Pixar’s best films, like Ratatouille, Up, Finding Nemo, or Inside Out, have the ability to transport audiences to new worlds, and explore thought-provoking ideas that appeal to moviegoers young and old alike. Though the venerated studio has struggled to measure up to its glory days in recent years, there have been bright spots, like Turning Red or Luca. Its newest release, Elemental, attempts a four-quadrant film by crafting an adult-minded story while filling it with bright, beautifully realized characters, but ultimately falls short in some crucial areas.

Director and co-writer Peter Sohn’s first film with Pixar was 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, a technical marvel that was saddled with an uninteresting story. Elemental is set in a fantastical world that calls to mind films like Monsters, Inc. or Zootopia, where its inhabitants are all various anthropomorphic elements: fire, water, earth, and air. It should go without saying that the animation in Elemental is stunning; it’s evident that the animators had a lot of fun with how the different elemental creatures interact with one another. Characters have almost free reign to contort themselves as the situations see fit, leading to some clever sequences and gags. Unfortunately the film mostly leaves the earth and air elements by the wayside and focuses on fire and water, which helps to focus the story but at the expense of making the world feel fully developed.

The backbone of the film’s story concerns Ember (Leah Lewis), a fire person and child of immigrant parents who left their home land to make it on their own and seek better opportunities. She dreams of taking over the convenience store her father Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) runs, but a leaky pipe in their basement derails her prospects. Enter city worker Wade (Mamoudou Athie), who tries to help her find the source of the water leak and keep the shop from closing. Romantic comedy isn’t necessarily a new subject for Pixar, but in Elemental it’s handled with a surprising level of authenticity. In fact, I found myself less and less interested in the world building of the film and more in Wade and Ember’s budding romance.

The same can be said of the film’s commentary on immigration and, to a lesser extent, class inequality. Though I don’t doubt they come from a genuine place, and will certainly resonate with first or second generations of immigrant parents, it threatens to overload the narrative. The father-daughter dynamic between Bernie and Ember works well enough, but the film oversimplifies the immigration angle and how it applies to the world within the film at large. The humor never really lands in the ways that Pixar films reliably do, and aside from Ember’s parents, the supporting players aren’t fleshed out (no pun intended) as much as they should be. Thankfully the romantic angle of the film is strong enough to keep Elemental afloat. The film does earn points by not shoe-horning in a villain at its center, instead letting the drama unfold between the characters mostly naturally.

Pixar’s fascination with releasing sequels and spin-offs to its greatest hits in recent years – indeed, a short film featuring Ed Asner’s character from Up will play before the film proper – is enough to give an original offering like Elemental a leg up. Creatively speaking, the film is light years ahead of last year’s animated offerings, or even this year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. And while the film is far from the studio’s best work, it’s also far from its worst. The animation is fun and inventive, and it features a genuinely thoughtful romance at its center. Any film catered to children should deserve points for having something unique and profound to say; I just wish that Elemental knew how to say it.

Elemental will be released in theaters nationwide on June 16.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• A nomination in Best Animated Feature is entirely possible, though Disney will have at least one more offering this year, with the Frozen-esque Wish. Similarly, I could see a world where Pixar is shut out this year; Netflix will have a number of prestigious animated films releasing later this year. After the surprise nomination this year for The Sea Beast, it’s obvious they’ll know how to mount a campaign for even their less celebrated films. If the critical and box-office reception to Elemental is less enthusiastic than projected, I’ll lean towards the film being shut out.