Early last year, Pixar appeared to be on the brink of an existential crisis. The coronavirus pandemic had thrown the business of kids’ movies into particular turmoil: Many theatrical features were pushed to streaming, and their success on those platforms left studios wondering whether the appeal of at-home convenience would be impossible to reverse. Disney, Pixar’s parent company, premiered the Pixar films Soul, Luca, and Turning Red on Disney+, and each was well received. But they were followed by the theatrically released expected smash Lightyear—a spin-off of the beloved Toy Story franchise—which underwhelmed at the box office. Elemental followed, weathering a low-grossing opening to become a sleeper hit. Discussing the studio’s next film, Inside Out 2, the company’s chief creative officer, Pete Docter, acknowledged the concerns: “If this doesn’t do well at the theater, I think it just means we’re going to have to think even more radically about how we run our business.”
He had nothing to worry about: Inside Out 2 was a financial sensation—by far the biggest hit of 2024. Yet here we are, one year later, and the question is bubbling back up: Is Pixar cooked? Its latest film, Elio, made only $20.8 million in its first weekend; the performance marked a record low for the company. (The number is smaller than what the first Toy Story earned 30 years ago.) In the weeks since its mid-June debut, Elio hasn’t shown the strong box-office “legs” that bolstered Elemental or proved that it has the earlier movie’s major international appeal. It instead seems likely to earn less than $100 million domestically, based on its current performance. It would be the first Pixar movie not to clear that bar, pandemic releases aside. The debut of the studio’s newest film used to be a seismic theatrical event, whether it was a sequel or an original story; the Pixar imprimatur was enough. The company has made icons out of a curmudgeonly old man, a garbage-compacting robot, and a rat obsessed with French cuisine. But its status as an instant star-maker seems to have dimmed; name recognition alone is no longer carrying the day.
Elio hit theaters after a tumultuous creative process that saw the director, Adrian Molina, leaving the project and the script getting reworked. The film follows a quirky, outer-space-obsessed preteen who, after the death of his parents, dreams of being abducted by aliens. This goal comes to fruition, leading him on a bunch of wacky adventures with an assemblage of blobby cosmic creatures. While the science-fiction angle was always present, reports suggested that other elements were lost over time: Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) was initially supposed to be more “queer-coded,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, to reflect Molina’s own identity. Elio’s mother was still alive, to be voiced by America Ferrera. The character’s parents were written out in the reworked script, and Elio’s disaffection became primarily rooted in loneliness rather than any sense of feeling “different.”
These creative shifts arose after an initial test screening reportedly ended with zero participants saying they’d want to see it in theaters. The changes didn’t leave Elio unwatchable. It’s a perfectly serviceable and cute diversion for kids, busy with playfully designed aliens; it’s got some laser-blasting action that could appeal to preteens too. The protagonist does, however, come across as a little purposeless. The loss of Elio’s parents is barely explained; his relationship with his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaña), is pleasant but lightweight. Elio’s journey just doesn’t have enough motivation to convince the audience that it’s worth undertaking: After joining the extraterrestrials, he does little but bounce from quest to quest, pretending to be a high-ranking ambassador from Earth. Writing human characters has never been Pixar’s forte, unless they’re very cartoonish, and Elio suffers from that weakness.
The studio has a rich history of introducing intense creative revisions in the middle of making a film. The original director of Ratatouille left the project, and the veteran hand Brad Bird took over; the end result was an artistic high point for Pixar. Brave was set to be the studio’s first movie with both a female protagonist and a female director, Brenda Chapman; Pixar then removed Chapman midway through production, and the final film was a muddled effort. Still, the company’s relative success with on-the-fly changes might have convinced higher-ups that Elio could be salvaged.
Or maybe Docter, who is also one of Pixar’s most successful filmmakers, saw Elio’s box-office potential as a minor consideration after the sensation that was Inside Out 2. The company now has three more giant sequels on the horizon: Toy Story 5, Incredibles 3, and Coco 2, the last co-directed by Molina. Despite returning to its familiar franchises, the company isn’t giving up on original storytelling. Several projects not based on preexisting properties are in the works; each one is animal-centric, a more typical mode for Pixar. But the fact that Elio underwent such extensive tweaks does suggest internal trepidation—and that Pixar could be shying away from more novel, personal works in favor of safer material.
Elio’s failure to resonate with audiences likely won’t help matters. Would the movie have ever worked, however? I somehow doubt it. Pixar movies tend to thrive on the basis of their worlds; the galactic landscape—which emerged unscathed from all the tweaking—felt far too thinly sketched to me, even setting aside the low-stakes adventure taking place within it. Then again, my favorite Pixar film in recent years shares more in common with Elio than with Inside Out. Turning Red is a relatively grounded coming-of-age piece about a teenage girl. (She later turns into a giant red panda.) The director of Turning Red, Domee Shi, was brought in to salvage Elio after Molina stepped aside. But the latter film’s rudderlessness emphasizes how crucial Shi’s intimate connection to Turning Red was in making it so special—just as Molina’s personal touch could have helped Elio feel more purposeful.
The executives at Disney are likely pleased with the seeming priority shift. Big sequels and tales about cute animals tend to be an easy bet, as evidenced by Disney’s own animated-movie track record. Pixar won’t get by forever reheating its leftovers, though: It needs to foster filmmakers with specific points of view, such as Shi, to become the creative bedrock of its next generation. So much of the animation world is tilting toward adapting recognizable brands over inventive storytelling, with rivals such as Illumination finding success with Super Mario Bros.; Warner Bros. is threatening audiences with a ghastly looking update of The Cat in the Hat. Pixar has long stood out by bringing something less trifling to theatergoing families. Elio’s failure in theaters may sting, but hopefully it won’t entirely deter that mission.
