Pixar’s ‘Elio’ Leaves Staff Upset Over LGBTQ Cuts

Pixar’s latest movie, Elio, is making noise but not for the right reasons. It’s not the quirky plot or the adorable space aliens. It’s not even the fact that the film bombed at the box office. What really has people talking is what didn’t make it to the screen.

Inside Pixar, plenty of artists and crew are feeling pretty bruised about what happened behind the scenes. The story comes from The Hollywood Reporter, and if you read between the lines, you’ll see it’s not just about a few missing scenes. It’s about what Elio could have been.

What Did Pixar Actually Remove From Elio?

When Pixar started building Elio, the vision was fresh. The film’s original director, Adrian Molina, was open about telling a story that showed more than aliens and spaceships. Elio, the main character, was meant to be queer-coded. He had style. He made his own fashion show. He cared about the planet. He even had a crush on another boy.

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But along the way, that version started to shrink. Staff told THR that leadership didn’t want it too obvious. They wanted Elio to feel more traditionally “masculine.” Scenes disappeared. The fashion show? Gone. The crush? Cut. The environmental passion? Faded into the background.

Once Molina showed his cut to big bosses, things changed fast. Insiders say a tough meeting with Pixar’s COO Peter Docter pushed Molina to leave. When he walked, so did a big piece of Elio’s heart.

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Co-directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi stepped in. But what came out in theaters this year is not the same movie Pixar’s artists signed up for.

How Did The Staff Really Feel?

Inside the studio, it didn’t sit right. One anonymous artist said stripping Elio’s identity turned the movie into “nothing.” That’s harsh but honest. Sarah Ligatich from Pixar’s own LGBTQ group PixPRIDE spoke up too. She called the changes “deeply saddening.”

She said people left after seeing what was left of the story. She didn’t hold back. She said it showed just how frustrated people were that something beautiful got stripped down.

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It’s not the first time Pixar’s had pushback on queer representation. Lightyear made headlines for its same-sex kiss. The studio cut it, then put it back in. Onward dropped a single line about a cyclops girlfriend. Little moments here and there, but rarely a character who really carried it.

Elio could’ve changed that. But the gamble never paid off. The final version cost more than $200 million to make. Opening weekend? Barely $20 million. For Pixar, that’s unheard of.

Inside Pixar, people are asking the same question fans are asking now. Would it really have been worse to let Molina tell his story? The anonymous artist didn’t mince words. They said the cut version feels empty. That maybe if Elio had stayed true to who he was, people would’ve cared more.

So far, Disney hasn’t said much. Pete Docter hasn’t said anything either. But the people who worked on Elio aren’t hiding how they feel. They wanted the audience to see themselves in Elio — messy, bright, different. Instead, they’re watching another space adventure with a hero who feels like a safer bet for the bosses.

Pixar’s best films always made space for characters who felt different. It’s why people love Inside Out. Or Up. Or Coco. But when you cut away what makes a story personal, sometimes you lose the spark too.

That’s what the artists are saying now. And if you look at how Elio did at the box office, maybe they’re right.