:28,830 I was born here and lived a very culturally Korean life at home. 344 00:21:31,166 --> 00:21:33,084 But at school, it was very American. 345 00:21:34,669 --> 00:21:38,048 This is my dad's second grocery store. 346 00:21:42,719 --> 00:21:45,263 I have not been here in over 20 years. 347 00:21:45,930 --> 00:21:49,768 I can't believe how it has not changed, and changed. 348 00:21:50,977 --> 00:21:54,064 Growing up, I just wanted to be American. 349 00:21:54,939 --> 00:21:58,651 And at that time, I remember feeling ashamed of, like, my heritage 350 00:21:58,735 --> 00:22:01,363 'cause it was made fun of all the time, and I didn't want to be that. 351 00:22:02,822 --> 00:22:06,159 Took me a long time to understand these two parts of myself, 352 00:22:07,285 --> 00:22:09,871 being Korean and being American. 353 00:22:10,997 --> 00:22:14,209 There was so much a part of me that wanted to fit in, 354 00:22:15,126 --> 00:22:17,504 but it's a part of those developmental milestones 355 00:22:17,587 --> 00:22:19,964 that I've learned, when you assimilate, 356 00:22:20,048 --> 00:22:23,093 the phase of being ashamed of one's culture 357 00:22:23,176 --> 00:22:26,179 and then the evolution of when that turns into pride. 358 00:22:28,598 --> 00:22:32,352 [Ngai] Assimilation is associated with the idea of the melting pot, 359 00:22:32,435 --> 00:22:35,271 that immigrants become Americans. 360 00:22:36,147 --> 00:22:40,276 And that often implies a kind of cultural whitewash. 361 00:22:40,819 --> 00:22:42,612 Literally, whitewashed. 362 00:22:42,696 --> 00:22:49,244 It assumes that there is some static American thing to assimilate into. 363 00:22:50,704 --> 00:22:54,082 And that presupposes in a way that that thing stays constant. 364 00:23:00,964 --> 00:23:04,801 [Peter] What I love about New York is that everyone sort of keeps their culture. 365 00:23:05,719 --> 00:23:09,139 Keeps what they bring here from their respective countries. 366 00:23:10,432 --> 00:23:12,600 And so it's more of like a salad bowl 367 00:23:12,684 --> 00:23:15,186 of different sort of vegetables living together 368 00:23:15,270 --> 00:23:18,773 versus a melting pot where, you know, you're sort of stripping away things 369 00:23:18,857 --> 00:23:21,067 and sort of becoming more homogenized in one thing. 370 00:23:27,782 --> 00:23:31,077 My dad started as a hot-dog-cart guy. 371 00:23:33,621 --> 00:23:35,498 Saved his money. Bought one building. 372 00:23:36,499 --> 00:23:40,587 Saved his money. Bought another one, until he bought half this block out. 373 00:23:40,670 --> 00:23:44,883 It's just the American dream for sure, but, like, I remember walking with him, 374 00:23:44,966 --> 00:23:48,053 you know, going from shop to shop to check out each shop, 375 00:23:48,136 --> 00:23:51,389 and, um, some people were throwing rocks at us. 376 00:23:51,473 --> 00:23:53,600 And telling us to like, "Go back to China!" 377 00:23:53,683 --> 00:23:55,477 And I remember we were like, "We're not Chinese!" 378 00:23:59,522 --> 00:24:00,565 Silence! 379 00:24:00,648 --> 00:24:02,192 -[gasps] -Yeah, great. 380 00:24:02,275 --> 00:24:06,196 Can we talk about 102A and 104E when they get to the back of the line? 381 00:24:10,784 --> 00:24:13,203 Good morning. Where do I see you? 382 00:24:14,371 --> 00:24:15,288 Yo, Carolyn. 383 00:24:15,372 --> 00:24:16,706 Thanks for doing this one. 384 00:24:16,790 --> 00:24:19,334 This one is a-- a real close one to my heart. 385 00:24:19,417 --> 00:24:23,546 The xenophobia that Ember and her father experience. 