I would be remiss to say tears forming in the eyes is an involuntary response when anybody hears the gentle piano keys of Michael Giacchino’s “Married Life” from 2009’s “Up.” That’s just one of the countless ways Pixar has broached human emotions in what is considered a “kids” medium in animated films. Whenever it is the “Toy Story” franchise and dealing with growing up and how tastes and trends factor into the state of how a figurine defines itself, workers’ rights in 1998’s “A Bug’s Life,” or the meaning of purpose in 2020’s “Soul.” To establish a brand known for gorgeous visuals and messaging that touches on both the beauty and hardships of life is why Pixar is considered so successful.
“Elio,” a sci-fi, star-crossed tale about loneliness born from grief and finding community light years away, comes at a crossroads for Disney itself. Many of Disney’s animated classics, such as “Snow White” and “The Lion King,” have been given the live-action remake treatment. Pixar has also jumped on the trend with the recent “Lilo and Stitch” remake and even doubling down on sequels with “Coco 2” and “The Incredibles 3” coming down the pipeline. So, where does that leave films like “Elio,” which seemingly was a casualty of the “hope and pray” release schedule? It’s not to say the film, which features a team of directors (Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina) and writers (Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones), doesn’t exhibit some of the trademark emotional charm.
“Elio” / Photo Credit: Disney
On its surface,” Elio” would be a fun, serviceable children’s film. But there lies the issue, which is highly noticeable throughout the runtime; when did Pixar become so comfortable with just being the status quo? Elio Solís (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) is having a rough go at things, losing his parents at a very young age. He stays with his aunt Olga (voiced by Zoe Saldaña), an Air Force major who once had dreams of being an astronaut.
Safe to say, life hasn’t been the easiest for either of them. Elio connects to space exploration (and the words of Carl Sagan) to find refuge. He even makes his own alien space language to boast. Day after day, he builds light fixtures and ham radio adaptations in efforts to get abducted. If you don’t feel like you belong on Earth, perhaps you’ll find your place in other worlds. One day, Elio gets lucky and is taken to the Communiverse, where representatives of all life forms come together to share knowledge. English won’t work here, so Elio relies on OOOOO (Shirley Henderson), an adorable supercomputer, to act as a translator.
While being mistaken for Earth’s supreme leader, Elio becomes friends with Glordon (Remy Edgerly), a slug-type alien. He is going through his own woes, as his father, the menacing Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett), already has a charted-out life plan ready to go. While Elio and Gordon have two different sets of issues, their friendship is one of the film’s highlights. It’s genuinely fun to see together in the beautiful animated landscapes elevated by Rob Simonsen’s synth-y score. There’s something to be said about finding a kindred spirit in the most unlikely of places. However, “Elio” feels like something is missing – as if this textbook plot and ultimate conclusion of accepting your uniqueness is following a template. The creative turmoil surrounding the production has been well chronicled and plays right on the screen itself.
“Elio” / Photo Credit: Disney
The subplot of the Communiverse searching for a new representative with a vast number of supporting characters who don’t get the proper time feels like it’s papering over the conventionality of the message at hand. Instead, “Elio” finds that it’s filling time to get you to its classic emotive epicenter. It gets you in the end, as Pixar at least hasn’t forgotten to throw its fastball. But then you’ll quickly realize that “Elio” is just a game tape of a blunted attempt at yesterday’s films that would have taken some more chances to make points.
In 2023, Pixar CCO Pete Doctor stated the studio had trained audiences to expect their films to be on Disney+. Despite an initial slow box office, 2023’s “Elemental” rode positive word-of-mouth to a $496 million worldwide gross. 2024’s “Inside Out 2” proved to be the jackpot moment, earning over $1.699 billion and the highest-grossing film that entire year. Even that film underwent creative changes — allegedly receiving notes to tone down the emphasis on Riley’s sexuality. It was reported that “Elio’s” original story suffered the same fate. Thus, Pixar and Disney seem to be banking on loyalty while self-censoring themselves, as they no longer trust these films to handle differences and complexity.
“Elio” found itself between a rock and a hard place, where the studio still views its original films as expensive streaming movies, rather than the progressive, speak-to-deeper themes of all people narratives they once were. The Pixar “formula” is still present, but only if it was brave enough, like the aspiring 11-year-old star gazer it abandoned.
