Elio (2025, directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina) suffers under the weight of expectations attached to Pixar. For a generation, Pixar films, in partnership with Walt Disney, have steered computer-generated animation to its dizzying heights.
Elio recently opened globally, becoming Pixar’s worst-performing film to date, which is baffling because Elio is a solid animation wonder that carries Pixar’s trademark heartstrings-tugging family story.
Some industry watchdogs argue that Elio underperformed at the box office because it was released in the wake of the live-action films How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo and Stitch. This is a shame because Elio is something the film industry needs: original storytelling, compelling characters, fantastic animation, and millions of dollars supporting imagination rather than regurgitating intellectual property.
Some online nimrods have been tearing down the recent Pixar offering with the phrase “go woke, go broke,” accusing the animation company of pandering to the left. This disparages Pixar’s and Disney’s efforts to promote diversity. It’s yet another example of smug ignorance aimed at silencing non-white stories and creators.
Elio revolves around an orphaned Latino boy who becomes an army brat (how more American can you get?) through his aunt, who yearns to be an astronaut but gives up that dream to care for her nephew. Elio seeks companionship from outer space because he feels he does not belong on Earth.
The alienation and isolation experienced by a young boy are tragic. However, this unfolds into a story that essentially demonstrates the principle of “water seeks its level,” when Elio is taken into an alien, multi-species, intelligent, intergalactic conglomeration. The group is a magnificent bestiary of floating, colorful, and whimsical intelligent creatures.
Elio feels at home. The story takes a turn when this colorful group must contend with—and take a stand against—another intelligent life form focused on strength and violence.
What Elio offers is the idea that even a modest nerd hobby can be a powerful force if pursued for the greater good. Yet it also tells a genuinely heartwarming story about family, acceptance, and working through differences. That is something you cannot take away from Pixar. This may be the lowest-performing animated film in its history, but that does not diminish the great message it conveys: family issues and growing pains are, literally, universal.
In 1997, the movie Contact (directed by Robert Zemeckis) featured the lead character, a scientist portrayed by Jodie Foster, encountering outer space for the first time. She breathlessly describes the magnificence: “They should have sent a poet.”
After watching Elio, you will see the poetic, sublime beauty of alien life through the magic of the hardworking, underappreciated, yet truly magnificent animators and visual artists who drew inspiration from their childhood. Yes, Elio is indeed visually tremendous. Be in awe of what childlike wonder can see.
You may reach Chong Ardivilla at kartunistatonto@gmail.com or chonggo.bsky.social
