Everything we know about new Pixar film Elio

The animation studio returns with a heartfelt intergalactic mix-up…

When Elio is inadvertently beamed up to an interplanetary organisation, he's mistaken for Earth's ambassador.  (Disney-Pixar)
When Elio is inadvertently beamed up to an interplanetary organisation, he's mistaken for Earth's ambassador. (Disney-Pixar)

Hold on to your heartstrings because Pixar looks set to dabble with your emotions once more in Elio, an intergalactic tale of space-aged mistaken identity.

The movie marks the studio’s 29th feature film release, continuing a legacy that began with 1995’s Toy Story and follows Inside Out 2 which will debut in June 2024.

Audiences will be able to enjoy this coming-of-age tale on the big screen when it receives a theatrical release in summer 2025 — but before that happens, what exactly do we know about Elio?

Read on to discover all the key details about Pixar’s latest, including plot details, its voice cast and more…

Elio will be released in UK cinemas on 13 June 2025. It was delayed from its original release date of 1 March 2024 due to Hollywood strikes.

As with most Disney releases, we can expect Pixar’s new one to eventually become available to stream on Disney+ although an exact home release date has yet to be revealed.

The first teaser trailer for Elio was unveiled back in June 2023.

The clip introduces us to Elio as he struggles to get the attention of his busy mother Olga. But his family worries are soon replaced by something even more pressing as he’s beamed up aboard a starship and forced to address the Communiverse.

It may only be two minutes long but the first trailer for Elio does wonders for illustrating its heart and humour. Watch it below.

America Ferrera lends her voice to the smart and super-confident Olga, who runs a top-secret military project in Elio.  (Disney-Pixar)
America Ferrera lends her voice to the smart and super-confident Olga, who runs a top-secret military project in Elio. (Disney-Pixar)

By all accounts, Elio looks set to be another tearjerker from Pixar — a studio that has become pretty adept at luring water out of our eyeballs (we’re still not over Up’s opening sequence if we're being honest.)

It focuses on Elio, our young titular hero whose rather neglected family life is thrown up in the air when he’s plucked from obscurity to become Earth’s official spokesperson in an intergalactic senate.

Read more: 22 Disney and Pixar in-jokes that will blow your mind

Known as the Communiverse, this gathering of interplanetary species has mistaken Elio for Earth’s ambassador, forcing this shy underdog to find not only his own voice but the voice of all of humanity. Before his journey is through, he’ll have to befriend strange new alien lifeforms and survive a series of ominous-sounding trails, becoming a new person and an unlikely leader in the process.

Judging by early footage, Elio looks to be as cockle-warming as it is funny, with Pixar’s beloved attention-to-detail animation style bringing a new hero out of his shell and into our hearts.

Elio is about an 11-year-old dreamer named Elio (voice of Yonas Kibreab), who finds it hard to fit in until he is suddenly beamed up into space. (Disney/Pixar)
Elio is about an 11-year-old dreamer named Elio (voice of Yonas Kibreab), who finds it hard to fit in until he is suddenly beamed up into space. (Disney/Pixar)

13-year-old Yonas Kibreab takes centre stage as Elio. Kibreab may be familiar to some viewers thanks to his live-action work in shows like Sweet Tooth and Disney+’s Star Wars spin-off series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Joining him is Ugly Betty star America Ferrera as Elio’s mother Olga, The Good Place’s Jameela Jamil as the extra-terrestrial Ambassador Questa and Everybody Loves Raymond’s Brad Garrett as Elio’s new alien pal Ambassador Grigon.

ANAHEIM, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Yonas Kibreab and America Ferrara pose at the IMDb Official Portrait Studio during D23 2022 at Anaheim Convention Center on September 9, 2022 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Corey Nickols/Getty Images for IMDb)
Yonas Kibreab and America Ferrara pose at the IMDb Official Portrait Studio during D23 2022. (Corey Nickols/Getty Images for IMDb)

As it stands, that’s all the details we currently have regarding Elio’s voice cast but we’re sure more names will be unveiled as the movie speeds towards its March 2024 release date.

The film will be directed by Adrian Molina, the co-writer of Academy Award-winning Pixar hit Coco, and produced by Coco associate producer Mary Alice Drumm.


Elio will be released on 13 June 2025