When I say that Elio gave me the same feeling that Finding Nemo gave me, I want you to think back to the opening of the 2003 movie. And I’m not talking about when Marlin and Coral were happy. I’m talking about the after. After the barracuda attacked and Coral was gone. The only thing that was left behind was one singular egg. And I still remember how this sorrowful moment transformed into something delicate and precious as Marlin picked up Nemo and promised to protect him. And then as Thomas Newman’s beautiful score started playing, you felt like you were cradling Nemo yourself, promising to protect him from anything that may come his way.
All of this is what I felt in the first couple minutes of Pixar’s latest movie Elio.
If you’re not familiar with the movie, it tells the story about a young boy with an active imagination who believes with all his heart that aliens will one day take him away. In typical Pixar fashion this all happens after his parents die and he goes to live with his Aunt Olga. And remember what I said about holding Nemo close and wanting to protect him? That’s what I wanted to do with Elio when I saw him all small and scared in the opening, uncertain about his place in the world now that his parents were gone. He didn’t have his Marlin. Sure, he had his aunt, but it’s not the same as having your parents. And in that loneliness, I felt as a viewer like I was invested in Elio’s safety and adventure. Because I’ve been that lonely kid too.
The strength of Elio doesn’t come from this epic intergalactic adventure that he has. The strength lies in Elio’s understanding of his place in the world and that he’s not as alone as he thinks he is. He’s always been looking for a place to belong in the stars and it took him making friends with another kid in space and saving everyone from an intergalactic battle, to see that he had someone. And that someone, his Aunt, was trying her best while also feeling as desperately lonely as he did. Elio was a lesson in figuring out that those people that are our parents or our guardians, well, they’re only human. And just like Elio is experiencing loss and belonging, so is his Aunt Olga. They need each other.
This movie also has a really big emphasis on being gentle, curious, and weird. And a lot of that has to do with the development that we saw between Elio and Glordon, the space slug. They were both lonely little kids who had the weight of the world on their shoulders. And they found comfort and understanding with each other while still being gentle, curious, and really weird. That’s the kind of stuff that I want to see in my movies because it emphasizes that dreaming big or just being curious in general isn’t a bad thing. And you can do that with a bunch of other little weirdos who are also looking for their place in this big and scary world. No one does it alone. Elio makes sure we know that while breaking our hearts and making us laugh at the same time.
Then there’s the animation and music of this film.
The art department for Elio was absolutely cooking from the very first moment they had him look up at the stars. Every little detail had such delicate care put into it, from every little single star reflected in Elio’s eyes or the character design of the vast amount of aliens we got to see. Which, Pixar is doing what Disney isn’t in creating characters that I definitely want a plush of. Multiple, in fact. Because Ambassador Questa was super cute and giving elegance while also being uniquely designed. Even Elio’s clothes or the technology used in this film, everything looked beautiful and caught the eye without being overwhelming, which is usually the MO for children’s animation. Lots of noise, little substance. That’s not Elio.
Another really strong component of Elio was the music composed by Rob Simonsen. Before this movie, I wasn’t aware of Simonsen’s game. He’s been the composer for some really big and recognizable movies like Deadpool and Wolverine and The Whale. But I think it’s in Elio that he really shines, especially with the hints of Interstellar and classic Pixar sounds you’ve heard in Inside Out and Elemental. And the love that I hold for Elio, and the reason why I compared it to Finding Nemo, is in part due in part to Simonsen’s music. Music can set the tone, draw you in, and leave a kind of impression in your heart that you want to listen to it over and over again. That’s how I feel about Simonsen’s music for Pixar’s latest edition. It’s art.
If there’s anything else that I want to say about Elio, it’s that I’m always of the mindset that children’s movies are some of the most important cinema out there. Because, no matter how silly they are or how much we laugh, they teach important lessons about life. A Bug’s Life taught me how to rebel in the face of those who want to oppress me. Monsters Inc. taught me that sometimes scary things are just misunderstood. And Toy Story taught me that even when life changes, you can adapt and survive. Those became essential building blocks in the person I am today. And I hope Elio provides that for the kid of today. I hope they learn they can be curious, they can be kind, and they can do it all while being themselves.
Elio is now in theaters.