386 00:24:24,047 --> 00:24:25,840 Um, it's taken many forms in the film, 387 00:24:25,924 --> 00:24:29,886 meaning it comes from a real place for me in terms of growing up in New York 388 00:24:29,969 --> 00:24:32,639 and experiencing things like this. 389 00:24:32,722 --> 00:24:34,808 I had gum thrown in my hair. I remember that. 390 00:24:34,891 --> 00:24:37,102 And I didn't know it at the time, but I remember, like, 391 00:24:37,185 --> 00:24:41,690 my father getting super angry at the people that were yelling at us. 392 00:24:41,773 --> 00:24:45,777 It's always shocking anytime this kind of xenophobia comes up 'cause every time… 393 00:24:47,153 --> 00:24:49,698 In terms of this film of, like, 394 00:24:49,781 --> 00:24:52,701 fire and water not being able to, you know, be together, 395 00:24:52,784 --> 00:24:58,081 there was-- this is one moment where the world says that it's not meant to be. 396 00:25:00,750 --> 00:25:03,420 The security guard-- He's not just doing his job, 397 00:25:04,170 --> 00:25:09,718 he not only believes the bureaucracy of-- of at that time in the city, he's saying… 398 00:25:09,801 --> 00:25:12,053 -[speaks Firish] -Go back to Fire Land! 399 00:25:14,180 --> 00:25:17,058 Because she's so young, I feel like it's more like, "What is going on?" 400 00:25:17,726 --> 00:25:19,310 -Burn somewhere else! -Get out of here! 401 00:25:19,394 --> 00:25:21,312 [Peter] Before she goes to the shame, 402 00:25:22,939 --> 00:25:26,609 she's beginning to have that, like, inception of the idea of like, 403 00:25:26,693 --> 00:25:29,112 "We-- Yeah, we're not wanted here for some reason." You know? 404 00:25:32,365 --> 00:25:35,035 As a kid, you don't know what that is. 405 00:25:36,286 --> 00:25:39,456 You don't know that it's hate. You don't know that it's ignorance. 406 00:25:39,539 --> 00:25:41,541 You just think that that's what life is. 407 00:25:44,044 --> 00:25:46,087 -[Kaiser] I know what that feels like. -[Peter] Yeah. 408 00:25:46,171 --> 00:25:47,922 -I really appreciate you doing this one. -Yeah. 409 00:25:48,006 --> 00:25:50,842 -[Peter] Thank you very much. -Thank you for trusting me with it. 410 00:25:50,925 --> 00:25:52,093 [Peter] Yeah, thank you. 411 00:25:57,307 --> 00:26:03,229 The pieces of xenophobia and racism, they weren't, you know, some concept that, 412 00:26:03,313 --> 00:26:05,523 you know, there's a message that I need to talk about. 413 00:26:05,607 --> 00:26:07,150 They're just experiences. 414 00:26:08,485 --> 00:26:12,072 But this was always a love story from the very beginning. 415 00:26:12,155 --> 00:26:13,323 It was the heart. 416 00:26:15,617 --> 00:26:17,869 No. Wade, we-we can't touch. 417 00:26:17,952 --> 00:26:21,498 And those darker experiences, at the right amount, 418 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,794 could help us understand who the characters were 419 00:26:25,877 --> 00:26:28,088 and the holes that they had in their lives. 420 00:26:28,171 --> 00:26:30,006 I think I'm failing. [sobs] 421 00:26:30,090 --> 00:26:33,927 [Peter] And then how the love would begin to fill those holes 422 00:26:34,010 --> 00:26:35,178 in each of the characters. 423 00:26:37,305 --> 00:26:38,515 [cries] 424 00:26:48,775 --> 00:26:50,485 When I was in high school, 425 00:26:51,486 --> 00:26:55,323 my father found this art supply shop that he took over. 426 00:26:56,533 --> 00:26:59,703 He didn't want to do the-- the six to 11 hours anymore. 