Pixar explain dropping LGBTQ themes of Elio
Pixar's chief creative officer Peter Docter has explained why Elio was reworked to remove LGBTQ themes from the story.
Pixar's Peter Docter has explained why Elio was reworked to remove LGBTQ themes from the story.
The animated movie tells the story of a lonely boy who is sent into outer space after being mistakenly taken for the leader of Earth but details were reworked following a response to a test screening, even though more than half of its animation was complete.
Director Adrian Molina departed the project, and Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi took over to oversee a number of changes, including taking out elements that suggested Elio was gay, reportedly including a pink bicycle and scenes where Elio imagined raising a child with his male crush.
And now Pete, who is Pixar's chief creative officer, has explained the studio didn't want parents to feel forced into having conversations with their children that they weren't ready to have.
He told the Wall Street Journal: “We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy."
Both Elio and 2023's Elemental had disappointing performances at the box office, but Pete is hopeful fortunes will change with upcoming new release Hoppers.
He said: “As time’s gone on, I realised my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody."
And despite mounting financial pressure, he believes Pixar is still "useful" to Disney and the wider world if it continues to focus on simply making great movies.
He said: “If we’re going to just crank c*** out, let’s shut the doors. I’d rather die trying to make something that we genuinely believe in.”
The Monsters, Inc. director admitted he "probably" should have taken a different approach to managing Pixar's filmmakers in his early years in the job.
He said: “I got into animation because it’s easier to draw people than talk to them...
"[In the beginning] I probably overindexed on, ‘Do whatever you want.’ ”
Pete's confirmation comes after a former Pixar artist who worked on Elio previously revealed the queer themes had quietly been dropped from the movie.
The source told The Hollywood Reporter: "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.”
