Pete Docter Says Pixar Cut “Elio” LGBTQ+ Themes Because We’re Making a Movie, Not Hundreds of Millions of Dollars of Therapy
Disney Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter shared the thought process behind removing LGBTQ+ themes from the 2025 film “Elio,” which reportedly featured several details alluding to the titular character Elio’s queerness before they were ultimately removed after test screenings.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Docter explained the rationale behind the film’s reworking, expressing hesitation in placing the onus on parents to have difficult conversations with their children that they may not be ready for. Docter said, “We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy.” He went on to say, “As time’s gone on, I realized my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody.”
The CG-animated film, which follows 11-year-old Elio, a space-obsessed boy who wishes to be abducted by aliens, only to be abducted and taken on a grand intergalactic adventure rife with aliens and action, opened to disappointing box office numbers in June 2025. The film received an Oscar nod for Best Animated Feature, but was a certified box office bomb, grossing only $20 million during its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, and only raking in a total of $154 million worldwide on an estimated budget of $150 million.
Not Everyone Was Onboard with the Changes
The reworking led to the departure of several key members of the production, including the film’s director, Adrian Molina, who is openly gay, along with star America Ferrera and Assistant Editor Sarah Ligatich. “Turning Red” director Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian were ultimately brought on to finish the project.
Ligatich, who was also a member of Pixar’s LGBTQ+ group, PixPRIDE, said of the changes, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “I was deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made. The exodus of talent after that (original) cut was really indicative of how unhappy a lot of people were that they had changed and destroyed this beautiful work.”
Disney’s History With LGBTQ+ Representation
This is far from the first time that Disney and Pixar have removed queer themes from their properties. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a queer storyline was reportedly also removed from 2021’s “Luca” as well as a transgender character being removed from the Disney+ 2025 series “Win or Lose.”
The 2022 film “Lightyear”, however, kept its same-sex relationship, which led to its banning in several territories, including countries in the Middle East, as well as criticism from U.S. conservatives. The film’s poor numbers may have contributed to Docter’s decision to remove LGBTQ+ elements from future projects. These decisions have caused a rift within Pixar, with an anonymous former artist expressing the sentiment that the changes ruined the final film, stating in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “Suddenly, you remove this big, key piece, which is all about identity, and Elio just becomes about totally nothing.”
Queer Representation in Children’s Media
Despite setbacks, queer representation has been gaining traction in children’s media over the last decade. Several television shows aimed at children have featured positive queer representation and have seen overwhelming success. These shows include Nickelodeon’s “The Legend of Korra,” Cartoon Network’s “Steven Universe” and “Adventure Time,” and Netflix’s “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.”
With political and social tensions running high in the United States, it seems that LGBTQ+ representation in children’s media will continue to be a hot-button issue as creators wrestle with both the ethics and financial feasibility of queer stories in kids’ media. Executives like Docter are burdened with the decision to make progressive changes or try to cast the widest net possible, and not everyone is going to be on the same page.