427 00:27:02,038 --> 00:27:04,833 My brother now runs my father's shop. 428 00:27:10,380 --> 00:27:14,592 Growing up as the older brother, it was my job to beat him up 429 00:27:14,676 --> 00:27:16,386 and give him a very tough life. 430 00:27:16,469 --> 00:27:20,390 And wherever we would go, I would just cram him in a box. 431 00:27:21,141 --> 00:27:23,184 -Would you say that that's how-- -You did very well. 432 00:27:23,268 --> 00:27:24,102 [laughs] 433 00:27:26,396 --> 00:27:29,691 [Peter] Because our parents were saying "no" to a career in the arts, 434 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,777 this shop was gonna be mine. 435 00:27:33,820 --> 00:27:35,030 In Korean culture, like, 436 00:27:35,113 --> 00:27:38,241 that's a responsibility that befalls the older sibling. 437 00:27:39,451 --> 00:27:40,452 That's right. 438 00:27:40,535 --> 00:27:41,619 And-- [laughs] 439 00:27:42,662 --> 00:27:48,043 And I left and I went to California, and to this day, I'm so grateful. 440 00:27:49,544 --> 00:27:51,796 Still have so much guilt over it. Like, "Man." 441 00:27:53,006 --> 00:27:57,427 [Phillip] Because of the art supply store, our father got to meet artists 442 00:27:58,011 --> 00:28:00,597 that were actually making a living for themselves. 443 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,476 And that idea of like, "Wait, you're an artist? 444 00:28:04,559 --> 00:28:07,020 And you can make money? Like, you-- This actually works?" 445 00:28:07,103 --> 00:28:11,608 I think that was the moment where our father accepted it. 446 00:28:12,108 --> 00:28:14,069 And actually started pushing. 447 00:28:14,152 --> 00:28:17,238 "If you're gonna do this, you're going all in." 448 00:28:19,407 --> 00:28:21,743 [Peter] Because my parents didn't speak English very well, 449 00:28:22,786 --> 00:28:28,249 my brother and I would become essentially like cultural brokers. 450 00:28:29,751 --> 00:28:32,295 [Salvo] For most immigrants, the children are born here. 451 00:28:32,796 --> 00:28:34,839 They learn the language very, very quickly 452 00:28:34,923 --> 00:28:37,175 and act as interpreters for their parents. 453 00:28:38,176 --> 00:28:41,304 And act as a segue into the larger culture. 454 00:28:43,181 --> 00:28:48,019 Between going to the supermarket or going to the movies, 455 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,481 there was always some amount of translation. 456 00:28:53,441 --> 00:28:57,862 [Phillip] I don't know how they purchased houses or signed contracts. 457 00:28:59,114 --> 00:29:02,158 It's amazing that they were able to navigate that part of the world. 458 00:29:04,035 --> 00:29:07,080 My Korean isn't great, so I'm, like, translating at a third-grade level. 459 00:29:07,163 --> 00:29:09,541 And so there's always some level of miscommunication. 460 00:29:10,041 --> 00:29:13,586 You're just always translating not only language but, 461 00:29:13,670 --> 00:29:16,006 "No, no. That's called sarcasm, Mom." 462 00:29:18,466 --> 00:29:20,468 That would be the source of a lot of arguments, 463 00:29:20,552 --> 00:29:25,098 where, as a young kid, telling my mother what we can or cannot do in this culture. 464 00:29:28,143 --> 00:29:30,145 Without speaking the language, 465 00:29:30,228 --> 00:29:33,898 my father had a charm where he could make connections. 466 00:29:33,982 --> 00:29:35,483 Oh. [laughs] 467 00:29:35,984 --> 00:29:37,444 -Happy birthday! -[grunts] 468 00:29:37,527 --> 00:29:39,112 [Peter] He always told us, as a kid, 469 00:29:39,195 --> 00:29:42,365 that he learned English from Star Trek and Bonanza. 