Disney/Pixar's Elio

[Kit Jackson]

Saw it last night. Elio was fine.

The story was good. The script was okay. Music felt off. The execution was poor. A majority of the movie felt like it was made in the center 3rd of the screen and it wasn't captivating artistry. I am not an artistic person (and someone can correct me if I am wrong) but I thought that one of the important hallmarks of photography was to try to capture images outside the middle third to make it more interesting or pleasing to the eye.

I have not yet seen Elio but I plan to next week. What you are talking about is framing or filling the frame. This is absolutely a lost art. Old Hollywood really knew how to do this. Modern Hollywood started to forget how to do this sometime in the 1980s.

 

[Carole]

If they like laughs, Elio isn't particularly funny. Out of the 4 people who were in the theater, DW and I were the only persons that laughed. I laughed at two scenes. My DW laughed at one scene.

If they like emotional, Elio tries to be emotional and the writing is below average throughout the film and is really strong at the end of the film. The ending kind of saves the movie in my opinion.

The film's story is grounded in trauma. This is an adult topic. A person can certainly have a discussion with children about trauma. Fred Rogers, for instance, was a master of speaking to children about adult topics. It's hard for me to know how kids will react and remain interested in a story about trauma.

The adventure doesn't really work very well. It was boring.

The movie is okay. Its fine. Not a top-tier Pixar movie. Not a bottom of the barrel Pixar film either. I don't think the vast majority of the movie-going audience will regret seeing it in the theater. I won't likely watch it again though when it drops on D+.

Thank you!

 

[Carole]

Maybe. It might start off a little slow for one that age, but once the aliens are around it might do better. It's definitely one of those Pixar "hit you int he feels" type movies. There are some harrowing scenes too, but nothing too scary - some aliens have some teeth and all. It may depend on the kids, but if they have liked other Pixar stuff, it's about in that mold.

Thank you!

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

https://deadline.com/2025/06/box-office-28-years-later-elio-dragon-1236438207/

Not positive news in the box office for Elio’s opening weekend.

 

[mdmost]

If you're not going to market something, why not just release it on Disney+ then?

 

[Nayan]

Elio tanked. Gifted article...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/...e_code=1.RE8.FZv3.vmKARkw6_cCG&smid=url-share

 

[HokieRaven5]

More sequels, remakes, and known IP based family movies then. That’s been a consistent message from family audiences for a bit now. That Bluey movie can’t get here soon enough

 

[hardcorestitch]

I haven’t seen the movie yet… I may end up watching it after Animal Kingdom on Wednesday, since the AMC is just a couple of Disney Transport buses away from me.

 

[Swaggerwagon]

They are going to say we are “trained to watch Pixar on Disney+” but I think it’s just the timing of the release. It looked like a cute movie, and with two little boys I’m definitely the target audience. But we just saw Stitch and now Toothless is out and they want to see that. I can’t afford seeing 3 movies in 2 months You can’t tell me there wasn’t another month on the calendar lacking some family films.

 

[nancipants]

More sequels, remakes, and known IP based family movies then. That’s been a consistent message from family audiences for a bit now. That Bluey movie can’t get here soon enough

It's sad, because my family really enjoyed Elio. We took my 5yo son on Saturday and our theatre was about halfway full. It was only his second time seeing a movie in the theatre and it kept his attention the entire time. My husband and I both agreed it was definitely a decent Pixar movie - not the top tier, but not a bad movie by any means. It helps that I'm a big space buff so seeing the tie ins to Voyager and the Carl Sagan voiceovers really got me. Definitely better than Toy Story Sequel 587.

 

[BrianL]

It's sad, because my family really enjoyed Elio. We took my 5yo son on Saturday and our theatre was about halfway full. It was only his second time seeing a movie in the theatre and it kept his attention the entire time. My husband and I both agreed it was definitely a decent Pixar movie - not the top tier, but not a bad movie by any means. It helps that I'm a big space buff so seeing the tie ins to Voyager and the Carl Sagan voiceovers really got me. Definitely better than Toy Story Sequel 587.

Yes! That was something that I really loved about it too. I was pretty much in from that opening at the little air and space museum. Voyager and the golden record? That hits me just right, so I probably liked it a bit more than many, but it's still a really good movie aside from that too.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disney will continue to make original animations in hopes of finding that next franchise to market, just the marketing behind them will continue to be minimal as the audience interest in original storytelling appears to be minimal at the moment. Heck the last 5 years Disney/Pixar made more original story animated films than the previous 95+ years.

Family audiences just would rather see meme fest with no story (Minecraft), or a full shot for shot remake (HTTYD), or a slightly modified remake (Lilo & Stitch), or a sequel/prequel (Moana 2, IO2, Mufasa) than something new.

 

[BrianL]

Disney will continue to make original animations in hopes of finding that next franchise to market, just the marketing behind them will continue to be minimal as the audience interest in original storytelling appears to be minimal at the moment.

