This article is about the 2025 film. For the character with the same name, see Elio Solis.
- “Experience the adventure and find where you belong.”
- ―Tagline
Elio is a 2025 American computer-animated science fiction adventure film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios. It is Pixar's 29th animated feature, and was released on June 20, 2025.
Synopsis[]
What if the thing you were searching for found you first? In Pixar Animation Studios' big-screen comedic misadventure, alien-obsessed Elio discovers the answer to that question when he is transported to the Communiverse, an interplanetary paradise that is home to intelligent life from galaxies far and wide. But when he's mistaken as Earth's leader, he'll have to form unexpected bonds, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and make sure he doesn't lose the opportunity to live out his ultimate dream.
Plot[]
After the death of his parents, young Elio Solis is orphaned and is taken in by his aunt Olga, an Air Force major who gave up her dreams of becoming an astronaut to raise her nephew. Elio wanders into a closed exhibit on the Voyager 1 spacecraft, where he is awed by the idea of discovering other life in space.
Years later, Elio wishes to be abducted by aliens believing he doesn't belong on Earth but rather in space. Every day, he lies on the beach waiting, but without result. After Elio puts up flyers about a ham radio club, a boy named Bryce brings his own radio to the beach one night in hopes of joining the "club". Elio calibrates the radio and tries to get Bryce to leave, but they are joined by Bryce's friend, Caleb. Caleb insists on looking at the radios, leading to a fight that injures Elio's left eye and leaves his ham radio damaged. This forces Elio to wear a patch over his eye for two weeks.
At Olga's workplace, Elio sneaks into an emergency meeting where conspiracy theorist Gunther Melmac claims to have found evidence of aliens responding to Voyager, suggesting they send a message back, but is dismissed by Olga and her colleagues. Elio uses Melmac's device to send his message, causing a power outage at the military base, nearly costing Olga her job. Elio doesn't seem to care that he did something wrong but is only excited about the arrival of the aliens. To get him to snap out of his alien obsession, she tells him firmly there are no aliens out there and he belongs here on Earth with his family. Unfortunately, Elio tells her out of hurt and anger that they are not family. Angered by Elio's actions and to set him straight, Olga decides to send him to a youth camp, which he dreads, as Bryce and Caleb are also there.
At camp, Elio escapes from Bryce, Caleb, and two other bullies one night as they attempt to scare him. Back at the military base, Olga receives strange outer space messages in response to Elio. Just as Elio faces a beating, an alien ship arrives and abducts him. Inside the spaceship, he meets Ooooo, a liquid supercomputer, and is welcomed to the Communiverse where aliens share knowledge and technology from their worlds. Ambassadors Helix, Questa, and Tegmen mistakenly declare him a candidate for ambassador, under the assumption that he is Earth's leader who created the Voyager spacecraft. Before Elio can clarify, they attend an emergency meeting with Lord Grigon, a Hylurgian warlord who demands to be made an ambassador. After Grigon threatens to take the Communiverse by force, the ambassadors plan to return Elio to Earth for his safety. However, he chooses to negotiate with Grigon for immediate induction as an ambassador. Ooooo creates a clone of Elio to take his place back on Earth. Olga, enraged by the bullying her nephew faced, brings Other Elio home from camp after hearing about the prior fight.
Meanwhile in Hylurg, Elio attempts to negotiate with Grigon, using notes he had compiled from a Universal User's Manual's advice. Elio unintentionally angers Grigon by implying that he is a bad father, and is then imprisoned. While trying to escape, he comes across Grigon's son, Glordon, and decides to use him as a last-resort bargaining chip to get Grigon to leave the Communiverse alone. They head back to the Communiverse, and Grigon agrees to leave them in peace in exchange for Glordon's safe return.
While Grigon is busy preparing his son's battle suit, called a carapace, Elio and Glordon explore the Communiverse for fun. They confide in each other; Elio feels alone and misunderstood by his aunt, while Glordon resists becoming a war machine like his father. Elio devises a cloning plan to keep them together. He puts the real Glordon on an escape shuttle and gives Grigon the fake one.
Back on Earth, Olga suspects that the clone is not her real nephew. She takes notes on his behavior, reads books on alien abductions, and finally attempts to look at one of the clone's hairs under a microscope. The hair escapes her grasp and returns to the clone, leading Olga to peel back his eye patch, revealing that there is no eye underneath, the clone agrees to tell the truth.
