NEED TO KNOW
Elio is coming in for a landing — at home!
Disney-Pixar’s newest animated offering will officially be available on digital Aug. 19, and on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD Sept. 9, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal.
Per a release, “The digital and Blu-ray offer hours of exclusive bonus content including astronautic and artistic featurettes plus a gag reel, deleted scenes and a peek at Pixar’s Easter Egg inclusions,” adding, “The 4K UHD will be available in a collectible limited edition SteelBook® with astronomically appealing artwork and packaging, displaying the beauty and wonder of Elio’s adventure, along with a couple of his new extraterrestrial friends.”
Elio tells the story of an 11-year-old scientist named Elio Solís (Yonas Kibreab) as he struggles to fit in with the rest of his classmates. He discovers how to get transported to space and becomes friends with the aliens, including his best friend Glordon (Remy Edgerly). But his adventure with the aliens takes a turn when he finds himself accidentally getting identified as Earth’s official ambassador.
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Pixar
In addition to Kibreab and Edgerly, the animated film also stars the voices of Zoe Saldaña, Brad Garrett, Brandon Moon and Jameela Jamil.
Saldaña, who voices Elio’s aunt Olga Solís, shares her personal connection to the movie in a clip shared exclusively with PEOPLE.
“There’s been a common theme in a lot of the choices that I’ve made in my career in the last year: It’s to be a part of stories that dance around the theme of grief,” says the Oscar winner, 47. “And as someone that lost a parent when I was 9 years old, I can certainly sympathize with Elio a lot more than I can sympathize with Olga.”
Specifically, explains Saldaña, “There were moments in my life where I felt like I just couldn’t fit in, no matter what I did.”
“I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere, and I remember feeling buckets of sadness and wanting to be somewhere else,” the Guardians of the Galaxy star continues. “But [I was] experiencing all these emotions while I was starting to tap into who I am and what I want to do in my life.”
Disney/Pixar
Per an official synopsis, Elio follows the “cosmic misadventure” of the title character, “a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession.”
“Mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and somehow discover who and where he is truly meant to be,” the synopsis adds.
Saldaña says, in her own experience growing up, she had so many “conflicting emotions but all in one little body” — and now, she understands that “sometimes we underestimate children’s capacity to feel validated and understood, just with stories that we can tell that can cater to their audiences.”
“So I like being a part of that. Elio drew me because of that,” she adds.
Elio is available on digital Aug. 19, and on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD Sept. 9.