470 00:29:44,409 --> 00:29:46,369 He had this gregarious nature, and he would always-- 471 00:29:46,453 --> 00:29:47,954 He couldn't pronounce words and stuff, 472 00:29:48,038 --> 00:29:50,540 but he would say 'em like that's the way that they should be. 473 00:29:50,623 --> 00:29:53,335 He would say the word "nuclear," "Nicaragua." 474 00:29:53,835 --> 00:29:54,753 That's right. 475 00:29:54,836 --> 00:29:57,714 And he would just be like, "Ah, there's a Nicaragua reactor." 476 00:29:57,797 --> 00:29:59,674 And you're like, "Dad, it's nuclear." 477 00:29:59,758 --> 00:30:01,343 "Ah, same thing. Whatever." You know? 478 00:30:01,426 --> 00:30:05,638 I came home once, and he was watching, um, the Spanish channel. 479 00:30:06,222 --> 00:30:09,142 And I was like, "Dad, you're watching the Spanish channel." 480 00:30:09,225 --> 00:30:10,352 He's like, "It is?" 481 00:30:10,435 --> 00:30:13,313 Hmm. I think he's lying through his feet. 482 00:30:13,396 --> 00:30:14,856 -Teeth. -Whatever. 483 00:30:14,939 --> 00:30:17,567 -[Peter] He didn't care about the details. -[Phillip] Yeah, yeah. 484 00:30:17,650 --> 00:30:22,280 Those details were not important when the world was so shifted for them. 485 00:30:26,117 --> 00:30:28,787 [Phillip] I married my wife who is from Korea. 486 00:30:29,454 --> 00:30:32,248 It was interesting, when she first met my parents, 487 00:30:32,749 --> 00:30:34,125 they were conversing so freely. 488 00:30:35,293 --> 00:30:39,464 Just watching Heather talk to my parents, making them laugh. 489 00:30:39,547 --> 00:30:40,840 My parents never laughed. 490 00:30:40,924 --> 00:30:44,094 And I'm like, "This is so bizarre." 491 00:30:44,177 --> 00:30:46,471 And I was like, "Peter, you have to see this." 492 00:30:46,554 --> 00:30:49,432 The idea of how bad our language barrier was… 493 00:30:49,516 --> 00:30:51,142 -Mm-hmm. -…didn't really come into play 494 00:30:51,226 --> 00:30:54,104 until you see what it looks like without it. 495 00:30:59,859 --> 00:31:03,446 That was the office that my brother and I hung out in after school. 496 00:31:03,530 --> 00:31:06,533 [Phillip] And they had a little TV up there with a busted speaker. 497 00:31:06,616 --> 00:31:09,119 So we would be watching cartoons with no sound. 498 00:31:09,202 --> 00:31:12,706 I think that's where probably my brother learned how to draw. 499 00:31:12,789 --> 00:31:17,293 We'd get these big pads, and then we would be drawing on both ends of it. 500 00:31:17,377 --> 00:31:22,007 And then there was a day where, you know, we were just drawing basic stickmen. 501 00:31:22,090 --> 00:31:26,052 And my stickmen are just like your-- your basic hangman stickmen 502 00:31:26,136 --> 00:31:28,054 with, like, straight lines, and his-- 503 00:31:28,138 --> 00:31:29,889 They weren't really. They were really good. 504 00:31:29,973 --> 00:31:31,725 No. His had, like, character. 505 00:31:31,808 --> 00:31:33,393 Like they were dancing on the page, 506 00:31:33,476 --> 00:31:37,981 and you could feel emotion and expression from a little stupid stickman. 507 00:31:38,064 --> 00:31:41,693 And you're like, "Wow, that's-- that's different. That's"… 508 00:31:41,776 --> 00:31:43,778 I guess that's what you call talent. [laughs] 509 00:31:45,113 --> 00:31:50,952 My childhood was trying to help my father with each one of these places. 510 00:31:51,036 --> 00:31:52,829 -Oh! -[both laughing] 511 00:31:52,912 --> 00:31:55,248 -Water. Keep an eye on them. -[water person] Hey. 512 00:31:55,331 --> 00:31:56,332 [laughs] Oops. 513 00:31:56,416 --> 00:31:58,335 [Peter] So my first job was security. 