Disney and Pixar‘s latest film, Elio, is a wildly entertaining sci-fi family adventure that flourishes thanks to the creativity of its alien world as well as the genuine and compelling emotional aspects of its themes of family and belonging. The film has certainly struck a chord with audiences as yet another animated classic in Pixar’s long line of touching and exceptional animated films. It also marks a return to Pixar’s original films, being the first original, non-sequel film from the studio since Elemental in 2023.
Elio‘s specific brand of familial comfort and inventive sci-fi concepts make it a rather individual cinematic experience, yet that doesn’t mean that there aren’t similar films that can scratch a similar itch. Whether it be other films that explore alien and sci-fi worlds, effective stories of coming to terms with one’s own home and family, or a combination of the two, there are a wide array of great options for those looking for a complimentary viewing of Pixar’s latest.
10
‘Treasure Planet’ (2002)
Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements
One of Disney’s most underrated animated films to date, Treasure Planet made a noticeable effort to make the most of the modern capabilities of 2D and 3D animation to breath life into a beautiful and dynamic sci-fi world. It plays out like many other adaptations of the classic Treasure Island, seeing a young Jim Hawkins (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) embarking on a quest across the cosmos to find a legendary treasure. He is accompanied by an array of quirky shipmates, none more notable than John Silver (Brian Murray), a cyborg cook with ulterior motives and views towards the treasure himself.
Treasure Planet and Elio both get a lot of mileage out of the creativity and vast possibilities of their sci-fi worlds, both showing off massive sprawling communities with a wide variety of different aliens. Treasure Planet also tackles a similar yet distinctly different message of family and bonding to Elio, focusing more on found-family and friendship as opposed to Elio‘s importance of direct familial bonds.
9
‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ (2021)
Directed by Mike Rianda
Following a similar stylized animation approach as films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. the Machines tells a classic story of dysfunctional family chaos set in a robotic uprising apocalypse. The film follows the titular Mitchell family, who find themselves as the last remaining humans not captured by an artifical intelligence takeover, having to put aside their differences and become a true family unit in order to save the world.
While it may not delve into the concepts of aliens and outer space like Elio, The Mitchells vs. the Machines still utilizes a classic sci-fi concept as a jumping off point for a story of familial bonds and coming to appreciate parental figures. The characters of Elio (Yonas Kibreab) and Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) share a lot of inherent qualities, both being highly dedicated to a singular special interest that their parental figure simply can’t seem to connect with. In Elio’s case, this is aliens, while for Katie, it’s making internet videos, with both of these interests adding to the overall energy and charm of their respective films.
8
‘Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius’ (2001)
Directed by John A. Davis
While many may remember the character of Jimmy Neutron (Debi Derryberry) from the long-running Nickelodeon series, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, the character made his actual debut in one of the best Nickelodeon movies, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. The film follows the titular child prodigy conducting another scientific experiment, attempting to contact extraterrestrial life while also living life as an everyday student. However, when the aliens end up receiving the message and kidnapping all the parents on Earth, it becomes up to Jimmy and the rest of the children to save their parents from alien captivity.
While the film paints aliens in a much more villainous light than Elio, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius has a surprisingly similar premise of a young boy contacting aliens before going on a journey across the cosmos. Even more prominent is both films’ distinct message about not taking parental figures for granted, understanding that, even when parents seem mean or misunderstood, they still care for and love their children. The big difference between the films is how they approach the aliens themselves, as many of the aliens are much friendlier in Elio than in Jimmy Neutron.
- Release Date
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December 21, 2001
- Runtime
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83 minutes
- Director
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John A. Davis
- Writers
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David N. Weiss, J. David Stem
7
‘WALL-E’ (2008)
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Standing tall as Pixar’s defacto sci-fi experience, WALL-E is often relegated as one of Pixar’s greatest achievements as a beautifully concocted work of art from beginning to end. The animated classic follows a long-forgotten trash robot stuck to clean up the mess left behind on Earth after it had being abandoned for centuries. However, he soon finds himself on a journey across space to the lone spaceship that has been carrying humanity on it for all of this time.
Considering the fact that Elio and WALL-E are the only two original sci-fi films that the studio has put out so far, both of them have some inherent similarities that differentiate them from the other Pixar films. Both films get a lot of mileage out of showing the beauty and grace inherent to the vast openness of space, although WALL-E is much more grounded in realism with its approach and doesn’t feature any aliens whatsoever. Still, both films tell a story reliant on technology and the connection between humanity as a whole.
6
‘The Iron Giant’ (1999)
Directed by Brad Bird
While director Brad Bird is more commonly recognized for his work on The Incredibles films, his feature-film debut, The Iron Giant, has gone down as one of the biggest animated cult classics of the ’90s. The film follows a nine-year-old boy (Eli Marienthal) living in Rockwell, Maine in October 1957 who finds himself making an unexpected friendship with a massive 50-ft robot, voiced by Vin Diesel. Despite his imposing nature, the robot actually has a gentle and kind soul, as the boy does what he can to hide him from the authorities that are looking to destroy the robot.
