Elemental has arrived on Disney+ but the apparent casting of Eddie Murphy in the Pixar movie has left more than a few fans scratching their heads.
After becoming a surprise sleeper hit during the crowded summer blockbuster window, Elemental, the latest effort from Pixar, has now arrived on Disney+ for fans to watch from home. However, confusion has emerged surrounding the film’s cast and an apparent role held by Eddie Murphy.
Element’s Eddie Murphy casting confusion
Unlike watching a movie in the theater, where using a phone is frowned upon, streaming a film at home means fans are free to Google the movie to their heart’s content to look up elements such as the cast or the meaning of a certain phrase in a newly constructed language.
In the case of Elemental, fans have been busy delving into the film’s star-studded voice cast and the Google cast list for the Pixar movie has caused no small amount of confusion thanks to the inclusion of Eddie Murphy.
That’s because the beloved actor and comedian, whose best-known voice work has come as Donkey in the Shrek franchise, is not actually in the Pixar movie.
What caused the casting conundrum?
The Eddie Murphy and Elemental casting mystery stems from an incorrect IMDb cast list that emerged in July 2022, before the film’s cast was officially announced by Pixar.
It should be noted that anyone can edit an IMDb page if they have an account on the movie database site so inaccurate cast lists are not uncommon before official announcements are made.
Reported by a Selena Gomez fan account on X (aka Twitter), the likely fan-man cast list included Selena Gomez, Amy Adams, Zach Braff, Nick Nolte and Josh Gad among the Elemental cast – as well as Murphy, of course – none of whom ended up in the movie itself.
But while none of the other actors appear in Google’s cast list for Elemental, Eddie Murphy is still present, causing more than a few fans to scratch their heads when looking into the film’s voice actors.
Eddie Murphy’s last Disney role
If Eddie Murphy had actually been cast in Elemental, it would have marked his first role in an animated Disney film since 1998’s Mulan where he voiced the dragon character, Mushu.
Murphy was unable to reprise the role in 2005’s Mulan II as he was under contract with DreamWorks having taken on the role of Donkey in the Shrek movies.
With a fifth Shrek movie and a Donkey spin-off reportedly in the works following the success of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, it’s unlikely that Eddie Murphy will be free to appear in a Disney film for quite some time yet.
Elemental is available to stream on Disney+ after landing on the streaming service on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.