Elio

Elio is a 2025 American animated adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina, and written by Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones, from a story developed by Molina, Sharafian, Shi, and Cho, the film stars the voices of Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brandon Moon, Brad Garrett, and Jameela Jamil. It follows eleven-year-old Elio (Kibreab) who is mistaken for the intergalactic ambassador of Earth after being beamed up to the Communiverse by aliens for making contact, and must navigate a crisis that involves the warlord Grigon (Garrett), who is the father of the alien child Glordon (Edgerly) who Elio befriends.

Elio was conceived by Molina as a story about childhood and social isolation and was inspired by growing up on a military base and his eventual enrollment at the California Institute of the Arts. The film was officially announced in September 2022, with Molina attached to direct. Molina later left the project due to creative differences and moved to work on Coco 2 (2029). In August 2024, it was announced that Shi and Sharafian would replace him as lead directors. The production team devised a process, titled the "College Project", to create the look of the space setting, the Communiverse. The film was produced with a virtual anamorphic lens and Pixar's new Luna lighting toolset was used to quickly define lighting and the overall aesthetic. Its musical score was composed by Rob Simonsen.