Pixar Tried To Put 'Queer Themes' In Movie About 11-Year-Old Boy, And It Flopped

Disney-owned Pixar Animation Studios is in absolute free fall, like most of the rest of the entertainment industry. And it's easy, thanks to a new report on its latest release and shocking financial disaster, "Elio," to see why.

"Elio" just hit theaters in June and immediately became arguably Pixar's biggest-ever flop. After years of box office and critical success stories with legendary films like "Toy Story," "The Incredibles," "Monster's Inc.," "Up," "Finding Nemo" and many others, "Elio" grossed just $20 million in its opening weekend. Then it dropped 50 percent in its second weekend, giving it just a $41 million box office total through its first two weekends. 

For a movie with an estimated budget well-past $200 million, according to industry reports, that's an unmitigated disaster. And it's almost certainly because the once-proud animation studio has been overrun with progressive politics and infested with woke ideology.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. - A sign is posted in front of Pixar Animation Studios on May 21, 2024. Pixar Animation Studios is laying off roughly 14 percent of its workforce which amounts to an estimated 175 employees. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Pixar Movie An Example Of Devastation Caused By Left-Wing Politics In Hollywood

A lengthy new story from The Hollywood Reporter out this week detailed the behind-the-scenes issues with "Elio." And sure enough, turns out that Pixar creative employees initially wanted to make the 11-year-old boy at the center of the story "queer-coded."

What a surprise! Injecting "queer-coded" messages into a story targeted to kids. Who would have ever thought that wouldn't work?

Most of that "coding" work was removed from the finished product, but per the report, the damage was already done. Some of the more obvious examples included the titular character finding "trash on the beach" and turning it into" homemade apparel that included a pink tank top." Internal employees said that one scene with that tank top was his ‘trash-ion show.’" 

Wonder why Hollywood's crashing? There's a good example right there.

Sure enough, the original director, Adrian Molina, wanted to make Elio "queer-coded" because he's an openly gay filmmaker. Because identity is the only thing that matters in the modern entertainment industry, not quality storytelling. And the workers involved in making the movie admit as much. Though, accidentally, of course.

Suggestions that Elio is supposed to be gay included a "passion for environmentalism and fashion," as well as a "scene in Elio's bedroom with pictures suggesting a male crush." At 11 years old.

Unsurprisingly, when Pixar had a test screening of Molina's version, it was a disaster. At a full theater in Arizona, not one single person said they'd pay to see it in theaters. Molina then stepped away from the project, and his replacements reworked the storyline, apparently at Disney's suggestion.

One Pixar assistant editor, Sarah Ligatich, was quoted by The Hollywood Reporter as being "deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made." Because it's more important to include political activism than a film and story that people enjoy and respond to.

Another unnamed Pixar artist unwittingly revealed how bad "Elio" is and how fundamentally broken the industry has become. "Suddenly, you remove this big, key piece, which is all about identity, and Elio just becomes about totally nothing," the now-former artist said.

If the sexual orientation of an 11-year-old, his "identity," is his only character trait, you've written and produced a profound failure. This is what happens when identity politics, not character development, is the only priority for modern movies. 

"Elio," even with this storyline removed, is a commercial failure because it was a poorly-conceived story, executed poorly, that was plagued by production problems because of its activist filmmaker and crew. Pixar is going to keep releasing sequels that make money, like "Toy Story 5" or "The Incredibles 3," leeching off the success of a more-talented, less-political past. But if this is what the modern version of the animation studio has become, there's little hope of creating anything new to build upon for the future. 

As always, woke ruins everything.