What factors, exactly, led audiences to throw cold water on the prospects of this charming-looking animated flick from a once-reliable studio?

究竟是什麼因素導致觀眾對這部由曾經可靠的工作室製作的看起來迷人的動畫電影的前景潑冷水？

Typically, Pixar and Disney releases are incredibly heavily promoted.

通常情況下，皮克斯和迪士尼發行的電影都會進行令人難以置信的大力宣傳。

Even films like "Lightyear", which drastically underperformed at the box office, 

就連《巴斯光年》這樣票房慘淡的電影，

saw lots of television ads, promotional tie-in releases, and merchandise hitting the shelves before the movie hit theaters.

在電影上映之前也會看到大量的電視廣告、促銷搭配發布以及商品上架。

But "Elemental" didn't seem to have that same promotional enthusiasm behind it.

但《元素方城市》並沒有似乎也有同樣的宣傳熱情。

Television ads for it were rare.

電視廣告很少見。

Disney-related fan websites noted that the company just didn't put much promotional muscle behind "Elemental",

迪士尼相關粉絲網站指出，該公司並沒有在《元素方城市》背後投入太多宣傳力度，

leaving it to flounder, much like Disney's winter release "Strange World".

讓它陷入困境，就像迪士尼冬季上映的《奇異冒險》一樣。

The result appears to be the worst-performing Pixar release since "A Bug's Life" in 1998, with a paltry 44.5-million-dollars' worldwide opening weekend.

結果似乎是皮克斯自 1998 年《蟲蟲危機》以來表現最差的影片，全球首映週末票房僅為 4,450 萬美元。

This was not supposed to happen!

這是不應該發生的！

Worse, when Pixar did try to get people talking about the film, they caused a mild PR disaster.

更糟糕的是，當皮克斯試圖讓人們談論這部電影時，他們引發了一場輕微的公關災難。

A tweet featuring Ember, one of the movie's leads and a fire elemental, parodied the poster art for "Turning Red".

電影主角之一、火元素 Ember 在推特上模仿了「變紅」的海報藝術。

The tweet proclaimed, "Unleash your wildfire side with this Burning Red poster straight from Element City!"

該推文宣稱，「用這張直接來自元素城的燃燒的紅色海報釋放你野火的一面！」

Sadly, the tweet's release coincided with widespread Canadian wildfires which sent hazy smoke into several cities in the northeastern US, 

可悲的是，這條推文的發布恰逢加拿大大範圍的野火，野火給美國東北部的幾個城市帶來了朦朧的煙霧，

resulting in Twitter users accusing the studio of insensitivity.

導致 Twitter 用戶指責工作室麻木不仁。

The tweet was deleted, but it's emblematic of the lack of thought that went into the promotion of the film at large.

這條推文已被刪除，但這象徵著這部電影的宣傳缺乏思考。

It's possible that Pixar's offering was simply muscled out by other recently released animated films such as "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse".

皮克斯的產品可能只是被其他最近發行的動畫電影（例如《蜘蛛人：穿越新宇宙》）所取代。

Or, perhaps, Disney chose to allocate its marketing resources to "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", or it already spent them on "The Little Mermaid".

或者，迪士尼可能選擇將其營銷資源分配給《印第安納瓊斯：命運輪盤》，或者已經把它們花在了《小美人魚》上。

Whatever the case, it's very clear that the movie didn't get a whole lot of marketing attention before being released.

不管怎樣，很明顯這部電影在上映之前並沒有得到太多的營銷關注。

Pixar fans usually turn to the studio for the exciting and unusual.

皮克斯粉絲通常會前往工作室尋找令人興奮和不尋常的東西。

Whether it's a tale of toys that become sentient when people aren't around, a rat whose sole ambition in life is to become a gourmet chef,

無論是一個當人們不在時變得有知覺的玩具的故事，還是一隻一生唯一志向是成為美食廚師的老鼠的故事，

a family of superheroes who have to live incognito thanks to government restrictions, 

由於政府的限制，一個超級英雄家庭不得不隱姓埋名地生活，

or a robot surviving in a post-apocalyptic world who finds purpose in true love,

或者是一個在後世界末日世界中生存並在真愛中找到目標的機器人，

this is a company that knows how to create unusual, original stories that still reflect real life.

