Not to add fuel to the fallen tree, but it is clear that Pixar suffered a gigantic setback with ‘Elio’, the film destined for success that had an epic blow at the box office: it cost 150 million (at least) and grossed 154 million worldwide, thus becoming the lowest grossing film in its historynot counting those that premiered on Disney+. And the truth is that the film was a gimmick, the vision of three directors trying to put together several scripts without success… but there was something else behind the scenes.
Elio, without trauma
If Pixar is known for something, it is for having caused trauma to several generations with ‘Up’, ‘Toy Story 3’, ‘Finding Nemo’ or ‘Inside Out’. His films have touched on themes such as abandonment, infertility, death and loneliness.but Pete Docter made a point to talk about LGBT identity. Indeed, ‘Elio’ had a subplot with the protagonist discovering his sexuality, and Docter found it fatal.
As he told the Wall Street Journal, Pixar did not want its younger audience to be able to see things that they are not prepared to see, or that they have not talked about with their parents. The death of your partner or your mother? Perfect. Love other people? Of course not! As he himself has stated, “We are making a movie, not hundreds of thousands of dollars of therapy”. Well nothing.
In earlier versions of the film, Elio could be seen with a pink bicycle and even a scene in which she imagines a life with the boy she likesbut neither the test audience reacted well, nor did Pixar like it one bit that they were so daring, so, since they had just cut a trans character from the fantastic ‘In Victory or Defeat’, they decided that ‘Elio’ was also going to be left without plots.
Docter cares little about the controversy, because he is perfectly aware that Pixar is going to be one of the stars of the year thanks to ‘Toy Story 5‘ and, why not, ‘Hoppers’, so he can face the snubs and boycotts on social networks without many more problems, regardless of what part of the public says afterwards. Would the film have been better if it had left its director’s original vision? I’m afraid we will never know. Worse, it is, of course, difficult.
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