Why Pixar’s Elio is just the latest casualty of a trend that’s leaving audiences cold

The latest box office flop from Pixar, Elio, has sent shockwaves through the animation industry, raising questions about the future of original storytelling in family films. With a paltry $21 million opening weekend in the US, Elio is the worst-performing film from the studio in history, eclipsing even the lackluster reception of Disney’s Strange World, which was released in 2022 and is now considered one of the studio’s biggest box-office bombs.

The contrast with 2024’s biggest films is striking. Last June, Pixar’s Inside Out 2 was well on its way to making almost $1.7 billion, cementing its status as the year’s biggest film worldwide. Other child-friendly titles like Despicable Me 4, Moana 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 had also made a killing, raking in around $6.85 billion. But these films all have one thing in common: they’re based on existing intellectual properties.

Industry insiders point to a shift towards sequels, prequels, remakes, and adaptations of video games, which have proven to be safer bets for studios. “When it comes to younger viewers, it seems, it’s lack of familiarity that breeds contempt,” says a studio executive. “Kids are used to the familiarity of franchises like Toy Story and Frozen, and it’s hard to compete with that.”

But the problem runs deeper. Many original family films are struggling to craft compelling, streamlined plots. Elio, for example, has a convoluted narrative that’s hard to follow, with too many scenes and characters. “You can feel a need to have another script meeting in which they plot their way out of trouble with another layer of story or another dimension,” says Jason Solomons, a British film critic-turned-producer. “Even these lesser films are always extremely thought-out, but in tying up all their loose ends, giving punchlines to every joke, and an arc to every character, sometimes you feel the mechanism creaking, straining to make it all work with the customary almost obligatory smoothness.”

The issue is not just with Pixar – other studios are also struggling to tell simple, fun stories. Disney’s centenary cartoon, Wish, was a flop, while Illumination’s Migration underperformed in 2023. Even Pixar’s own films are struggling, with Soul and Turning Red going straight to Disney+. DreamWorks’ Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken and Illumination’s Migration both underperformed in 2023, and Disney’s Strange World is still reeling from its box-office disaster.

So what’s the solution? Perhaps it’s time for studios to take a risk on original storytelling, rather than relying on familiar franchises. As Solomons puts it, “Maybe a little craziness, a rough edge here and there, would do them the world of good?” Only time will tell if studios will take the leap and give audiences a chance to fall in love with new, original stories.

In the meantime, it’s clear that the industry needs to rethink its approach to family films. “The pandemic has changed the way we consume media,” says a film expert. “We’re no longer just watching movies in theaters – we’re also streaming them on our phones and tablets. And that’s changed the way we expect to be entertained.”