Grigon quickly recognizes Glordon's clone as fake since he knows his son and uses Questa's mind-reading powers to locate the real Glordon but also reveals who Elio really is. Grigon sends troops to find his son, meanwhile, Glordon accidentally activates the shuttle, heading toward Earth. Questa is saddened by Elio's deception, and when Grigon fails to locate Glordon, she returns Elio home despite his objections while the rest of the Communiverse is taken captive.
Back home, Elio is devastated but soon spots his aunt on the beach looking for him with Other Elio. After reconciling with Olga, who confirms his identity through his recovered eye injury, they head to the military base, where Elio's shuttle has been contained. Now that he is unneeded, Other Elio takes advantage of his decomposition process to distract the military, sacrificing himself while Elio and Olga sneak into the base to find Glordon dying in the shuttle. They attempt to return to the Communiverse, but space debris obstructs their path. When Olga states that they could reach someone who has a ham radio, Elio calls Bryce, and the two reconcile before Bryce passes them over to Melmac. Melmac informs them of the velocities and positions of the space debris, helping them dodge. Once the shuttle is out of Melmac's range, ham operators from around the world help the pair complete their journey.
Reaching the Communiverse, they return Glordon to his father, who rips his suit open to swaddle him, saving his life. Grigon apologizes to his son and the ambassadors, while Elio is welcomed back into the Communiverse. However, Elio has come to accept Olga as his family and Earth as his home. Determined to give the world a chance, he declines becoming an ambassador, but states that he will someday before bidding everyone goodbye. Questa reminds him he is never alone before sending him and Olga home.
In a mid-credits scene, Elio and Bryce work together to use the ham radio to contact Glordon.
In a post-credits scene, a lizard (Tom)[1] is shown hitting a lizard emoji repeatedly on a cellphone before it is revealed to be a teaser for Hoppers.
Voice cast[]
- Yonas Kibreab as Elio Solis and Other Elio
- Zoë Saldaña as Olga Solis
- Remy Edgerly as Glordon and Other Glordon
- Brandon Moon as Ambassador Helix
- Brad Garrett as Lord Grigon
- Jameela Jamil as Ambassador Questa
- Dylan Gilmer as Bryce
- Jake Getman as Caleb
- Matthias Schweighöfer as Ambassador Tegmen
- Ana de la Reugera as Ambassador Turais
- Atsuko Okatsuka as Ambassador Naos
- Shirley Henderson as Ooooo
- Naomi Watanabe as Ambassador Auva
- Brendan Hunt as Gunther Melmac
- Anissa Borrego as Ambassador Mira
- Shelby Young as Diplo Ship
- Bob Peterson as Universal User's Manual
- Kate Mulgrew as Museum Exhibit Narrator
- Tamara Tunie as Colonel Markwell
Additional voices[]
- Evan Agos
- Izz Quedy B Akhirudin
- Jesse Berry
- Trinity Jo-li Bliss
- David W. Collins
- Terri Douglas
- Chris Edgerly
- Oscar Eisenbise
- Adam Faison
- Lexi Fontaine
- Kendra Fountain
- Kellen Goff
- Leah Mei Gold
- Krysta Gonzales
- Jake Green
- Noel Hayase
- Jason Kaye
- Kevin Keys
- Andrew Kishino
- Uplaksh Kochhar
- Jennie Kwan
- Brian Larsen
- Scott Menville
- Andrew Morgado
- Abdoulaye N'gom
- Bob Peterson
- Trong Phuc
- Claudia Razzi
- Alejandra Reynoso
- Andrew Rivas
- Zeno Robinson
- Angela Sarafyan
- Michael Schwalbe
- Madeline Sharafian
- Domee Shi
- Janellen Steininger
- Tara Strong
- Richard Tatum
- Elias Toufexis
- Arianna Villavicencio
- Kari Wahlgren
- Evan Whitten
- Michelle Wong
- Matthew Wood
- Shelby Young
- Joe Zieja as Headmaster Truman
Archival recordings of Dr. Carl Sagan is used throughout the film.