514 00:31:58,418 --> 00:32:00,086 You splash it, you buy it! 515 00:32:00,170 --> 00:32:01,963 [screaming] 516 00:32:02,047 --> 00:32:05,675 The whole job would be like, "I think this guy stole something!" 517 00:32:05,759 --> 00:32:09,637 There were no cameras, so you would just stand in a lane. 518 00:32:09,721 --> 00:32:12,432 Yeah. There were mirrors you would be eyeballing. 519 00:32:13,224 --> 00:32:15,393 I wasn't helping anything. I was terrible. 520 00:32:15,477 --> 00:32:17,604 I was just playing in the aisles most of the time. 521 00:32:17,687 --> 00:32:22,650 My brother, when he did art, 200%, stays up late, would constantly draw. 522 00:32:22,734 --> 00:32:25,528 But when you're at the art supply store and you have to work, 523 00:32:25,612 --> 00:32:27,280 he'd find a nice place to sleep. 524 00:32:27,364 --> 00:32:28,448 [both laugh] 525 00:32:28,531 --> 00:32:30,742 Between, like, walls that were, like, two feet, 526 00:32:30,825 --> 00:32:33,787 and I'd just wedge myself on top of the mat boards. 527 00:32:33,870 --> 00:32:35,663 Secret places that my mother would be like, 528 00:32:35,747 --> 00:32:37,540 -"What are you doing here?" -[laughs] 529 00:32:37,624 --> 00:32:40,293 -"This is where you're at? Not working." -[laughs] 530 00:32:40,377 --> 00:32:42,671 This is the same right here. Oh, my God. 531 00:32:42,754 --> 00:32:45,840 What we used to do here was hang out in the fridge 532 00:32:46,341 --> 00:32:48,093 and scare the crap out of people. 533 00:32:48,176 --> 00:32:49,511 If someone was grabbing the milk, 534 00:32:49,594 --> 00:32:52,639 you'd push the milk cartons to the edge so they couldn't-- 535 00:32:52,722 --> 00:32:54,933 They'd have a tough time, and we'd giggle. 536 00:32:55,016 --> 00:32:57,102 Uh, the bologna life. That's what this was. 537 00:32:59,312 --> 00:33:01,272 We lived in every section of the store. 538 00:33:01,773 --> 00:33:03,024 We'd do our homework. 539 00:33:03,108 --> 00:33:06,361 We eat lunch in different aisles, or we'd grab food. 540 00:33:06,444 --> 00:33:08,780 There's still some of that junk food from the '80s 541 00:33:08,863 --> 00:33:12,117 still somewhere around here, and here. 542 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,286 You know, this is Sara Lee. You know, this is Hostess. 543 00:33:15,370 --> 00:33:19,207 The proudest thing for him, as a dad, was like, 544 00:33:19,749 --> 00:33:21,960 "My two sons are tall. Look at this." 545 00:33:22,043 --> 00:33:25,839 We're not that tall, you know, but, like, he was a short man, and so, like, 546 00:33:25,922 --> 00:33:28,008 there was always like, "Eat good. Grow." You know? 547 00:33:28,091 --> 00:33:34,014 I assume him allowing us to eat all this stuff was, uh, you know, 548 00:33:34,097 --> 00:33:35,682 to get us, like, nice and big. 549 00:33:36,182 --> 00:33:39,310 And so congratulations, Dad. You were successful. 550 00:33:42,647 --> 00:33:44,941 I don't know if it was just that time period 551 00:33:45,025 --> 00:33:47,777 or how crazy helicopter parenting has gotten today, 552 00:33:47,861 --> 00:33:50,155 but wasn't a lot of day care going on. 553 00:33:51,406 --> 00:33:54,451 We'd bike everywhere. Busy streets and… 554 00:33:54,534 --> 00:33:56,202 "What's the next street we can get to?" 555 00:33:56,286 --> 00:33:59,414 And if you got to this other neighborhood that you hadn't been before, 556 00:33:59,497 --> 00:34:01,875 there were kids there that are like, "You don't belong here!" 557 00:34:01,958 --> 00:34:03,585 -That's right. -"Get outta here!" 558 00:34:03,668 --> 00:34:06,546 We're like, "This is our country too, but let's go! Let's get outta here!" 559 00:34:06,629 --> 00:34:07,714 -[Phillip] That's right. -Yeah. 560 00:34:07,797 --> 00:34:10,342 We would both ride together. One bike. 561 00:34:12,802 --> 00:34:14,596 [Peter] There were no parents. 