Pete Docter, Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer, explained why he axed a queer plot point in 2025’s Elio. And it’s hardly a convincing reason.
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The filmmaking veteran frankly proclaimed to the WSJ that Pixar needs to change gears. The animation studio once had unique renown thanks to its commitment to original animated films. Even when Disney and other animation giants were pumping out sequel after sequel, Pixar stood firm and delivered original movies.
Now, however, that’s going to change.
Pete Docter wants to seriously focus on movies with sequel potential while returning to universal subjects. “As time’s gone on, I realized my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody,” he said. And that’s why he axed a unique plot point from Elio, last year’s box office flop.
Elio was originally set to include a plot point reflecting director Adrian Molina’s experience growing up gay. What could have been a unique angle for Elio was undercut, leaving it by the box office wayside.
“We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy,” he said, spitting on the vast legacy of Pixar. Each and every Pixar film has been therapeutic for most of its audience. Watch any Pixar film, and tell me it isn’t someone’s comfort film for one reason or another.
Pete Docter To Pump Out Pixar Slop Instead Of Original Films
“If we’re going to just crank crap out, let’s shut the doors. I’d rather die trying to make something that we genuinely believe in,” he ironically continued. The man who robbed Elio of its only potentially interesting plot point and who wants Pixar to focus on sequels claims he wants to “believe” in the next film.
With a slew of sequels announced, in production, and soon to be released (Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Monsters, Inc.), Docter wants now to make more cash cows for Pixar to make their Disney overlords happier.
It’s unbelievable to think this man worked on Inside Out, Up, and Soul. Films brimming with therapeutic messaging and minimal sequel potential. Films that have become Pixar classics.
I am not looking forward to the next handful of years for Pixar.