Both The Iron Giant and Elio have a distinct dynamic that acts as the crux for their emotional weight, that being the unexpected friendship between a young boy and an unexpectedly kind sci-fi being. While both the Iron Giant and Elio‘s Glordon have a wide array of differences between them as far as characterization goes, it’s their friendships with the main character, despite the odds, that help drive the plots of their respective films.
5
‘Strange World’ (2022)
Directed by Don Hall
While the film has been largely forgotten and overlooked when it comes to Disney films of the 2020s, a lot of the elements that make Elio work so well are also present within Strange World. Both films see a young boy (Jaboukie Young-White) struggling to connect with their parental figure as they find themselves exploring a vast and creative alien world. However, Strange World goes a step further in terms of the parental disconnect by having the parent (Jake Gyllenhaal) showing their own struggles after meeting their long-lost father (Dennis Quaid), who had been stranded for years.
A lot of the inherent charm of both films comes from the vast creative potential of the different alien lifeforms, with Elio taking the approach of a sprawling community of different cultures while Strange World acts more as a vast, unexplored ecosystem. However, both films manage to utilize a friendship between aliens and humans as a central plot point, with said connection painting a greater picture of the family dynamic at the center of it all.
4
‘Turning Red’ (2022)
Directed by Domee Shi
Before Domee Shi acted as a co-director for Elio, she made her feature-film debut as the solo director of the previous Pixar hit, Turning Red. Having a shared director, it’s easy to see a lot of the inherent similarities between Turning Red and Elio, ranging from some similar animation approaches to both films placing an emphasized focus on a child character and their connection with their motherly figure. All of these inherent similarities come in terms of execution and style, as Turning Red is much more focused on fantasy aesthetics and concepts over Elio‘s sci-fi storytelling.
Turning Red itself quickly became one of the defining successes for Pixar during the 2020s, making massive waves with its Disney+ release and being one of their bigger critical hits as well, overall deserving better than its pandemic box office numbers. A lot of the success and experience garnered from Turning Red by Domee Shi is seen throughout Elio, as the director builds upon what she had created and built in Turning Red to make for even bigger emotional payoffs and focuses on great comedic moments.
3
‘Over the Moon’ (2020)
Directed by Glen Keane
One of the most successful and acclaimed animated movies to come from Netflix, Over the Moon plays out surprisingly similarly to Elio despite having a more fantasy, cultural twist on its central premise. The film follows young Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) who, while fueled by memories of her late mother, decides to build a rocket in order to travel to the moon and prove the existence of a legendary moon goddess, Chang’e (Phillipa Soo). However, once arriving on the moon, Fei Fei soon learns that, while Chang’e is real, she is far from what she expected of a lunar goddess.
While its various designs and concepts are rooted in fantasy, Over the Moon parallels Elio in seeing a young headstrong child traveling off into space following a disagreement and anger with a parental figure fueled by the loss of a direct parent. Even more closely tied to Elio, Over the Moon‘s centralizing emotional core sees Fei Fei coming to terms with her relationship with her family, even despite the rapid changes that they are going through in the wake of her deceased mother.
- Release Date
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October 23, 2020
- Runtime
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95 minutes
- Writers
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Jennifer Yee McDevitt, Audrey Wells
2
‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2002)
Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
While Elio may just be the latest extraterrestrial family movie to come from a Disney studio, Lilo & Stitch has held the mantle of the iconic Disney alien movie throughout the majority of the 21st century so far. While it may not see its characters delving into the depths of space like in Elio, Lilo & Stitch still features a lot of creative alien designs and a compelling message of family with a child who has lost their parents. A lot of the charm and wit that makes Elio so effective is also pervasive from start to finish in Lilo & Stitch.
The 2002 classic is still easily considered one of the most effective and iconic original films from Disney during the 21st century, with Stitch (Chris Sanders) himself being a great surrogate for comedic antics and endless charm. Elio and Lilo & Stitch have a relatively similar emotional core, with a struggling young child finding refuge and comfort through a friendship with an alien, with said friendship helping them understand their own connection to their family. Especially with the recent release of the live-action remake, there is no better time than the present to revisit this sci-fi family classic.
1
‘Luca’ (2021)
Directed by Enrico Casarosa
Of all the different films that make up Pixar’s modern catalog, Elio easily shares the most direct similarities with Luca in terms of theme and execution of its coming-of-age storyline. While the film may not be as directly sci-fi as Elio, Luca is still largely similar in terms of its animation style, sense of humor, and dynamic story of its lead character leaving their home of comfort to live a life in a foreign world. In this case, the film sees the titular Luca (Jacob Tremblay), an aquatic sea monster, attempting to live life as a human alongside his new friend Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer).
The big factor that makes Luca such a great film companion to Elio, aside from both films coming from the same studio, is just how similarly effective and emotional their central themes and messages are. The plight and difficulties of friendship and feeling out-of-place in the world is a shared struggle between both Elio and Luca, with the beauty of new friendships and connection to family playing a pivotal role in both films.
