Don’t be fooled by box office numbers, ‘Elio’ is Pixar’s best in years
Though “Elio” was an impressive and inspiring animated movie release, it has fallen flat in the box office. Instead, our columnist writes, Pixar has focused on promoting unoriginal remakes of fan-favorites. Hannah Mesa | Illustration Editor
I did not expect much from Pixar’s latest animated movie, “Elio,” but I was pleasantly surprised in the theater watching its final credits roll. In recent years, the iconic studio has fallen victim to the content oversaturation of the pandemic and Disney’s streaming-focused content model.
For that reason, I was unmotivated to see another Pixar movie in theaters, and I’m sure others feel the same way. The studio’s recent productions — movies like “Onward,” “Turning Red,” “Elemental” and a whole host of prequels and sequels — were mostly uninspiring watches, besides being difficult to keep up with.
But “Elio” is different, both in its memorable story and the organic way it presents it. The space aesthetic and the quirky character design are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale roster of recent Pixar films.
Sadly, the success “Elio” is finding, both in its critic and audience scores, is going unnoticed. All eyes — and Disney’s marketing dollars — are on “Lilo & Stitch,” a decision which may’ve been a purposeful attempt to blame audiences for poor reception to original movies. As one Letterboxd reviewer so eloquently put it, “Pixar should fire their marketing team.”
“Elio” was directed by a Pixar trio responsible for much of the work mentioned above: Adrian Molina, Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi. The movie follows its titular character (Yonas Kibreab), who feels he doesn’t belong in the world — feelings brought, in part, by the loss of his parents and his journey into adolescence.
Although it’s not as good as Pixar greats like “The Incredibles” or “Ratatouille,” “Elio” soars toward those heights and gets much closer than the studio’s recent works. The film asks its viewers, “Are we alone?” referencing both its interstellar setting and story about loneliness. Elio, whom we meet just after the death of his parents, feels placeless in his new life with his aunt, Olga Solís (Zoe Saldaña).
Olga, a member of the United States Space Force, has to put her career aspirations on hold to care for the little boy she’s suddenly responsible for, a new family configuration neither is too happy with. Wanting to escape and captivated by the possibility of friends in the wider universe, Elio becomes infatuated with space.
He hilariously sends messages to space and spends hours sitting on the beach with “ALIENS ABDUCT ME!!!” drawn in the sand. Eventually, a group of aliens representing various planets in “the Communiverse,” a United Nations-esque space government, successfully abduct him.
Misled by a message he sent through Space Force technology, the aliens think he’s Earth’s leader, when – in fact – he’s nobody.
In its hour-and-a-half runtime, the movie follows Elio as he negotiates with the bloodthirsty, world-conquering Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett). Elio agrees to serve as a negotiator with Grigon, who’s pledged mass destruction, in exchange for Communiverse membership. Elio makes his first friend in the process: Grigon’s son, Glordon (Remy Edgerly), who is unmotivated to inherit his father’s world conqueror title.
In the film’s conclusion, both Glordon and Elio come to terms with their new family arrangements with Grigon and Olga, respectively — a charming sequence that definitely didn’t have me holding back tears.
Although some of its emotional moments probably could’ve been delivered less straightforwardly, “Elio” strikingly hits the theme of overcoming loneliness right on its head.
“You are unique, Elio of Earth,” one of the Communiverse aliens tells our protagonist. “Unique can sometimes feel like alone, but you are not alone.”
This movie is adorable and above the laziness that Hollywood and Disney have served audiences in recent years. I would so much rather watch this — an original movie with a captivating storyline — than a shot-for-shot live-action remake of childhood classics like “Lilo & Stitch” or “How to Train Your Dragon.”
The movie does so much right beyond that. Past its very Pixar family messaging, “Elio” organically celebrates the diversity of planet Earth and the wider universe. The movie is a blueprint for diverse storytelling done right. “Elio” is just the second Pixar movie to follow a Latino family, and the first to consider the unique stories of military families in addition to its deeply diverse cast and crew.
In the film itself, the value of diversity is present in its depiction of the Communiverse, and in the conflict resolution between Grigon and his son, which requires intergalactic cross-cultural understanding. A final space sequence brings the message home, as astronauts from countries across Earth guide Olga and Elio through a debris field.
“Elio” is on track to experience Pixar’s worst-ever box office opening, an achievement it doesn’t deserve. Although it’s likely by design, the box office failure of original films gifts major studios a justification for defaulting to sequels and spin-offs. I urge audiences to go see the movie and do their part to ensure originals like “Elio” don’t hit theaters dead on arrival.
