Are film studios finally getting the message that audiences aren’t interested in having radical gender ideology shoved in their kids’ faces? It’s a question worth asking following the Monday release of a Hollywood Reporter exposé on Pixar’s latest feature, Elio.
In the article, author Ryan Gajewski pulls back the curtain on the contentious filmmaking process of the Disney-owned studio’s most recent box office flop. While touching on various creative staffing changes, the most notable part of the piece is the disclosure that the movie was allegedly intended to make the title character “queer-coded.”
“According to multiple insiders who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, Elio was initially portrayed as a queer-coded character, reflecting original director Adrian Molina’s identity as an openly gay filmmaker,” the report reads. “Other sources say that Molina did not intend the film to be a coming out story, as the character is 11. But either way, this characterization gradually faded away throughout the production process as Elio became more masculine following feedback from leadership.”
According to Gajewski, the film was originally slated to include scenes showcasing Elio’s “passion for environmentalism and fashion,” as well as a shot “in Elio’s bedroom with pictures suggesting a male crush.” The author further detailed a reported early test screening of the movie in summer 2023, in which viewers said they would not go see the feature in theaters.
“Although viewers expressed how much they enjoyed the movie, they were also asked how many of them would see it in a theater, and not a single hand was raised, according to a source with knowledge of the event. This sounded alarm bells for studio brass,” Gajewski wrote. “The changes to Elio were clear to one former Pixar artist who worked on the film and asked to remain anonymous: ‘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.’”
Despite the overhaul, Elio performed miserably on its opening weekend, generating $20.8 million domestically and $14 million overseas. That’s “a record-low opening for the storied animation studio,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
What this entire episode demonstrates is that while Hollywood creatives may enjoy having LGBT insanity injected into every new entertainment project, many parents do not. The average mom and dad are more interested in taking their children to a fun, adventure-filled film that’s void of the adult themes favored by predominantly left-wing creators.
Pixar’s reported axing of Elio’s “woke” elements indicates that some studio executives are slowly coming to this realization. Whether they ultimately reject such ideas entirely in future projects, however, remains to be seen.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood