Elio’s trouble began in 2023, when original director Adrian Molina (Coco) submitted a near-complete movie that alluded to Elio’s queer identity and focused heavily on his passion for environmentalism. Molina, who is openly gay, never intended the film to be a coming-out story, sources say, but rather a reflection of the artist who made the movie. (So that’s why they want to replace everything with AI!) The company line states that he was moved on to Coco 2. Others say it came after two screenings: one for test audiences, which revealed audiences liked the movie but wouldn’t pay to see it, and another for Pete Docter, which ended with a conversation that “hurt” Molina deeply. He left the project shortly after and was replaced by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi. Star America Ferrera also exited and was replaced by Zoe Saldaña. For her part, Ferrera purportedly left because “there was no longer Latinx representation in the leadership,” and also due to the need to frequently re-record dialogue for a movie that was supposed to be finished two years ago.
Those working on the movie were also dismayed by the project’s about-face. Speaking on the record, former Pixar assistant editor Sarah Ligatich told THR how “deeply saddened and aggrieved” she was by Pixar’s changes to Elio. Ligatich, who provided notes on the film as part of PixPRIDE, Pixar’s internal LGBTQ+ group, mentioned an “exodus of talent” that left the project after the movie was recut. Others were a little more blunt, saying that the version in theaters is “far worse” than Molina’s original.
Ultimately, it is a confluence of problems at Disney. First, the company has devalued its Pixar movies by releasing them through Disney+, which guarantees a swift streaming release. Going to the movies as a family is expensive, and expecting people to show up so soon after Lilo & Stitch, when Elio will be available on Disney+ soon anyway, seems like a big and expensive ask. The other thing is Docter’s emphasis on making the “most relatable films” possible, which has smoothed over any nuances or originality from recent Pixar movies. After Disney’s “Don’t Say Gay” fights and the homophobic outrage surrounding Lightyear, some presume that Pixar is erasing anything that could be construed as gay subtext from their movies before Disney even asks them to. Whether that’s a company edict or not, it appears to be bearing out on screen.
Read the full report at The Hollywood Reporter.
