Кадр з мультфільму «Еліо» / Pixar
It turns out that the cartoon «Elio», which marked the worst debut in Pixar’s history, had a rather problematic production history — according to by THR’s investigationIts almost finished version was rewritten and reshot, significantly exceeding the production budget, just to remove the queer character.
Initially, director and animator Adrian Molina, known for the hit film «Coco», was creating something much more original and personal than what was eventually released in theaters. In fact, the project was destroyed by studio executives from within, who panicked after «Lightyear» and remained wary of the «queer representation» that the creative team was fighting for, pushing them toward the «masculinization» of Elio.
Numerous THR sources confirm what has long been said in the leaks: initially, «Elio» featured an 11-year-old protagonist with «queer coding» — that is, his identity was only reminded by subtle visual cues (posters, bedroom details), indicating a crush on a person of the same sex. But this vision gradually disappeared.
«During the production of the first version of the movie, it was pretty clear that [studio executives] were constantly changing all the moments in the movie that hinted at Elio’s queerness,» said one former Pixar artist who worked on the project.
In fact, the problems of the cartoon could be seen from the first screenings, where the audience was asked whether they would pay to see the film in theaters — not a single hand was raised.
Molina left the project after a difficult conversation with Pixar CEO Pete Docter, and the cartoon received an updated version from Medlin Sharafian («Nora») and Domi Shea («Me — Panda»). The result was Frankensteinian: half from Molina, half from the vision of the studio and the new directors.
«Elio, which is currently playing in theaters, is much worse than the version of the original created by Adrian», — said a former Pixar employee. «I’d like to ask Pete and the other Disney executives if they thought the remake was worth it? Would they have lost so much money if they had just let Adrian tell his story?».
Here we come to the budget information. The official version of Disney and Pixar is — $150 million, while insiders have called twice that amount, which is confirmed by THR’s material, saying that the total figure for «has far exceeded $200 million». So far, Elio» has raised just over $70 million around the world.
It is worth noting that a similar story happened with the hit «Thoughts Inside Out 2», which Disney demanded to make it less «gay». Reports also showed that the studio fired animators before the premiere to avoid paying bonuses.