Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.

For in-depth thoughts on Elio, please see my colleague Liselotte Vanophem’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Elio comes to 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a splendid 2160p Dolby Vision/HDR transfer. The colors featured in this transfer beam off the screen with the wide range of hues permeating every inch of the frame thanks to the utilization of Dolby Vision. Highlights are radiant but firm, and black levels are suitably strong with no hint of compression artifacts or digital anomalies of the sort. The textures of the amorphous character designs and the environments are deftly rendered and give the film a tactile feel and a real sense of depth in the vastness of space. One of the areas where this film thrives is the flowing nature of the character designs and how they interact with the environment. All of the individual tendrils are unique and moving in a natural way. The level of detail these animators put into each sequence is invaluable. Disney has provided a mighty presentation for this one.

Audio Quality

This 4K UHD Blu-Ray delivers a Dolby Atmos track that gives this out-of-this-world adventure the complexity it deserves. There is a prominence within the front channels for many of the sounds, but activity extends into the surrounds and rears during the more kinetic moments. The low end effects from the subwoofer give certain confrontations some amazing texture to keep things tactile. Dialogue is rendered clearly without ever getting lost in the music or sound effects. The score from Rob Simonsen swells throughout the room for a truly enjoyable listening experience. The track commands the room in a really satisfying, enveloping way. Atmospheric sound effects are rendered faithfully within the mix so that directionality is never an issue, especially with the effective overhead engagement. Elio is everything you want it to be. Optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Disney has provided Elio with a sleek SteelBook featuring artwork that is very cool in person. The front artwork is a depiction of Elio looking up to the stars and the rear features Ooooo. The interior sports a still of Elio and Glordon. Photos of the SteelBook can be found at the bottom of this review.

Inside the Communiverse – The World and Characters of Elio: A ten-minute featurette that takes you through the discussions about building this world, the creation of various characters, the performers who bring them to life, and more.
Out of This World – An Astro Q&A: A ten-minute piece in which the two young actors who voice Elio and Glordon chat with a real-life astronaut about different space topics.
Astronomic Art Class – Ooooo and Glordon: A five-minute tutorial on how to draw two fan favorite characters with some extra background on the artist leading the experience.
Extraterrestrial Easter Eggs and Fun Facts: A four-minute look at some of the hidden surprises and behind-the-scenes secrets of the film including cameos from other Disney properties and more.
Galactic Gag Reel A nearly three-minute look at the experiences of the voice cast recording their lines with plenty of laughter, flubbed lines, and more.
Deleted Scenes: Directors Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian take you through five scenes totaling 19 minutes of unused material from the film, some of which are unfinished. These are all quite interesting and worth checking out if you are a fan.

Final Thoughts

Elio is a very unique film for Pixar, mostly due to the fact that it positions them as an underdog for the first time in decades. The film was not a financial success at the box office, which is a shame since it has more heart than many of the sequels the company has been using as a crutch recently. There are some really imaginative characters that are easy to fall in love with, gorgeous animation that transports you to new worlds, and thematic underpinnings sure to be familiar to a large portion of the audience. We need Pixar to continue to create original ideas, so hopefully audiences will discover what a gem this is at home and support future original ideas accordingly. Disney has given the film a 4K UHD Blu-Ray that delivers a tremendous A/V presentation and offers up some cool special features. Don’t let this one be forgotten. Recommended

Elio is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray SteelBook, Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Disney Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.