^{Credit: Elio (Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Motion Pictures)}

Pixar’s Elio barely passed the $20 million mark when it hit theaters last June, breaking the dubious record for the lowest opening weekend in the studio’s history. The previous record was held by Elemental, which opened to just under $30 million. In slow burn fashion, Elemental stuck around in theaters, going on to make almost $500 worldwide. Elio didn’t have Elemental’s legs, ending its global run with $154 million against a budget that might've exceeded $200 million. For context, the original Toy Story finished its original theatrical run with around $191 million domestically against a $30 million pricetag almost three decades ago. Steaming releases like Soul, Luca, and Turning Red notwithstanding, Elio went down as the lowest-grossing Pixar film to date. Amid its financial failure, many were quick to write it off as a Best Animated Feature contender.

Although Elio couldn’t rebound at the box office, it did make a comeback over awards season. By the time the Oscar nominations were announced, it wasn’t surprising to see Elio among the Best Animated Feature lineup with Arco, KPop Demon Hunters, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2. Some may be quick to credit the sheer number of Disney and Pixar employees eligible to vote in this category. Since the category’s creation, almost every Pixar film has been nominated for Best Animated Feature. Cars 2, Cars 3, Monsters University, Finding Dory, and Lightyear all missed, but The Good Dinosaur remains the only original Pixar feature not to be nominated. While it’d be naive to say that wasn’t a factor, it’s also unfair to chalk Elio’s nomination up purely to bloc voting. The so-called “Disney/Pixar mafia” aside, here are five reasons why the stars ultimately aligned for Elio at the Oscars.

^{Credit: Rotten Tomatoes}

1. It Actually Got Good Reviews

Elio’s commercial underperformance dominated so many headlines that people forget that the reviews were mostly positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film garnered a 83% rating. Admittedly, that still makes it one of the lower-rated Pixar films. Yet, it got a higher score than Elemental, the Cars trilogy, The Good Dinosaur, or Brave, the latter of which won Best Animated Feature. Pixar’s earlier output set such an impossibly high standard that when the studio falls below the 90% threshold, Film Twitter writes it off as a letdown. If DreamWorks or Illumination had made Elio, that wouldn’t be the case.

Even if Elio is considered lower-tier Pixar, those who sought it out generally enjoyed it. While we’ll always go in hoping for something on par with The Incredibles, Up, or WALL-E, not every Pixar film can or needs to be a masterpiece. Sometimes, good is good enough. Considering the numerous behind-the-scenes issues that Elio faced, it’s impressive that the film came out as well as it did. Shouldn’t the Oscars be held to a higher standard than just good, though? In a more competitive year, sure, but 2025 didn’t exactly bring an embarrassment of riches.

2. This Year’s Competition Wasn’t That Fierce

As Arco, KPop Demon Hunters, Little Amélie, and Zootopia 2 cemented their place in the Oscar race, people waited for a fifth contender to sneak up. As the year progressed, few left a sizable impression. Past nominees like Sylvain Chomet and Mamoru Hosoda returned with A Magnificent Life and Scarlet, respectively, but neither was considered among their best work. Alex Woo, himself a former Pixar employee, made his feature directorial debut with In Your Dreams, which Netflix was positioning as their Oscar player before realizing what they had with KPop Demon Hunters. Even amid Demon Hunters’ breakout, Netflix continued to push In Your Dreams. Outside of a nomination at Critics’ Choice, though, Woo’s film never caught on as it needed to with awards groups, despite performing fairly well on streaming.

DreamWorks had three potential contenders with Dog Man, the hybrid Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, and The Bad Guys 2. Some predicted that Bad Guys 2 could be a surprise Oscar nominee following its nominations at multiple guild awards, most notably PGA. However, The Bad Guys 2 always seemed like The Croods: A New Age, a sequel that did well at the box office and showed up at a few precursor awards, but missed the Oscar lineup. The original Bad Guys wasn’t nominated for Best Animated Feature, lessening its sequel’s chances of breaking through. The only sequel that got into Best Animated Feature when its predecessor didn’t was Despicable Me 2. The original Despicable Me probably would’ve been nominated had there been five nominees that year, but only three spots were available.

^{Credit: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (Crunchyroll)}

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle put up the strongest fight to get that fifth spot. The Japanese blockbuster was nominated at the Golden Globes and PGA, in addition to making the BAFTA longlist. The film fell short at the Annies, though, with zero nominations. It’s not like ASIFA-Hollywood outright snubbed anime this year, as Tatsuya Yoshihara was nominated for directing Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. Even with the full power of Crunchyroll, it’s hard for a Japanese animated feature to gain traction at the Oscars unless Studio Ghibli is attached. Mamoru Hosoda’s Mirai remains the sole exception.

Anime bias aside, the biggest hurdle that Demon Slayer had to overcome at the Oscars is the fact that it’s based on a TV show. The Animation Branch has continually overlooked movies that stemmed from the small screen (The Simpsons Movie, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie). The Shaun the Sheep Movies were technically TV spinoffs, but the character originated from theatrical Wallace & Gromit shorts. Not only was Demon Slayer based on a show that viewers have to be familiar with, but it’s the first chapter in a planned trilogy. That might’ve been another knock against it, but perhaps Crunchyroll can make a nomination materialize by the time part three hits theaters.

Other films that could’ve been Oscar players (Ne Zha 2, Predator: Killer of Killers, I Am Frankelda) weren’t submitted for one reason or another. Among the 35 entries submitted for Best Animated Feature, there were a few acclaimed films that could’ve broken through with more of a push. GKIDS had 100 Meters, but they prioritized Little Amélie. You could argue that GKIDS put more effort into campaigning the live-action Kokuho, which got nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Netflix distributed Lost in Starlight, but that film got eclipsed by KPop Demon Hunters and, to a lesser extent, In Your Dreams on the campaign trail.

