Pixar’s big 2025 movie, Elio, might have gotten an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, but it was the animation company’s biggest theatrical flop to date. It was also a movie that was heavily retooled during production to remove elements that indicated its lead character might be gay, according to a June 2026 The Hollywood Reporter article.
In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter addressed the company’s recent setbacks in the lead-up to the release of its new movie Hoppers. In regards to the Elio changes, as well as the decision to remove a transgender storyline from the animated series Win or Lose:
“Docter said Pixar found some parents didn’t want entertainment to force them to have a conversation they weren’t ready for with their children. ‘We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy,’ he said.”
Docter also revealed that why, after years of encouraging directors to focus on telling autobiographically-driven stories like Turning Red, Luca, and Elemental, Pixar’s mandate had changed to focus more on “universally relatable” concepts: “As time’s gone on, I realized my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody.”
Elio, post-retooling, was a commercial flop, but Turning Red and Luca were released directly to Disney+ for streaming and had no chance to prove their box office potential, while the wide-released Elemental made a “small profit,” per the Journal. Hoppers, the newest release from Pixar, did open at number one at the box office this weekend, raking in $46 million at the box office. The environmentally-themed movie featured a new track by SZA, “Save the Day.”
