In the past, whenever Disney has given us a central character whose parents die in the early stages of the film, they are either left to fend for themselves (perhaps with the help of a found family) or are left in the care of a less-than-desirable influence (like an evil stepparent). One of the things that separates the latest work from Pixar, Elio, from this formula is that when Elio’s parents die at the beginning of the story, he has a loving aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaña), who is trying desperately to raise him while maintaining her career in the Air Force, with the hope of one day becoming an astronaut—a career that may actually not be possible with young Elio (Yonas Kibreab) now in her life.
The production notes for Elio call the young lead character “a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession,” which is partially true. The part they’re leaving out is that Elio wants to be abducted by aliens and taken away because he feels like he doesn’t fit in anywhere and is unwanted, even by his patient aunt. He’s bullied, mocked, and doesn’t have any close friends, so he marches out to an open field or beach location and sets up lights and signs begging to be taken by beings from outer space. He’s inspired by the words of Carl Sagan when he discusses the possibility of life on other worlds, and it just so happens that a project that Sagan spearheaded—The Voyager Golden Record (sent out on Voyager 1 and 2) containing images and sounds of Earth—is picked up by aliens and a signal is bounced back to Earth containing some of these sounds and photos. Of course, no one believes this except Elio, who breaks into his aunt’s workplace and sends a message claiming he is the planet's leader and someone should come pick him up.
Shockingly, he gets results.
Soon, Elio is beamed up to the headquarters of an interplanetary group called the Communiverse, with representatives from hundreds of other galaxies, all of whom think our young hero is the official ambassador of Earth, which Elio is willing to accept. He even agrees to lead the negotiations with a warlord attempting to take over the Communiverse, Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett). While that doesn’t go well, Elio does stumble upon Grigon’s young son, Glordon (Remy Edgerly), and the two become fast friends because they are both outcasts among their people. Glordon doesn’t want to become a blood-thirsty warrior like his father but is too afraid to say anything, and the two cook up a scheme to broker peace between Grigon and the Communiverse by pretending Glordon is a bargaining chip.
Elio was originally conceived and directed by Adrian Molina (Coco), but when he left to work on Coco 2, Madeline Sharafian (also a co-screenwriter) and Domee Shi (who worked on the screenplays of Soul and Coco) were named co-directors. What they’ve put together is a type of coming-of-age story fueled by massive amounts of loneliness, which may not be what the kiddies are looking for in a sci-fi adventure animated film—but I was loving the slightly darker heart of Elio. There’s still plenty of action and humor to entice younger viewers, but in the best Pixar tradition, they never forget who is taking those kids to the movies.
Pixar takes its emotions seriously, even with lesser works like this. But even non-top-ten Pixar is better than most mainstream animated works being released today. And as family entertainment, I’d certainly rank Elio higher than The Minecraft Movie or the live-action Lilo & Stitch. This is a film that celebrates imagination, the tough job of making new friends, complex problem solving, and a kid’s struggle to feel like a part of something. It also loves the flashy outer space stuff as much as I do.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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