Pixar's 'Elio' reportedly stripped of queer representation after test screenings

The mentation of “Elio” that deed theaters connected June 20 is not the aforesaid movie that Adrian Molina, the film’s archetypal director, intended to enactment out.

Pixar removed LGBTQ+ elements from the animated diagnostic aft receiving antagonistic feedback from trial screenings with assemblage members and executives, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The movie follows an 11-year-old lad named Elio who is mistaken for Earth’s ambassador by aliens and is beamed up to the Communiverse — an intergalactic enactment — to correspond the planet.

Trouble began successful the summertime of 2023 during a trial screening successful Arizona. After the movie was over, assemblage members were asked to rise their manus if the movies was thing they’d wage to spot successful theaters. No 1 did, causing Pixar executives to worry.

According to THR, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter informed Molina aft a abstracted screening for institution executives that storyboard creator Madeline Sharafian would beryllium promoted to co-director. Molina, who is gay, was fixed the enactment to co-direct the movie with Sharafian but chose to exit the task alternatively aft his archetypal imaginativeness was changed. Shortly after, Docter announced internally that “Turning Red” manager and co-writer Domee Shi would articulation “Elio” arsenic co-director.

Changes to the movie included getting escaped of a country successful which Elio shows disconnected a pinkish vessel apical made retired of formation litter to a hermit crab, arsenic good arsenic removing representation frames from Elio’s chamber partition that displayed a antheral crush. Executives besides asked him to marque the main quality much “masculine.”

“I was profoundly saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made,” erstwhile Pixar adjunct exertion Sarah Ligatich, who was a subordinate of the company’s interior LGBTQ+ radical and provided feedback during the accumulation of “Elio,” told THR.

Ligatich added that a fig of creatives moving down the scenes near aft the caller directors went successful a antithetic direction.

“The exodus of endowment aft that chopped was truly indicative of however unhappy a batch of radical were that they had changed and destroyed this beauteous work,” she said.

Actor America Ferrera was primitively attached to the task arsenic the dependable of Elio’s mother, Olga. Following Molina’s departure, the “Barbie” histrion near the accumulation due to the fact that the movie lacked “Latinx practice successful the leadership.” The quality was aboriginal changed to beryllium Elio’s aunt and was voiced by Zoe Saldaña.

In March 2025, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger announced Molina would instrumentality arsenic co-director for “Coco 2,” a follow-up to the 2017 movie helium co-wrote and co-directed.

“Elio” earned Pixar its worst home opening aft it premiered connected June 20. helium movie made $21 cardinal astatine the container bureau and presently holds a “fresh” 83% critics standing connected the website Rotten Tomatoes.

“The Elio that is successful theaters close present is acold worse than Adrian’s champion mentation of the original,” a erstwhile Pixar staffer who worked connected the movie told THR.

“[The character] Elio was conscionable truthful cute and truthful overmuch amusive and had truthful overmuch personality, and present helium feels overmuch much generic to me,” added different Pixar staffer.

In a 2018 interrogation with the Huffington Post, Molina said helium was “all for it” erstwhile asked what it would instrumentality for an animated workplace to greenish airy a communicative with a queer protagonist.

The Times reached retired to Pixar for comment, but the workplace did not respond.