‘Elio’ is an intergalactic tale — but for Toronto’s Domee Shi, it hits close to home

A scene from “Elio,” a Pixar animated sci-fi film about an 11-year-old orphan who yearns to be snatched by extraterrestrials to escape his loneliness — and gets his wish when an interplanetary organization mistakes him for Earth’s ambassador, is shown in this handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Disney/Pixar *MANDATORY CREDIT*

TORONTO — For Domee Shi, making a movie about an introverted kid getting abducted by aliens felt oddly familiar.

Not because she’s had any close encounters, but because she remembers being a teenager longing to be taken away to a world where her weirdness was understood.

The Toronto native co-directs “Elio,” a Pixar animated sci-fi film about an 11-year-old orphan who yearns to be snatched by extraterrestrials to escape his loneliness — and gets his wish when an interplanetary organization mistakes him for Earth’s ambassador.

“He’s this lonely artsy kid who just wants to belong somewhere. I definitely felt that way growing up,” says the Oscar-winning animator behind 2022’s coming-of-age Toronto-set hit “Turning Red.”

Born in Chongqing, China and raised in Toronto after immigrating to Canada as a child, Shi grew up obsessed with anime. She describes it as an isolating experience. In high school, she was the vice-president of the anime club — a group that had only two members.

“Back in the ’90s and 2000s, anime was popular, but it wasn’t as popular, I feel, as it is now…. I really wished people cared about the same stuff that I cared about,” Shi says during a promotional stop in Toronto.

She recalls dreaming of going to animation school so she could “find people who understood me, who spoke my language, who understood all my nerdy-ass references.”

In “Elio,” out Friday, the film’s titular character, voiced by Yonas Kibreab, finds a sense of belonging in the Communiverse — a kind of cosmic United Nations where alien civilizations convene to share knowledge and resolve conflicts. It’s a far cry from life on Earth, where Elio feels out of place living with his stressed-out, overextended aunt Olga, voiced by Zoe Saldaña.

In real life, Shi says she found her own place in the universe at Anime North, an annual anime convention in suburban Toronto. She remembers attending for the first time as a teen.

“I had a really crappy ‘One Piece’ cosplay on. I wore a straw hat and was dressed like a bad version of Luffy,” she says, referring to the protagonist of the Japanese manga series.

“But then I looked around and there were so many crappy cosplays around me, and people just wearing their nerddom on their sleeve…. I was like, ‘Oh my God, everyone speaks the same language as me.’”

It was there that Shi learned about the renowned animation program at Toronto’s Sheridan College, which had propelled graduates into orbit at studios such as Pixar and Disney.

After graduating from Sheridan, Shi went on to work for Pixar as a storyboard artist for films including 2015’s “Inside Out” and 2019’s “Toy Story 4.”

Shi became the first woman to direct a Pixar short with 2018’s “Bao,” a heartfelt tale about a Chinese-Canadian mother and her dumpling-turned-son that won the 2019 Oscar for best animated short. She broke new ground again with “Turning Red,” becoming the first woman to solo direct a Pixar feature.

“Elio” marks Shi’s first time co-directing a feature. Shi says the film began as a project by ”Coco” director Adrian Molina, inspired by his isolated childhood growing up on a military base. After delays caused by the Hollywood strikes, Molina was tapped to co-direct “Coco 2” and handed the reins to Shi and fellow director Madeline Sharafian, who was a storyboard artist on “Turning Red,” to complete the story.

Shi describes the final product as “a beautiful mind-meld” of all three directors’ styles. In addition to channeling her own teen experience, she infused the film with influences from her favourite sci-fi films growing up — including 1979’s “Alien” and 1982’s “The Thing” — as well as eerie stop-motion classics such as 1993’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

“I think kids can handle a little bit of scariness if it’s more of a fun scary, like a thrill,” she says.

Shi notes there are some Canadian influences in “Elio” as well.

“It’s weird to say but I feel like diversity shows up very naturally in my work and I think that’s because I grew up in a very diverse neighbourhood and city,” she says.

She says she doesn’t even clock those multicultural touches until American colleagues point it out.

“People will be like, ‘Oh, are you doing that intentionally? Is it intentional that Mei’s friends are all girls from different backgrounds?’” she says, referencing the quartet at the heart of “Turning Red.”

“I mean, kind of, but that’s also what my friends were like growing up. I grew up in East York, moved to Scarborough. That’s just what kids looked like, and I’m just used to it.”

Elio’s cultural background — half Mexican and half Dominican — is woven into the film with care and intention. His Mexican heritage draws from Molina’s roots, while his Dominican side is brought to life through Saldaña’s own background. Shi says the actor infused Olga with personal touches, including the suggestion of a Dominican song for one scene.

A nod to Shi’s own heritage turns up in an unexpected way.

“I feel like the Communiverse could be an allegory for Canada,” she laughs.

“It’s definitely a mishmash and a beautiful, chaotic mosaic of different cultures and species and aliens all working and living together.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press