Did you know Pixar released a movie?
You couldn't be blamed if you didn't. Disney-Pixar's latest theatrical release, Elio, didn't get a lot of marketing, and there's probably a good reason for that. From all reports, the movie is terrible from top to bottom, and not just in the writing, but in the effort put forth on animating it as well.
Moreover, the film suffered the same fate many Disney movies do. According to Variety, the film had a wildly over-inflated budget and hardly got back a fraction of the cost in its opening weekend:
“Elio” has cratered in third place with $21 million from 3,750 theaters, ranking as the worst start in modern history for Pixar. Heading into the weekend, the otherworldly tale about a young boy who connects with aliens after getting mistaken for Earth’s intergalactic ambassador was aiming for $25 million to $30 million. The film, which cost $150 million to produce, added just $14 million overseas for a catastrophic global total of $35 million.
What went wrong?
You'd find a shorter answer by asking, "What didn't go wrong?"
For one, the character design is wholly unoriginal, and I mean that in a technical sense. Pixar adopted an art style called the "CalArts" style of character design, named after the California Institute of the Arts, where it originated. It's usually recognizable by its overly large mouth and often genderless design. Many children's shows now use this style of design, which is fine for some television-based cartoons, but when a major studio like Pixar adopts it, it obliterates the originality the company is known for. CalArts has so infected the animation scene that you almost can't escape it now, and many cartoons and movies are just sort of blending in together.
As you can see, Elio has adopted this art style, making its characters look boring, overly simplistic, and generic.
Can someone explain to me why the Cal-Arts style is a thing. It's absolutely hideous, and even Disney Pixar is into it. It's so boring and unimaginative. pic.twitter.com/aTRjbOmL61
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) June 23, 2025
The film also seems to abandon the rule of thirds in movies, keeping everything in the dead center most of the time. You might not notice this happening in film, but when you have things in the center during movies, it tends to make the shot boring and doesn't naturally cater to the eye to make things more balanced and give better dynamic compositions. Putting things in the center limits visual storytelling and especially in wider shots, confuses the viewer as to what it is they're supposed to be looking at. That's exactly what Elio's animators were guilty of doing.
Then there's the story.
Elio does something of a reverse Lilo & Stitch. Instead of an alien crash-landing on Earth and learning about the importance of family, Elio is willfully abducted by aliens who think he's Earth's leader, and from there, the film delves into so many different aspects that it feels stuffed to the gills and unfocused. The film wants to be a lot of things and, thanks to chasing so many rabbits, ends up catching none. It seems to be another Disney film that has its moments, but falls tremendously short of what the world has come to expect of Pixar.
Suffice to say, the entire film reeks of inexperience. The animation style seems overly simplistic and generic, both the visual storytelling and narrative seem amateurish, and it lacks that classic John Lasseter excellence that Pixar was built on.
Those days are likely done. Pixar went through the same exact DEI-ification that the rest of the company went through, resulting in inexperienced crews working on big-budget movies. Lasseter, Pixar's head and certified movie genius, seems to have taken a seat all the way in the back, and his usual demand for perfection has disappeared altogether.
Elio seems to be the end result of a lot of Disney's issues. They pushed out experience and talent and replaced them with identity politics and substandard skill.
It deserved to bomb.
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