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Pixar Reportedly Cut Queer Representation From Elio
Former employees say cuts led to a director switch-up and America Ferrera’s exit.
Several sources said they were disappointed by cuts that they felt negatively altered original (and openly gay) director Adrian Molina’s version of the animated story, which centers on an 11-year-old boy who is abducted after being mistaken as the intergalactic ambassador of Earth. Ultimately, Pixar announced in August 2024 that Turning Red ’s Domee Shi and Burrow ’s Madeline Sharafian would take over the project, noting that Molina had a “scheduling conflict.” Multiple creatives who had been working on the film left once the co-directors shared their first new cut, according to former Pixar assistant editor Sarah Ligatich, who offered feedback during the Elio production process as part of of the company’s internal LGBTQ group. In May 2024, Docter drew criticism for telling Bloomberg that the studio would be developing concepts with “clear mass appeal” that are “less a pursuit of any director’s catharsis and instead speak to a commonality of experience.” The remarks were widely taken as an indication that stories featuring diversity would be less of a priority at Pixar.
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