Some are saying that Elio is the worst Pixar movie ever. Others say it’s a wonder of creativity and sci-fi, mixing family with “blobulous” creatures. So which is it and should you take your family to see the newest CalArts cartoon on the big screen?
Elio is the Disney summer blockbuster which stars a small child feeling all alone and a little bit weird after both parents have passed away in a tragic, unnamed accident. As a result, a young aunt struggling to make money and hold down a career is forced to care for a kid that doesn’t necessarily fit in with a life originally envisioned. Thus, gazing up into the stars one night…
… oh wait a minute. Am I describing Elio or Lilo & Stitch?
It’s Wish all over again. Elio is the worst animated film in Pixar history. More to come on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/DXW4wNtm6A
— Alan Ng @ Film Threat (@mypalal) June 17, 2025
Good question. It’s a problem. To a large degree, Disney has released the same darn movie in the same dang summer.
Elio is essentially Lilo except in his movie, the aliens take him to their world instead of one alien landing on Earth (although that does end up happening later in the film). And ultimately, both Elio and Lilo learn the same exact lesson, just via a slightly different journey. The two Disney kids of 2025 learn to thrive even though they’re weird. In fact, Elio is basically an avatar for attachment pathology as a result of trauma, and likely a stand-in for anyone on the spectrum. Some people think Lilo is the same. And yet Elio isn’t terrible. In fact, to answer the question of whether or not it’s the worst Pixar movie ever, I don’t think it is. That award remains in the hands and teeth of The Good Dinosaur.
Our latest Pixar sci-fi flick is a pastiche and homage to just about every sci-fi film ever made. They’ve done their homework. Obvious sendups to films like Dune, The Navigator and even ALF, are all on display, and that’s just scratching the surface. Concepts are turned into sci-fi metaphors in some of the most striking ways you could imagine. Our bad guys who turn out to be not-so-bad-guys-yet-again, are literally intolerant worms who have to hide inside exterior shells of power in order to hide their vulnerabilities. Ham handed? You bet. Clever? Sure. A bit too on-the-nose? Maybe.
Elio and Glordon in the trailer for the Pixar movie Elio – YouTube, Pixar
The best Pixar movies tackle really deep topics that can be universally understood by all cultures and ages. The original Toy Story handles the problem of envy when you’re no longer numero uno. UP conquers whether or not it’s okay to still go on adventures in the face of huge loss.
Then there are the best Pixar films. They tackle multiples seamlessly. Wall-E ponders how much connection matters in the grand scheme of the cosmos while also looking at the connection between taking responsibility and growing past infant status. Toy Story 3 not only deals with moving to an entirely new phase of life with dignity, but also whether or not you should risk everything together rather than risking little alone. Spoiler alert: Toy Story 4 stupidly inverts that lesson, showing the shift that was happening behind-the-scenes at Pixar.
As for Elio, it wonders what it really means to be alone… and if being weird is an obstacle too big to overcome for relationships.
HI MOM! – In Disney and Pixar’s “Elio,” America Ferrera lends her voice to the smart and super-confident Olga, who runs a top-secret military project.* While Olga is working to decode a strange signal from outer space, her son Elio (voice of Yonas Kibreab) is inadvertently beamed up to an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide and mistaken for Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe. Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film “Elio” is directed by Adrian Molina (screenwriter and co-director of “Coco”) and produced by Mary Alice Drumm (associate producer of “Coco”)—the intergalactic misadventure launches in theaters March 1, 2024. © 2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Is that big enough? Well, it might be if the movie were better at sticking to it. But the film continuously is just a little too creative for its own good. While I’m amazed at the ingenuity and creative prowess of the team behind the film, I’m afraid it’s just a little too esoteric for its own good. Floating feminine sea slugs who can read your mind are one of the more relatable characters you’ll find in this film. While that’s hyper-creative, it’s also hard for some people to relate with. So while I think audiences with extreme openness may enjoy the movie, I think it may lean to heavily into what small children and artsy adults enjoy. Meanwhile, the older kids, teens and young adults who might want to grab onto the ethos in Elio may walk away feeling that, just like the main character, the film is a little too weird.
Elio in the trailer for the Pixar movie Elio – YouTube, Pixar
So where does it land?
It’d say it’s on par with It’s a Bug’s Life. It’s a solid 7/10. And that means we’re still waiting for Pixar to find it’s mojo again… if it ever can… because the studio that only knew perfection for a decade has clearly struggled to remember what that means.
Oh, and one more thing. Elio’s aunt has the face shape of The Grinch. Please, please… end the CalArts style. Pixar, you’re not Dreamworks, so stop trying to be.
Great review, thank you.
Pixar has been hit and miss (more miss) for 15 years. I don’t dislike most of their movies, though Red and Wish were hard passes for me, but I don’t go out of my way to watch them on anything more than a streaming network.
The quality of this movie is atrocious, from what I have seen of it. I guess Disney replaced the original Pixar men, the talent, with DEI, including the writing and art-design.
Modern Disney and Pixar are only capable of producing garbage.