562 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:20,560 Like a urban Lord of the Flies, but instead of Piggy with the glasses, 563 00:34:21,061 --> 00:34:24,397 it was, like, Ramón with the banana-seat bike. 564 00:34:30,195 --> 00:34:35,116 Now, as a parent and having kids, I've become very nostalgic. 565 00:34:36,409 --> 00:34:40,914 Walking around my dad's shops triggers those old memories. 566 00:34:43,416 --> 00:34:46,836 My mom would have these wood pallets, put cardboard on top of it, 567 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:49,172 and we would just sit there playing cards. 568 00:34:51,716 --> 00:34:53,134 My dad would mind the store, 569 00:34:53,218 --> 00:34:55,095 and then he would come in when there were no customers 570 00:34:55,178 --> 00:34:57,097 and eat with us very quickly. 571 00:34:58,890 --> 00:35:00,934 Simple foods with my mom and dad. 572 00:35:04,187 --> 00:35:05,188 Yeah. 573 00:35:05,689 --> 00:35:07,273 Yeah, my boy, I'm feeling that. 574 00:35:12,404 --> 00:35:15,824 [Chambers] If this makes you happy, I'm not gonna be-- 575 00:35:15,907 --> 00:35:17,242 [Peter] I owe Phillip a lot. 576 00:35:17,867 --> 00:35:20,412 I did fall in love with someone who wasn't Korean. 577 00:35:21,246 --> 00:35:22,372 It is. 578 00:35:22,455 --> 00:35:25,333 We met at CalArts. She was this amazing artist. 579 00:35:27,210 --> 00:35:30,338 It was my second year, and it was your first year. 580 00:35:30,422 --> 00:35:31,423 Mm-hmm. 581 00:35:31,506 --> 00:35:35,802 [Peter] When I first heard her laugh, it melted my heart. 582 00:35:37,429 --> 00:35:39,139 I just fell in love with her. 583 00:35:43,768 --> 00:35:47,981 I think of that time as, like, the best time. 584 00:35:48,690 --> 00:35:50,275 [Chambers] That was a good era. 585 00:35:50,358 --> 00:35:51,443 [Peter] Yeah. 586 00:35:53,111 --> 00:35:56,406 Our grandmother's dying words were, "Marry Korean." 587 00:35:56,489 --> 00:35:58,867 [speaking Korean] 588 00:35:58,950 --> 00:36:01,244 You know? And then she passed, you know? 589 00:36:01,327 --> 00:36:02,412 -And-- -Freedom! 590 00:36:02,495 --> 00:36:04,164 [laughs] 591 00:36:04,247 --> 00:36:06,541 Promise me one thing. 592 00:36:06,624 --> 00:36:08,585 Marry Fire. 593 00:36:08,668 --> 00:36:09,878 [grunts] 594 00:36:10,879 --> 00:36:13,506 [Peter] Anyone, if they weren't Korean, wasn't good enough. 595 00:36:14,007 --> 00:36:15,383 The pressure's for real. 596 00:36:15,467 --> 00:36:17,052 ["I Like Me Better" starts] 597 00:36:17,135 --> 00:36:18,345 This is gorgeous. 598 00:36:20,263 --> 00:36:25,435 How long were we together before we got engaged? 599 00:36:25,518 --> 00:36:27,270 It was, like, seven years? 600 00:36:27,354 --> 00:36:28,897 [Chambers] Probably. Yeah. 601 00:36:31,066 --> 00:36:34,194 [song continues] 602 00:36:36,529 --> 00:36:38,823 [Peter] I had kept you a secret. 603 00:36:40,909 --> 00:36:44,037 My dad was very welcoming, but my mom was still unsure. 604 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:45,705 Who is this guy? 605 00:36:45,789 --> 00:36:49,125 It was love that kept us together. 606 00:36:49,209 --> 00:36:51,127 -[chuckles] -No? Too cheesy. I'm sorry. 607 00:36:51,211 --> 00:36:52,921 It's totally cheesy. 