Last year had several animated features that just fell short of Oscar nominations (Kensuke’s Kingdom, The Glassworker, Chicken for Linda!, Look Back). Had one of those films been submitted this year, maybe they could’ve overshadowed Elio at the Oscars. In a less competitive year, it was easier for Elio to claim the fifth spot. Even when one of their films bombs, Pixar still has more visibility than most animation studios. So, voters were more inclined to prioritize Elio over smaller films that weren’t gaining enough buzz.

3. It Got In at All the Right Precursor Awards

Those who wrote off Elio started to rethink their Oscar predictions when it got nominated at Critics’ Choice and the Golden Globes. Of course, those organizations nominated six films, meaning Elio could still miss at the Oscars. In addition to making PGA and the BAFTA longlist, the most telling sign of Elio’s strength came at the Annies Awards. The film scored ten nominations, tying KPop Demon Hunters for the most overall this year. That doesn’t mean Elio is as strong as KPop Demon Hunters, but this was a clear sign that the animation community wanted to give Elio a boost.

There remained a possibility that Elio could be like The Good Dinosaur. That Pixar film also bombed at the box office, but got nominations at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, and PGA. It even got ten Annie nominations, winning one for its effects. The Good Dinosaur missed at the Oscars, though, with the Academy favoring under-the-radar animated features like Boy and the World, When Marnie Was There, and Anomalisa. Granted, Pixar had another contender to fall back on that year with Inside Out, which ultimately won the Oscar. While Pixar didn’t have a second animated feature in 2025, Disney had Zootopia 2. That could’ve been Disney’s sole nominee this year, but Elio also managed to come along for the ride.

4. It Was an Original Animated Film With a Theatrical Release

Between Zootopia 2, Dog Man, The Bad Guys 2, Gabby’s Dollhouse, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, and Smurfs (which wasn’t submitted for Oscar consideration but got nominated at the Razzies), almost every 2025 animated feature from a major American studio was either a sequel or based on preexisting source material. Most originals were sent straight to streaming. Even if KPop Demon Hunters eventually got a limited theatrical release, it was only after the film broke Netflix records. Even beyond the U.S., blockbusters like Demon Slayer and Ne Zha 2 are part of billion-dollar franchises. Elio was pretty much the only original U.S. animated feature that received a theatrical wide release, making its box office intake all the more disheartening.

As much as people say they want original storytelling, the box office tells a different story. Audiences chose to see the remakes of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon over Elio, once again proving that nostalgia bait sells. However Pixar’s Hoppers turns out this year, Toy Story 5 is guaranteed to make more money because it has a built-in audience. The truth is that many in the animation industry want to make original films. They have little incentive to do so if audiences don’t show up, however.

In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Elio’s co-director, Domee Shi, was asked how open big studios are to originals. Shi replied, “It’s hard. Elio got massacred at the box office even though audiences who saw it loved it. The question is how to push original theatrical films through all the noise.” Getting an Oscar nomination is one way. The box office couldn’t vindicate Elio, but recognition from the Academy can give Pixar a reason to keep making original films. A nomination for Elio was a nomination for original animation on the big screen.

^{Credit: Elio (Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Motion Pictures)}

5. The Industry Knows It Deserved Better

You can blame Disney for not putting more effort into the advertising campaign. You can blame the general public for prioritizing IP-driven releases rather than seeking out original stories. In any case, Elio was done dirty. Some assumed that AMPAS would frown upon Elio’s financial disappointment. If anything, the fact that Elio underperformed gave the industry an urgency to rally behind it. They still probably would’ve nominated Elio had it been profitable. The fact that it was, though, gave Elio’s Oscar nomination a sense of restitution.

It’s hard to say how many branch members are plugged into Film Twitter. Those who are likely aware that various users were dumping on Elio before it even hit theaters. Some of the criticisms directed at the film are warranted, namely the reported erasure of the titular character’s queer-coded identity. It wasn’t a good look for Pixar’s executives, especially since the film’s original director, Adrian Molina, is openly gay. Molina still got to share in the Oscar nomination with Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, who took over mid-production.

Other criticisms are just petty and nonsensical, such as the film’s “bean mouth” designs that trolls blindly decided they hated because of a meme. You also got the sense that at least a few of the users targeting Elio were Demon Slayer fans who sought to elevate their film by knocking another down, which is asinine. Champion a movie all you want, but that doesn’t mean you need to attack another. Elio deserved better from marketing, audiences, and social media. The Oscar nomination was the industry’s way of giving Elio its flowers.

That said, the nomination is the win for Elio. Even if something were to upset presumed frontrunner KPop Demon Hunters for the Oscar, Arco, Little Amélie, and Zootopia 2 are all in better positions to do so. This would mark the fifth loss in a row for Pixar, continuing the studio’s longest Oscar dry spell. Then again, this isn’t the longest losing streak for a studio. It’s been over twenty years since DreamWorks won Best Animated Feature. Considering how Pixar once won this award year after year, though, the golden age is feeling further away.

The nomination for Elio still marks a significant milestone. Between Turning Red and Elio, Domee Shi is the most-nominated female director in Best Animated Feature. Vicky Jenson (Shrek, Shark Tale) and Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner, The Secret of Kells) co-directed multiple Oscar nominees, but they didn’t get to share in all of the nominations. Several female producers (Bonnie Arnold, Osnat Shurer, Arianne Sutner) have also been nominated for Best Animated Feature multiple times, but the fact that Shi is the only female director to receive two nominations speaks volumes about the industry. Here’s hoping Pixar continues to back talents like Shi, as well as original films like Elio.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!