Elio Is Going To Be Another Big Test For Pixar

Pixar is lighting up the internet with the release of a brand-new trailer for its upcoming sci-fi family adventure film Elio. The studio appears to be getting back in touch with its roots in original film-making, but is this project an outlier in an era of Pixar sequels?

Pixar has gone through a series of unprecedented creative changes throughout the 2010s. The studio began as a joint venture between a number of distinct creative figures in the entertainment industry and media landscape, including Steve Jobs, who was known for his ability to buck conventional wisdom. Pixar was a pioneer of 3D animation technology, and without it, Hollywood as we know it in all its CGI-animated glory may not have existed. Under the stewardship of John Lasseter, since Toy Story’s (1995) release, the studio experienced a decade and a half of commercial and critical acclaim. Their titles have been noted as some of the greatest animated films of all time, and are widely celebrated for their emotional core and themes regarding the human condition. More importantly, since its founding, the studio has had an endless passion for creating novel and original story concepts, most of which were allegedly brainstormed at a lunch meeting in 1994.

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Elio’s official trailer has just been released by Pixar and overall impressions are initially very positive. The story centers around a quirky, fish-out-of-water kid named Elio, who just so happens to have a love of all things alien. Elio gets to live out his dream when he’s suddenly abducted by extraterrestrials. Soon after, he meets an unlikely outer space friend: Glorden. It looks like a sweet, fun romp with an emotional core dedicated to children who struggle to fit into societal norms. In other words, a classic Pixar outing. At a glance, things seem to be going swimmingly for a studio well-regarded for its modern classics, but after a closer look at the comments section, a number of critical voices begin to emerge. Fans are worried that Pixar may be in danger of losing their way:

“We all need to go out and support Elio when it releases! We need to support original Pixar movies now more than ever. Otherwise, the future could be a lot more sequels.” – @GFettJake

The top comment on the video with over seven thousand likes continues to affirm this opinion:

“I am already telling you. WE MUST SUPPORT ORIGINAL ANIMATED SERIES AND FILMS.” – @TinyRiver97

It is certainly not a criticism that is solely laid at Pixar’s door. Hollywood in general has come under fire over the past decade for being increasingly out of touch, solely focusing on the creation of interconnected cinematic universes, reboots of old properties, and easy sequel cash grabs that are guaranteed a returning audience. Sadly, Pixar is no less immune to the audience backlash that has resulted from this.

Disney-Pixar’s Sequel Phase Continues Unabated

How Many Toy Stories Can There Be Left To Tell?

Throughout the 2010s, Pixar has aligned itself more with Hollywood’s growing trend of reusing existing properties. The studio has certainly handled it with more grace and deftness than many other companies, but it slowly reduced its output of original animated films as a result. Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Monsters University, Finding Dory, Cars 3, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4; the list goes on and on. The majority of its 2010s line-up were all follow-ups or continuations of existing stories. Only four out of the eleven films released were original concepts. That is a drastic change of direction from Pixar’s creative vision during the 2000s. Disney’s acquisition of Pixar in 2006 may have something to do with this switch-up. In the same way that the House of Mouse was inspired by Pixar to create its own animated renaissance at Walt Disney Animation Studios with its release of Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled, and Moana, Pixar seems to have caught Disney’s obsession with reboots, remakes, and sequels.

Disney is more focused than ever on the profitability of movies in an ever-changing media landscape. It has become more well-known for its endless slew of live-action remakes, than investing in the very animated films that made the company so famous in the first place. Putting the hard work of thousands of CGI artists aside, let’s not pretend that these films are anything less than a calculated financial decision to get audiences in seats and turn a profit. Most of these live-action remakes range from fairly good to terrible, with films like Dumbo (2019) cratering to a 46% Rotten Tomatoes rating. However, the production of these reboots has only sped up, and it’s primarily because they’re all whopping financial successes. Audiences are receiving nostalgia-baited films because, apparently, that’s what the public wants to watch.

Pixar fans, however, have often cherished the company’s ability to stand above the rest of the industry and think differently. So, to see it slide into a creative rut over the years was less than appealing. That’s not to say that Pixar’s sequel era was critically unsuccessful. Most of its projects in the 2010s were financial and critical hits. And to also give the company credit, Pixar didn’t simply ignore these concerns. In fact, at the start of the 2020s, Pixar released a steady run of original movies: Onward, Soul, Luca, Turning Red, and Elemental. It’s just extremely unfortunate that all these films were released during a time when theaters were suffering due to COVID-19. All of these films, bar Elemental, made a financial loss for Pixar. Disney was so unsure of Luca and Turning Red’s financial success that they released the productions on Disney+. The only film that has been a blockbuster hit has been a sequel, Inside Out 2, which raked in over one and a half billion at the box office.

Is Pixar’s Legacy Reliant On The Success Of Elio?

Or Are We Doomed To Watch Endless Sequels Forever And Ever?

In 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s quarterly earnings call that its animation divisions would be prioritizing sequels over original films in the coming years. So, for fans hoping that Pixar’s sequel ship is turning around, those expectations may not match the current thinking at Disney management.

As a result, pressure is mounting on Elio, not just to be a successful celebration of Pixar’s legacy in quality storytelling, but also to be a financial hit that could set up successive sequel films for Disney. If Elio fails to prove itself, Pixar may drift further away from the core values that led to its creation in the first place. The current 2020s line-up only includes one more original movie: Hoppers, to be released in 2026. The rest are all continuations, namely Toy Story 5, Coco 2, and Incredibles 3.

Pixar has always been a guiding light for original thinking in Hollywood. Fans should do all they can to support Elio when it releases later in theaters this year on June 20th. Or Pixar’s legacy of original filmmaking may be about to diminish even further.