這家公司知道如何創作不尋常的原創故事，但仍然反映現實生活。

"Elemental" doesn't exactly continue that tradition, though.

不過，《元素方城市》並沒有完全繼承這一傳統。

The dull, beat-by-beat storytelling is what holds the movie apart from other enchanting Pixar films.

乏味、節奏緊湊的故事講述使這部電影與其他迷人的皮克斯電影區分開來。

Unsurprisingly, "Elemental" has failed to make much of an impression as an original concept, 

作為一個原創概念，《元素方城市》未能給人留下深刻印象、

bringing nothing new to the plate narratively, even as it presents a very nice visual experience.

該片在敘事上沒有任何新意，但在視覺效果上卻非常出色。

Stop talking!

別說了！

Well, we'd also just like to note that the film's allegory is a well-covered subject, 

好吧，我們還想指出，這部電影的寓言是一個涵蓋廣泛的主題，

with its water, cloud, dirt, and fire people working as stand-ins for people of different races, religions, and gender orientations.

其中的水、雲、泥土和火人充當了不同種族、宗教和性別取向的人的替身。

Ember's battle to break free and see the world beyond the borders of Firetown is a metaphor for the second-generation immigrant experience.

Ember 為掙脫束縛、走出火城邊界看世界而奮鬥，是第二代移民經歷的隱喻。

And while it's arguably a message the world probably needs to hear right now, it's also a set of themes that have been done to death by this point.

雖然這可以說是世界現在可能需要聽到的信息，但它也是迄今為止已經完成的一系列主題。

Namely, "Zootopia" tackled these ideas with more style 7 years earlier.

也就是《動物方城市》在 7 年前就以更有風格的方式處理了這些想法。

There's nothing the summer box office loves more than family-friendly movies, 

沒有什麼比適合家庭觀看的電影更受夏季票房青睞的了，

but theaters are currently awash with other films that kids and parents seem to be finding much more interesting,

但影院目前充斥著孩子和家長似乎覺得更有趣的其它電影，

or at least more entertaining, moviegoing experiences than "Elemental."

至少是比《元素方城市》更有趣的觀影體驗。

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse", Disney's own live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid",

《蜘蛛人：穿越新宇宙》、迪士尼自自製真人版翻拍電影《小美人魚》、

"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts", and springtime holdovers "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" have all proven to be stiff competition.

《變形金剛：萬獸崛起》，以及春季檔影片《星際異攻隊3》和《超級瑪利歐兄弟電影版 》都被證明是激烈的競爭。

While this might seem to portend doom for any project not based on a previously-established franchise,

雖然這似乎預示著任何不基於先前建立的特許經營權的項目的厄運，

audiences only need to look back to late 2021 to remember when "Encanto" swept its way into the public's imagination and took hold of the pop charts with the song "We Don't Talk About Bruno".

觀眾只需回顧 2021 年底，就能想起《魔法滿屋》何時闖入公眾的想像，並憑藉歌曲《We Don't Talk About Bruno》佔領流行排行榜。

There's plenty of room for something fresh to break through, it just needs some extra oomph that "Elemental" seems to be missing.

有足夠的空間來突破新鮮事物，它只需要一些《元素方城市》似乎缺少的額外魅力。

To put it bluntly, the cast of "Elemental" doesn't have any big-name actors to buoy it up to greater success.

說白了，《元素方城市》的演員陣容沒有任何大牌演員來支撐它更上一層樓。

The film's best-known performers are Wendi McLendon-Covey, who voices Gale, and Catherine O'Hara, who plays Brook Ripple.