Production[]
The film was announced on September 9, 2022, during the D23 Expo, with Adrian Molina set to write and direct. Yonas Kibreab and America Ferrera were also announced to voice the leading roles of Elio and his mother Olga Solis, respectively.[2]
On August 9, 2024, during the Disney D23 fan event, Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian were announced as the new directors, replacing Molina. Molina, however, is reportedly retaining his director credit nevertheless because of the amount of work he directed that is being kept in the film. Pete Docter also revealed that Ferrera had dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, with Zoë Saldaña taking over the character of Olga, who is now being reworked as Elio's aunt.[3]
Release[]
Elio was originally scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States on March 1, 2024 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures[4], but was delayed to June 13, 2025 because of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[5] According to Pete Docter, the film's delay was also related to the leadership change on the film as well as other project at Pixar. On February 14, 2025, it was delayed to one week later to avoid competition with the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon.[6]
The first teaser trailer for the film was released on June 13, 2023.[7] A second teaser trailer was released on November 21, 2024.[8] The official trailer was released on March 19, 2025.[9]
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the fifth Pixar film of the 2020s to be produced in a 2:39:1 aspect ratio after Onward, Soul, Lightyear, and Inside Out 2.
- It is also the ninth Disney animated film of the 2020s to be produced in a 2:39:1 aspect ratio after Onward, Soul, Raya and the Last Dragon, Ron's Gone Wrong, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Lightyear, Strange World, and Inside Out 2.
- This film was originally going to be produced in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which would've been fourth Pixar film of the 2020s as well as the fifth Disney animated film of the 2020s to be produced after Luca, Encanto, Turning Red, and Elemental, but it was presented in 2.39:1 aspect ratio during the 2024 Disney D23 fan event, and was confirmed to be that ratio when the first trailer dropped, making it the first Pixar film to change aspect ratios during production.
- Elio Solis was originally intended to be openly gay, but the scenes showing this were cut in production.[10] This would have made Elio the fifth Disney film with an LGBTQ character, the previous one being Strange World.
- This is similar to what happened with Inside Out 2, as Riley Andersen was originally meant to be bisexual, but the higher-ups at Pixar forced the studio to change it.
- This is the second Pixar movie to not receive LEGO sets. The first being Elemental.
- This film marks Brad Garrett's first role in a Pixar film since 2016's Finding Dory.
- The bunny from the SparkShorts film Burrow makes a cameo appearance as Elio Solis' phone case. However, in the final version, the bunny only appeared in the sunscreen bottle when Elio makes a crop sign on the beach, wanting to get abducted by aliens.
- This is the third Pixar movie to fall in the science fiction and space opera genres after WALL-E and Lightyear.
- This is also the first Pixar full-length film to have sapient aliens.
- The film utilizes a similar art style to anime, Bao, Luca, and Turning Red.
- This is also the second Pixar feature film to be directed by Domee Shi, after Turning Red.
- This is also the third Pixar film to be directed by a woman, after Brave and Turning Red.
- This is also the first ever Pixar film in history to have three directors instead of either one or two.
- Due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, this film beats Cars as both the longest-advertised Pixar and Disney film in history (due to an unexpected two-year gap between its first trailer and its official release date).
- Thus, it is also the second longest-advertised animated film in history behind Universal/Illumination's Minions: The Rise of Gru.
- This also marks the sixth time that a Pixar film has gotten its release date delayed to a later date, following Cars in 2006, Monsters University in 2013, The Good Dinosaur in 2015, Finding Dory in 2016, and Soul in 2020.
- Also due to its delay, it is one of a very few Pixar films to not be either teased or foreshadowed in its most immediate preceding film, as it was originally meant to be premiered next to Elemental, where it was first referenced, rather than next to Inside Out 2, its predecessor.
- The first teaser trailer's music is Christian artist Austin French's song "Good Feeling".
- The second teaser trailer's music is The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights".
- The official trailer's music is Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now".
- Between the first teaser trailer and the final film, there are many differences, which hint how much of the movie's original plot was changed or modified after the director switch.
- Originally, When Olga was receiving messages from the outer space, Elio called her via phone on the beach. She also called him "honey", which shows how she was originally going to be his mother instead of his aunt.
- Moments before being abducted, Elio was being hit by a coming wave rather than a beating from the camp bullies.
- Elio showed resistance when being abducted instead of joy.
- The Communiverse was originally called the "United Advanced Species of the Universe"
- Lord Grigon was actually one of the ambassadors at the Communiverse rather than a rejected candidate. While still aggressive, he was notably much less antagonistic overall, even speaking casually with Elio. He also doesn't mention eating his mother in the final film.
- This is the sixth Pixar film to not feature the voice of John Ratzenberger, after Soul, Luca, Turning Red, Lightyear, and Elemental.
