Pixar’s latest film, Elio, was a commercial failure that left the studio in shock. Plagued by behind-the-scenes controversies, the film struggled to recapture the magic that once defined Pixar.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the main character of the film, Elio, was initially going to be depicted as queer, but the studio’s leadership was hesitant to include LGBT themes, leading to the departure of the movie’s original director.

One former Pixar staffer said “[The character] Elio was just so cute and so much fun and had so much personality, and now he feels much more generic to me.” A different former Pixar artist said removing his queer identity made the movie “about totally nothing” and “far worse than the original.”

Former Pixar employee Sarah Ligatich, who was a member of a company LGBT group called PixPRIDE, claimed there was an “exodus of talent after the cut” that indicated “how unhappy a lot of people were that they had changed and destroyed this beautiful work.” Notably, another source denied that this “exodus” happened.

Nevertheless, the failure of Elio had nothing to do with the lack of queer representation, but because Pixar has lost the trust of audiences. The studio’s decline in quality is almost undeniable. In the early 2000s, Pixar was the preeminent animation studio in Hollywood, producing classics such as Finding Nemo, Cars, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and WALL-E. These films were huge successes and are still often considered among the best children’s films ever made. 

While every new Pixar movie used to be a cultural phenomenon, many of the recent releases have been lackluster. Films such as Turning Red and Lightyear were almost embarrassing for the once-thriving studio. Moreover, parents want to be able to take their kids to a movie that is child appropriate, but parent company Disney has recently had a habit of forcing LGBT storylines into its animated films.

If Pixar wants to return to its former heights, it needs to stop focusing on culture war politics and return to its storytelling roots. The fact that those quoted by the Hollywood Reporter are merely former employees could be a good sign.