Animation Chief Says Pixar Cut ‘Elio’ LGBTQ Themes Because “We’re Making a Movie, Not Hundreds of Millions of Dollars of Therapy”
Peter Doctor, chief creative officer of the Disney-owned company, told the Wall Street Journal, “…As time’s gone on, I realized my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody.”
Featured Images: via Animation Scoop (Disney/Pixar)
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Pixar’s chief creative officer, Peter Docter, said LGBTQ themes were cut from the animated film Elio because the company didn’t want to put parents in a position to have conversations they weren’t ready to discuss with their kids. “We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy,” Docter told WSJ.
Speaking to industry observation that Pixar has been shifting from original content to what the company deems more universal, the CCO added, “…As time’s gone on, I realized my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 2025 film had a lengthy rework. The story is about a lonely boy who is beamed into space, where he is mistaken for an ambassador from Earth, and forms an unlikely bond with extraterrestrials. Per THR, the main character of Elio was originally slated to be “portrayed as queer-coded,” a plot point that Deadline reports as reflecting the original director Adrian Molina’s experience growing up gay. Then a shift happened following a screening in 2023—while audiences liked the film, no one raised their hand to say they’d like to see it in a movie theater.
A former Pixar artist told THR anonymously, “It was pretty clear through the production of the first version of the film that [studio leaders] were constantly sanding down these moments in the film that alluded to Elio’s sexuality of being queer.”
The film was ultimately directed by storyboard artist Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, reportedly following a shake-up when Adrian Molina was removed from the picture and went on to co-direct Coco 2. Under the new direction and a big reworking, the film made a pronounced move, ironically, toward exploring the theme of “belonging.”
Ultimately, the film was deemed a box-office flop. As for Docter’s strategy to “make sure the films appeal to everybody,” clearly, this one didn’t hit the mark.
