Pixar’s ‘Elio’ Looks Completely Different From the Movie Fans Were Initially Promised
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Elio is proving to be a strange outlier in Pixar’s repertoire. While it’s received rave reviews, the animated story of an alien abduction isn’t doing that well at the box office, only having made half of its budget back. Part of that is due to timing — Elio had to deal with other family-friendly fare, particularly the live-action versions of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. Most of it is due to Disney’s baffling marketing campaign, which feels far less than what audiences have come to expect from a Pixar movie. Elio actually happens to be extremely different from its original vision. Elio was first announced in 2022 at the D23 Expo, with a different director and a leading cast member. Adrian Molina, who previously helmed Coco, was slated to direct Elio, while America Ferrera would play a major role as Elio’s guardian Olga. Both wound up departing production, which begs the question: What happened to the original version of Elio, and how did it affect the final product?
The Original Director of ‘Elio’ Departed To Work on Another Pixar Sequel
Adrian Molina’s original vision for Elio was actually the same as what made it to the big screen, including Elio (Yonas Kibreab) being abducted by aliens and finding more of a connection with extraterrestrial life than anyone on Earth. According to director Madeline Sharafian, who co-directed the final version of Elio, Molina drew upon his time growing up in an army base and his experience attending animation school. “When he was first coming up with the story, Adrian talked about the moment where he went to animation college at CalArts for the first time, and how all of a sudden he felt like he’d found his people, he’d found his world,” she told Entertainment Weekly before Elio‘s release. “That’s like Elio’s journey from Earth up into the Communiverse, which is this magical space with aliens from everywhere.” But even though Molina would shape much of Elio‘s story, he ultimately decided to depart the film, turning directorial duties to Sharafian and Domee Shii while he boarded Coco 2.
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Molina’s departure might not have been for the best, according to a new report by The Hollywood Reporter. In the report, Pixar employees talk about how Elio‘s creative overhaul sanded down underlying queer themes, including an explanation for Elio’s various capes; it was part of his “trash-ion” show, where he used bits of junk from the beach to decorate his capes. A test screening also led to a less than enthusiastic response from the audience when they were asked if they’d see it in theaters. Coming on the heels of Win or Lose being forced to scrap a story with a transgender character, this continues a troubling trend in Pixar’s latest projects where the underlying themes of a story are dulled to be more “relatable” to audiences. Elio, alongside Pixar’s next original film Hoppers, was even told to tone down its themes of environmentalism, which feels like the wrong kind of move to do with a story concerning the Earth.
One Character in ‘Elio’ Underwent A Major Overhaul
The biggest change in Elio concerns Olga, who was originally meant to be Elio’s mom. But America Ferrera would eventually depart production, with Zoe Saldaña stepping in to voice the character. Madeline Sharifan also said that she and Domee Shi changed Olga from Elio’s mother to Elio’s aunt in order to make Elio’s feelings of alienation, both literal and metaphorical, hit harder for the audience:
“ Knowing that Elio was going to have to decide where he wanted to be, it felt like a relationship with a mother and son was a bit too much…Maybe they have an argument and they storm off, but, at the end of the day, you still kind of believe in your heart as an audience member that they’re gonna come back together. But an aunt and a nephew [relationship] is a lot more tenuous. There’s a chance that they’d split off and lose that connection forever. And that tension for the audience watching these two characters who are missing connections, you’re really rooting for them, that added a lot of juice.”
Indeed, changing Olga to Elio’s aunt did unlock a lot of the story. When she first adopts him, he doesn’t know how to talk to her and wanders off into an exhibit about NASA’s Voyager probe, sparking his fascination with aliens. She also sends him to military camp, which eventually leads to Elio’s alien encounter. And even though she seems to get along with Elio’s clone, it’s revealed that Olga is working hard to find where the real Elio is. While Elio‘s changes might not have resulted in the film that was originally pitched, this change works for the better — and gives Elio the emotional core that’s a part of Pixar’s films.
The ‘Elio’ Teaser Trailer Hinted at a Very Different Plot – and a Very Different Role for One Character
The best look that audiences might get at Elio‘s original vision is in the original teaser trailer, which features an entirely different plot. It opens with Olga in a communications center, witnessing the screens light up with a bright pink message: “Take Us To Your Leader.” A picture on her desk also shows her holding Elio with another pilot, hinting that this is the version of the film where she’s his mother and not his aunt. But the biggest change comes when Elio is brought before the Communiverse, the collection of aliens who share their knowledge.
One of the Communiverse’s members is Ambassador Grigon (Brad Garrett), who seems a little too eager to “interrogate” Elio. The final version reworks Grigon into a more antagonistic role, as he seeks to join the Communiverse or burn it down — which provides a great contrast to his son Glordon (Remy Edgerly), who becomes Elio’s friend. Grigon also hinted in the teaser trailer that Earth would undergo some form of trial, but this never comes to pass in the theatrical version. Elio did change, for better and for worse, and its major shifts are proof that making a movie isn’t as easy as it looks.
Elio is now playing in theaters.
Elio
- Release Date
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June 20, 2025
- Runtime
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99 minutes
- Director
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Adrian Molina, Domee Shi, Madeline Sharafian
- Writers
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Adrian Molina
- Producers
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Lindsey Collins, Pete Docter
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Yonas Kibreab
Elio Solis (voice)
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