The 2025 film underwent a major creative overhaul following a 2023 test screening.

Pixar boss reveals why it cut Elio’s LGBTQ storyline, says studio is making a movie, not ‘therapy’

The 2025 film underwent a major creative overhaul following a 2023 test screening.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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March 8, 2026 1:28 p.m. ET

Elio in Pixar's 2025 movie, 'Elio'. Credit:

- Pixar's chief creative officer explained why it cut LGBTQ+ themes out of 2025's *Elio.*

- The animated film underwent a major creative overhaul after a 2023 test screening.

- The inclusion of LGBTQ+ storylines and characters has historically been an uphill battle for Pixar creatives.

Pixar's chief creative officer, Pete Docter, has revealed why the studio axed a queer storyline originally written into last year's *Elio*.

The animated film's major creative overhaul included removing its LGBTQ+ themes because the Disney-owned studio did not want it to cover topics that kids had yet to discuss with their parents.

"We're making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy," Docter said in a new interview with the *The Wall Street Journal*.

The film, which follows a lonely boy who is beamed into outer space after being mistaken as the leader of Earth, had originally locked in director Adrian Molina, who based the story off his own childhood. But following a 2023 test screening, where viewers said they liked the movie but not enough to see it in theaters, the studio made big changes to it.

Pixar CCO Pete Docter; the titular character in 'Elio'.

Brianna Bryson/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty; Disney/Pixar

Molina exited the project, and Domee Shi (*Turning Red*) and Madeline Sharafian (*Burrow*) became the film's directors. All allusions to Elio's sexuality were cut, including a pink bicycle he owned and a scene in which he imagined raising a child with his male crush, a source told the *Journal.*

*Elio* ultimately opened to record-low numbers for Pixar, debuting to just $20.8 million domestically and $14 million overseas. In the end, the film earned $150 million worldwide — an impressive yield if not for the fact that it cost $150 million to produce, in addition to global marketing fees. Per the *Journal*, Disney lost more than $100 million making the movie.

Pixar creatives and staffers have fought an uphill battle when it comes to spotlighting LGBTQ+ characters and queer themes in its projects. While some Disney films have featured brief references to LGBTQ+ characters, they are usually minor or background roles. So far, the only LGBTQ-focused work released from Pixar is the short film *Out*, which premiered on the Disney+ streaming platform.

Pixar's 'Out' team on short's 'astonishing' impact: 'We're so hungry to see ourselves'

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In December 2024,* * learned that Pixar had dropped a storyline that would have featured a transgender character as part of the studio's first-ever long-form TV series, *Win or Lose*. The character remained in the show, but the plot point revolving around her gender was excised from the script, a change that included significantly cutting down her dialogue.

The team in Pixar's 'Win or Lose'.

At the time, a spokesperson for Disney said in a statement provided to EW, "When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline."

One month prior, reports emerged that the company had shelved an episode of *Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur* that featured a trans girl participating in school sports. Derrick Malik Johnson, a storyboard artist who worked on the series, connected the decision to the re-election of Republican candidate Donald Trump, writing in a now-deleted social media post, "One of the projects (episode) I worked on is getting shelved because of which party that won the recent election? It breaks my heart knowing this impactful and amazing [episode] is now about to be considered a lost media episode."

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Before that, in 2022, Pixar employees banded together to speak out against Disney's actions surrounding Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, also expressing disappointment in the company's approach to LGBTQ+ storylines.

Alisha Hawthorne and Kiko Hawthorne with their child in Pixar's 'Lightyear'.

"We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were," read a letter signed by "Leadership from the LGBTQIA+ Employees of Pixar & Their Allies."

The letter continued, "Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney's behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar. Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it."

Bob Chapek, Disney's CEO at the time, penned a response, apologizing to the company's LGBTQ+ employees and vowing to cease all political donations in the state of Florida. This was followed by the restoration of a same-sex kiss previously cut from the 2022 Pixar release *Lightyear*.

- Animated Movies

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