Pixar staff reportedly 'deeply saddened' LGBTQ elements were cut from studio's latest film, 'Elio'
According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), staff at the beloved animated film studio, which is owned by Disney, are upset that LGBTQ elements of the film were removed before its final theatrical release.
"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," an anonymous artist who worked on the film told the outlet.
Several Pixar staff members revealed to the outlet that "Elio" – the latest Pixar offering about a boy who is mistakenly beamed up from earth to interact with an intergalactic body of alien races – was heavily edited to be less overtly LGBTQ.
"According to multiple insiders who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, Elio was initially portrayed as a queer-coded character, reflecting original director Adrian Molina's identity as an openly gay filmmaker," the piece stated.
After Molina screened his cut of the film for Pixar leadership, the director exited the project. Rumors circulated that his post-screening conversation with Pixar COO Peter Docter "hurt" him. Molina was replaced by co-directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi.
Elements cut from the film were said to include Elio performing in his own makeshift fashion show, his love for environmentalism, as well as scenes suggesting he had a crush on another boy.
As the outlet noted, "this characterization gradually faded away throughout the production process as Elio became more masculine following feedback from leadership."
Despite these changes, the movie became the worst box office bomb in Pixar's history, earning only $20.8 million domestically during its opening weekend. The movie cost over $200 million to make and had been delayed for about a year, after it was initially slated for release in March 2024.
Sarah Ligatich, a member of Pixar's internal LGTBQ group PixPRIDE, told The Hollywood Reporter that she was "deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made."
She added that there was an "exodus of talent" after staff saw Sharafian and Domee's cut of the film, noting that the exit was "really indicative of how unhappy a lot of people were that they had changed and destroyed this beautiful work."
The anonymous artist characterized the changes to the film, telling THR, "Suddenly, you remove this big, key piece, which is all about identity, and Elio just becomes about totally nothing. The Elio that is in theaters right now is far worse than Adrian's best version of the original."
Reports of "Elio" having its LGBTQ themes sanded down follow Pixar courting controversy for LGBTQ themes in its other films. Pixar's 2022 film "Lightyear" featured a same-sex kiss that was reportedly removed and then reinstated for the film's theatrical version.
Pixar's 2020 film "Onward" features a female cyclops character who mentions her girlfriend at one point in the film.
The anonymous Pixar artist called out company executives for the cuts to "Elio," saying, "I'd love to ask Pete and the other Disney executives whether they thought the rewrite was worth it. Would they have lost this much money if they simply let Adrian [Molina] tell his story?"
Docter, Pixar and Disney did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
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