In the last half a decade, Pixar, a studio known for its originality, has found their biggest box office hits in its sequels (I’m looking at you Inside Out 2). To be fair, their original films like Onward, Soul, and Turning Red were all hampered by pandemic restrictions on cinema going. Which is a real pity because they were all incredible pieces of animated cinema that begged to be seen on the big screen. Now, free of the restrictions of Covid, Pixar has released its first original feature in a long time. And it’s a great one. Full of heart, exquisite animation, and a cracking adventure, Elio is Pixar at its very best. 

​

Elio, an underdog with an active imagination, finds himself inadvertently beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide. Mistakenly identified as Earth's ambassador to the rest of the universe, he starts to form new bonds with eccentric aliens while discovering who he's truly meant to be.

​

The beating heart of Pixar has always been to hit you deep in the feels and not really in a way that’s obvious or overly sentimental. It’s our lives and relationships we recognize brought into this world through animation; the illusion of life. And this is where Elio really works - it perfectly captures the sense of being alone, the odd one out in Elio and his alien pal Glordon, but also the other side of the coin as it explores the mixture of pressure, guilt, and joy you feel as a parent. It’s pure Pixar. 

​

This is all framed by a rip-roaring, fantastical adventure into space with gorgeously rendered set pieces and alien worlds. There is a plethora of alien creatures with all truly unique designs which the Pixar animators must have delighted in designing. As well as the Pixar life lessons, the film manages to induce an awe of exploration and out of space in particular. For those budding astronauts in the audience, this will be an awe inspiring adventure. There are a couple of scenes that may have youngsters a little anxious, but on the whole this is a film for the whole family. 

​

Original sci-fi adventure Disney animated films like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and Strange World have often struggled at the box office if not, in the case of Atlantis and Treasure Planet, to then gain a cult following long after hitting the silver screen. Here’s hoping that audiences will head out to see such an original feature like Elio and that it will be the exception to the rule. 

​

Full of heart, exquisite animation, and a cracking adventure, Elio is Pixar at its very best.