While one might not think of Pixar’s Elio as the title among 2025 movie releases to be praised by members of the U.S. military, given it’s been marketed as a sci-fi space adventure. However, the latest Disney animated movie is receiving a lot of praise from America’s Space Force.
Elio primarily takes place on an Air Force base where the titular boy’s Aunt Olga works. Zoé Saldana’s character is an orbital analyst who tracks space debris. When her base receives a signal from the Communiverse, Elio answers the call (without permission) and ends up being abducted by a whole network of aliens. Develyn Watson, who is the Deputy Director of the Department of the Air Force Entertainment Liaison Office said this about Elio’s depiction of the military:
Military.com. How Aunt Olga tracks space debris is apparently a “realistic depiction” of how the actual military tracks debris along with having a true portrayal of growing up in a military family. The Department of Defense also said this in a news release:
Donald Trump’s first term. The branch is organized under the Air Force but is specifically responsible for protecting the U.S. and its allies in matters of space.
Previously, Netflix released a comedy series called Space Force in 2020, which apparently “did not capture the culture accurately,” per Air Force Col. Bill Woolf to Military.com. Elio is conversely being praised by members of the Air Force in addition to CinemaBlend’s own Elio review being positive against a similar consensus among other critics and audiences.
Unfortunately, on the commercial side of things, Elio has been disappointing for the studio, considering the movie has only made $78 million worldwide in the three weeks it’s been in theaters. The film is being considered a box office bomb after its opening weekend performance made it the worst for Pixar in its history.
However, it is an excellent movie, and accurate to military life and work in many ways. You can still check it out in theaters now.