608 00:36:53,004 --> 00:36:55,382 [song continues] 609 00:36:55,465 --> 00:36:57,967 [Peter] I think she became more welcoming. Did you feel that? 610 00:36:58,051 --> 00:37:01,805 She would tell me things, how I'm good for you, like-- 611 00:37:01,888 --> 00:37:02,889 -[chuckles] -Uh-huh. 612 00:37:02,972 --> 00:37:04,766 "Anna's good with money. You're not." 613 00:37:04,849 --> 00:37:06,101 -Like, 'cause you're… -[laughs] Yeah. 614 00:37:06,685 --> 00:37:09,562 [Peter] But I remember it was a slow burn for her to open up. 615 00:37:10,271 --> 00:37:12,440 I remember your dad, he was very nice. 616 00:37:12,524 --> 00:37:16,861 He would make me a special giant salad bowl to myself. 617 00:37:16,945 --> 00:37:17,946 -Yeah. -[laughs] 618 00:37:18,029 --> 00:37:20,490 [Peter] Right. 'Cause we don't eat salad. 619 00:37:21,324 --> 00:37:23,076 That was very nice of him to do. 620 00:37:23,159 --> 00:37:25,954 -[Peter] Yeah, I miss that about him. -Yeah. 621 00:37:26,037 --> 00:37:28,164 [song continues] 622 00:37:28,248 --> 00:37:30,083 -Let me take a picture of you here. -[chuckles] 623 00:37:35,213 --> 00:37:37,966 [Peter] My mom and dad never said, "I love you." 624 00:37:39,843 --> 00:37:41,761 They never said those words. 625 00:37:44,431 --> 00:37:49,769 Only later in my life, did I understand that they didn't need to. 626 00:37:51,187 --> 00:37:55,900 In Korea, there is an understanding, culturally, 627 00:37:55,984 --> 00:37:59,696 taking care of each other, that was the "I love you." 628 00:38:02,073 --> 00:38:05,160 [Chambers] Your mom loved to buy me jackets. 629 00:38:05,243 --> 00:38:09,497 [Peter] I know. That was her way of saying how much she really loved you. 630 00:38:12,917 --> 00:38:13,918 [shutter clicks] 631 00:38:17,380 --> 00:38:18,923 [song ends] 632 00:38:22,302 --> 00:38:26,097 [Peter] I've never really done anything personal like this. 633 00:38:28,350 --> 00:38:31,603 This film is all about gestures of love. 634 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,524 There was a moment in Ember's past where there was some xenophobia, 635 00:38:36,608 --> 00:38:41,696 and she wasn't allowed to enter this station to see this beautiful flower. 636 00:38:44,407 --> 00:38:47,869 Wade finds a way for Ember to see it. 637 00:38:56,127 --> 00:38:59,964 It's very much Wade's gesture of love to Ember. 638 00:39:02,592 --> 00:39:03,968 [Ember] Whoa. 639 00:39:04,052 --> 00:39:10,100 Elemental is not just a love story between a boy and a girl, fire and water. 640 00:39:10,183 --> 00:39:12,060 It was about a parent and child as well. 641 00:39:12,143 --> 00:39:14,354 [both speaking Firish] 642 00:39:16,398 --> 00:39:21,069 [Peter] There were constant gestures of love from my parents. 643 00:39:22,612 --> 00:39:26,616 Taking care of each other, that was the "I love you." 644 00:39:27,283 --> 00:39:28,284 Good daughter. 645 00:39:29,327 --> 00:39:31,830 [Peter] Having lost my parents while making this movie, 646 00:39:32,831 --> 00:39:34,457 it became a way to honor them. 647 00:39:35,208 --> 00:39:38,294 It became my gesture. 648 00:39:39,838 --> 00:39:43,383 It was the best way that I can say, "I love you." 649 00:39:54,310 --> 00:39:57,647 [jazzy piano plays] 650 00:39:57,731 --> 00:39:59,899 Uh, we would like to get two hot dogs, please. 651 00:40:01,109 --> 00:40:02,110 Thank you. 652 00:40:08,116 --> 00:40:09,451 Cheers. 653 00:40:09,534 --> 00:40:11,077 -[laughs] -[mutters] 654 00:40:11,161 --> 00:40:12,495 I'd eat two bites probably. 655 00:40:17,667 --> 00:40:20,045 The Twinkie wrappers are, like, stuck in this.