這部電影最著名的演員是為蓋爾配音的溫迪·麥克倫登-考維和為布魯克·瑞波配音的凱瑟琳·奧哈拉。

Comedy fans certainly know both their names, but they're not necessarily proven box-office draws.

喜劇迷當然知道他們兩個的名字，但他們不一定能吸引票房。

When you make a film about elements, you are just setting yourself up for the puds.

當你製作一部關於元素的電影時，你只是在為自我滅亡做準備。

While it's arguable that movies like "Ratatouille" and "Toy Story" would've been just as successful if every single member of the cast were unknown, 

雖然《料理鼠王》和《玩具總動員》等電影可以說是如果每一位演員都默默無聞，那麼這部影片也會同樣成功，

a film like "Elemental", which didn't necessarily have an immediate hook, 

像《元素方城市》這樣不一定有直接吸引力的電影，

it's possible that added star power may have driven audiences to theaters in larger numbers.

明星影響力的增加可能會吸引更多觀眾前往戲院。

Of course, big names don't always mean success. 

當然，大牌並不總是意味著成功。

Chris Evans headed up the cast of "Lightyear" and he wasn't enough to drag the film out of the box office basement.

克里斯・伊凡領導了《巴斯光年》的演員陣容，但他並不足以將這部電影拖出票房地下室。

Disney's decades-long history of hiring talented character actors instead of big-name celebrities to play its animated characters has never damaged the brand before now.

迪士尼幾十年來一直聘請才華橫溢的角色演員而不是大牌名人來扮演其動畫角色，但在此之前從未損害過該品牌。

But in a world where there are so many options at the theater, a little star power definitely helps draw dollars.

但在劇院有如此多選擇的世界裡，一點明星影響力肯定有助於吸引金錢。

One has to wonder if Disney's decision to put 3 Pixar films, all of them intended to be big-screen successes, directly on Disney+ had an impact.

人們不禁要問，迪士尼決定將 3 部皮克斯電影（全部都打算在大銀幕上取得成功）直接放在 Disney+ 上是否會產生影響。

The Covid-19 pandemic, of course, meant that theatrical releases weren't feasible in 2020 and 2021, and the company also clearly wanted to drive subscriptions to the streamer. 

當然，Covid-19 大流行意味著 2020 年和 2021 年在院線上映是不可行的，而且該公司顯然也希望增加流媒體的訂閱量。

There is some evidence that these decisions may have changed habits.

有證據表明，這些決定可能改變了人們的習慣。

Some analysts have claimed that making so many of Disney's films direct-to-streaming has taught families that they don't need to head to theaters to see them.

一些分析人士聲稱，迪士尼的許多電影都直接在流媒體上播放，這讓家庭了解到他們不需要去電影院觀看這些電影。

That said, it doesn't seem to apply in every case.

也就是說，它似乎並不適用於所有情況。

"The Little Mermaid" was a box-office hit with families, eventual Disney+ release or not.

無論最終是否在迪士尼+ 上映，《小美人魚》都在家庭中獲得了票房成功。

So, if families are willing to show up to see some Disney productions in movie theaters, why was "Elemental" such a miss?

那麼，如果家庭願意到電影院觀看一些迪士尼作品，為什麼《元素方城市》在影院的票房如此慘淡？

Maybe it's just a Pixar thing.

也許這只是皮克斯的問題。

It's worth noting that the last Pixar movie to really score at the box office was "Toy Story 4" in 2019.

這是值得注意的是，上一部真正取得票房成績的皮克斯電影是 2019 年上映的《玩具總動員 4》。

It's clear that Pixar is struggling to recapture a fresh point of view and find new ways to tell its stories.

顯然，皮克斯正在努力重新捕捉新的觀點並尋找新的方式來講述其故事。

The studio has definitely produced original, unique work before. 

該工作室以前肯定製作過原創、獨特的作品。

Hopefully, it will be able to climb back to those auspicious heights with time.

希望隨著時間的推移，它能夠重新回到過往的巔峰。