Family audiences would rather see meme fest with no story (Minecraft), or a full shot for shot remake (HTTYD), or a slightly modified remake (Lilo & Stitch), than something new.

And yet, they will constantly complain that, "Hollywood has no original ideas!"

We get the movies we deserve.

 

[HokieRaven5]

And yet, they will constantly complain that, "Hollywood has no original ideas!"

Today’s age seems you don’t have to be original, you just have to find a way to be trending

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

Maybe this particular project was a production hell situation?

After all, the director was replaced and I believe the company line was it was a scheduling conflict with Coco 2. How in the heck does a director have a scheduling conflict in the middle of production of a movie for another movie from the same studio? Can't two teams on two different projects figure out scheduling for the same director?

Its all very strange and something I wouldn't expect from a quality movie studio like Pixar.

But, as I like to say, making movies is hard.

 

[BrianL]

Maybe this particular project was a production hell situation?

After all, the director was replaced and I believe the company line was it was a scheduling conflict with Coco 2. How in the heck does a director have a scheduling conflict in the middle of production of a movie for another movie from the same studio? Can't two teams on two different projects figure out scheduling for the same director?

Its all very strange and something I wouldn't expect from a quality movie studio like Pixar.

But, as I like to say, making movies is hard.

Well, animation has a long lead time. I don't think Disney was considering a sequel to Coco when they started on this one. They definitely wanted Molina back on Coco, so they passed this one off. Regardless, it still turned out very well - good movie! It was only let down by its marketing and sequel/remake obsessed audiences.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

Well, animation has a long lead time. I don't think Disney was considering a sequel to Coco when they started on this one. They definitely wanted Molina back on Coco, so they passed this one off. Regardless, it still turned out very well - good movie! It was only let down by its marketing and sequel/remake obsessed audiences.

Definitely possible.

However, I would encourage you and everyone else on these boards that went to see Elio in the movie theater last weekend to re-watch the Teaser Trailer from 2023 before Molina was replaced. I did a re-watch yesterday. And, after re-watching it myself and being re-introduced to the characters (including, Lord Grigon and Elio) I am really struck by the changes that were made to this project. Seems strange for a Pixar movie.

 

[airjay75]

Definitely possible.

However, I would encourage you and everyone else on these boards that went to see Elio in the movie theater last weekend to re-watch the Teaser Trailer from 2023 before Molina was replaced. I did a re-watch yesterday. And, after re-watching it myself and being re-introduced to the characters (including, Lord Grigon and Elio) I am really struck by the changes that were made to this project. Seems strange for a Pixar movie.

Really interesting. Seems like much more focus on it being simply a fun space adventure and much less about a kid with trauma discovering how he fits into his world through a space adventure.

All that said, I came to this thread to post that I took my 4 and 6 year old boys to this movie this past Saturday afternoon, and we all really liked it. It was actually the first movie ever for my 4 year old, and I think he enjoyed it more than the 6 year old. I do think it was a little light on humor, but they do enjoy the good vs. bad battles that the movie became towards the end. Although the trauma aspect of the movie was too much for young children to really comprehend, it was a bit of a tear jerker for the adults, which did make it a touching story from that aspect. Still, maybe a little too much trauma and too little humor.

I'll also say, I completely stumbled upon this movie 1 day before its release. Was completely unaware it was coming. I don't even remember where I saw it - saw the name "Elio" and that it was Disney/Pixar and decided to watch the trailer, and was like, hmm, my boys might like this so decided to take them. I also think the name of the movie doesn't help. No one knows who Elio is - even something as simple as "Elio's Space Adventure" would at least give people some idea what the movie is about. Imagine if the main character's name was George and so we just titled the movie "George." You've got to draw people in to actually watch the trailer and get interested in it - just using the main character's name doesn't do it IMO.

 

[sailorstitch]

Definitely possible.

However, I would encourage you and everyone else on these boards that went to see Elio in the movie theater last weekend to re-watch the Teaser Trailer from 2023 before Molina was replaced. I did a re-watch yesterday. And, after re-watching it myself and being re-introduced to the characters (including, Lord Grigon and Elio) I am really struck by the changes that were made to this project. Seems strange for a Pixar movie.

I can't remember if I watched this teaser before. I'm glad they made these changes. Elio's trauma is what I connected with.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think Pixar is giving Elio the same treatment that they gave The Good Dinosaur and for comparison The Good Dinosaur was a failure from the start it was announced and with Elio I think people thought that it would be as big of a success like Finding Dory Finding Nemo Inside Out and Cars but I think they have marketed Elio very poorly like Disney did with Strange World with almost no toys except figurine sets and Disney Parks exclusive Elio plushies and I think that Pixar rushed Elio out too soon and the only reason why Elio got a summer release was so it could compete with How To Train Your Dragon and Lilo And Stitch