Recent information reveals that Disney/Pixar’s new movie “Elio” initially intended for its main character, an 11-year-old boy, to have strong hints of homosexuality.

The Hollywood Reporter indicates that the central character “Elio” was inspired by the film’s original director, Adrian Molina, who is an openly gay filmmaker. Molina stated that while the story wasn’t going to focus on coming out due to the character’s young age, there were plans to subtly suggest his homosexuality: 

Insiders share that Elio was originally portrayed with queer undertones, reflecting director Adrian Molina’s identity as an openly gay creator. Although Molina did not plan to make it a coming out narrative because of the character’s age, this depiction diminished over time. Feedback from executives led to Elio’s character evolving into a more traditionally masculine form during the production process.

THR reported that Elio would have a heavy interest in fashion and sport pictures of “male crushes” in his bedroom: 

Gone were not only such direct examples of his passion for environmentalism and fashion, but also a scene in Elio’s bedroom with pictures suggesting a male crush. Hints at the trash fashion remain in the released film, with the boy wearing a cape decorated with discarded cutlery and soda can tabs, although without any explanation for the unusual attire.

As THR reported, the film was not very popular from the get-go, even failing to impress test audiences who unanimously noted they wouldn’t see the movie in theaters. When Molina showed the movie to Pixar’s leadership, they were likewise unimpressed, and Molina would soon exit the project. The film would then undergo heavy rewrites, and Pixar’s LGBT advocates seemed very disappointed by the changes: 

“I was deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made,” says former Pixar assistant editor Sarah Ligatich, who provided feedback during production as a member of the company’s internal LGBTQ group PixPRIDE.

An interesting fact that THR states is that many people left the project after the first screening of the film after the changes. This tells you that Pixar is infected with activists to a large degree. Once they began “sanding down” the moments that showed the child’s sexuality, Pixar employees were apparently angry. 

As I reported last week, Elio had the worst opening in Pixar history, opening to a $21 million domestic and $14 million foreign box office. With a production cost of $150 million, this is a massive blow to both Pixar and Disney. 

The film had many issues up front, such as abandoning known filmmaking standards like the rule of thirds, and utilizing animation and art styles that are unoriginal and usually reserved for children’s television shows. It reeks of inexperience and originality, which only makes it clear that Pixar’s talent pool dried up when Disney put emphasis on DEI standards. 

The more we learn about his film, the more it’s clear that it deserved to bomb. While it’s great that Disney’s executives destroyed its queer-centric approach to character development, it’s Disney that set the stage for this kind of disaster to happen in the first place.