America Ferrera left Pixar’s ‘Elio’ after studio cut ‘queer themes’

Pixar’s latest animated feature was originally intended to include queer themes centered around its main character, but those elements were removed during production after test audiences showed no interest in seeing the movie in theaters.

Elio, released in June, opened with just $20.8 million domestically, marking the lowest opening weekend in Pixar’s history. The film follows an 11-year-old boy who is mistakenly taken to another planet and believed to be the ambassador for Earth. However, an earlier version of the story was intended to more closely reflect the identity of its original director, Adrian Molina, who is openly gay.

In the initial concept, the character Elio was described as “queer-coded,” with scenes showing a boy’s photo in his room suggesting a crush, and another moment where he proudly showed off clothing he made from trash, including a pink tank top, as part of what the movie team referred to as a “trash-ion show.” These ideas were meant to subtly reflect Molina’s own experience; however, they were later dropped, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.

In a 2023 test screening, no members of the audience said they would pay to see the film in theaters, even though some said they enjoyed it. After that screening, Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter viewed a cut of the movie, and Molina eventually left the project. The film was then handed over to directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi. It was delayed for over a year before its release.

America Ferrera was originally intended to play the role of Olga, Elio's mother, in the film, but reportedly left the project due to scheduling conflicts. However, THR reported that Ferrera had already recorded dialogue for the role but exited the project due to Molina's departure, as well as having to rerecord lines as the script changed.

“I was deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made,” said former Pixar assistant editor Sarah Ligatich, who gave feedback during production and is a member of PixPRIDE, the studio’s internal LGBT group. “The exodus of talent after that cut was really indicative of how unhappy a lot of people were that they had changed and destroyed this beautiful work.”

An anonymous artist who worked on the film said, “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.”

This is not the first time Disney’s Pixar has pulled back LGBT content from its children’s projects. In December 2024, it was reported that a transgender storyline was cut from Pixar’s series Win or Lose. At the time, a Disney spokesperson said the company understood that “parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms.”