- This is the first Pixar film since Monsters, Inc. to use outtakes. However, unlike the previous films, this one used actual vocal outtakes from the actors that were simply set to animation.
- Famed astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan's recording is used throughout the film. Two weeks prior, the film The Life of Chuck was released that also featured archival video of Sagan.
- This is the second Pixar film in a row to feature a main antagonist who reforms, as Inside Out 2's one, Anxiety, also reforms as Lord Grigon does; meaning the first time in Pixar history to meet this occurrence.
Easter eggs and references[]
- The Pizza Planet Truck can be found near Gunther Melmac's house.
- A113 can be seen under the catalog in the computer, and on Elio's backpack as Area 113.
- When Ooooo starts scanning Elio, several Luxo Balls are shown as a pattern on his underwear.
- Two easter eggs for Turning Red can be spotted:
- The image of the kitties in a box that Mei Lee opens is seen in black and white in Gunther Melmac's computer.
- A number 6 graffiti that was painted in the outside wall of the Lee Family's Temple is shown on a 303 portapotty.
- During the "Once in a Lifetime" montage, the Lifted poster can be seen in Elio's bedroom.
- Additionally, the UFO from the said short is shown on the UFO Sightings poster, alongside Axiom, Turnip, and a car-ifed UFO from the Cars Toons short "Unidentified Flying Mater".
- Also, the address for Montez Middle School is 1200, a reference to Pixar's address: 1200 Park Avenue.
- When Elio and Olga were dinning in their house, two objects from Margaret's fridge is shown on the kitchen corner.
- The Ernesto de la Cruz shirt can be seen hanging on the walls at Olga's office room.
- One of the female military people is named "Jessup", which is a reference to production designer Harley Jessup.
- Luxo, Sr. makes two appearances in Olga's office room, as well in Elio's bedroom.
- When Elio was recording a message to aliens, the TripleDent toothpaste is shown on a teacup.
- Elio has the X-99 rocket from Ducky and Bunny's Star Adventurer carnival stand in his bedroom.
- In a deleted scene called "Carver Legend", The Pickles' team logo is seen on a jar.
- When the Universal Users Manual talks to Elio, Andy's name that was written under Woody's boot appears.
- The Rabbit from the SparkShort Burrow appears twice:
- As Elio's cellphone case in the first teaser.
- On the Sunny Bunny sunscreen bottle when Elio was waiting for aliens to abduct him.
- The scene from A Bug's Life makes a appearence as one of the golden record's projection images.
- One of the golden record's projection images shows a real version of Tom, as a nod to Hoppers.
- Additionally, the film's script can be seen on the computer.
- One of the ham radio operators is "Giulia from Italia". This is a subtle reference to the film Luca.
References[]
- ↑ Pixar (August 5, 2025). "See Tom in Disney & Pixar's #Hoppers, arriving in theaters March 6, 2026. 🦎". Instagram.
- ↑ Pedersen, Erik; Grobar, Matt (September 9, 2022). "'Elio': Pixar Sets New Pic About 11-Year-Old Boy Beamed Into Space; America Ferrera Stars & 'Coco's Adrian Molina Directs". Deadline.
- ↑ Taylor, Drew (August 9, 2024). "Pixar Chief Pete Docter Talks New Elio Directors, Story and Casting Changes". TheWrap.
- ↑ Kit, Borys (September 9, 2022). "PIXAR announces new original movie...ELIO. "This is outer space like no one has ever seen before," says movie's producer. Elio is an 11-year old boy who doesn't fit in, makes 1st contact, is beamed up to a space city, becoming the unlikely ambassador from Earth. For spring 2024". Twitter.
- ↑ McClintock, Pamela (October 27, 2023). "Disney Delays 'Snow White' and 'Elio' a Year, Removes Jonathan Majors' 'Magazine Dreams' From Calendar". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 14, 2025). "'Elio' Going Later This Summer: Disney Release Date Changes". Deadline.
- ↑ Bankhurst, Adam (June 13, 2023). "Disney and Pixar's Elio Gets Its First Trailer and Poster". IGN.
- ↑ Pixar (November 21, 2024). "Elio | Teaser Trailer". YouTube.
- ↑ Pixar (March 19, 2025). "Elio | Official Trailer". YouTube.
- ↑ Gajewski, Ryan (June 30, 2025). "Inside 'Elio's' "Catastrophic" Path: America Ferrera's Exit, Director Change and Erasure of Queer Themes". The Hollywood Reporter.
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