The Pixar Movie Scene Designed To 'Introduce' Young Audiences To John Carpenter's The Thing

Space is a scary place, no matter how old you are. As such, the minds behind Pixar's "Elio" decided to include nods to staples of both science fiction and horror cinema in the film, as a way of endearing younger viewers to the genres. Indeed, the 2025 animated movie — which centers on Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), a young boy who's abducted (willingly, mind you) by aliens — features otherworldly winks to everything from the theatrical cut of Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kid" to Robert Zemeckis' "Contact." However, one scene in particular saw the creative team paying homage specifically to John Carpenter's shape-shifting 1982 sci-fi horror film, "The Thing."

The sequence in question revolves around a strand of hair from an Elio clone (which his alien buddies send to Earth to take his place so no one realizes he's gone) taking on a life of its own and crawling around, recalling a similar, if way creepier, moment in Carpenter's classic. Speaking to Empire, "Elio" co-director Domee Shi revealed that those working behind the scenes on the film were eager to bring this scene to life. "Everyone was so excited to try to animate the hair," Shi recalled, explaining that the movie's creatives saw this homage as "a little light introduction for the kids, and once they get older, they can investigate these movies." This was also why Shi and her team decided to incorporate additional visual nods to not just Carpenter's best sci-fi work but also that of Spielberg throughout the film.

"Elio" doesn't merely tip its hat to the titans of the sci-fi and horror genres; it actively looks to them for inspiration. During an "Elio" press event attended by /Film, Shi noted that Spielberg and Carpenter's collective sci-fi work helped to shape the film's story. "We watched them with a fine-tooth comb for the visual look, which gave Jordan [Rempel, the movie's cinematographer] a lot to work with," Shi explained. "So, we made these sort of darker, deeper shadows."

Those "darker, deeper shadows" are present throughout Elio's adventure, particularly when he's trying to make first contact on his own. Naturally, Shi cited another film about a boy befriending extra-terrestrial life, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," as another key influence in this regard. Not only that, but the creatives behind "Elio" also made a conscious effort to conjure an atmosphere of the unknown similar to that of Spielberg's own 1982 classic.

"There's something about that, that dreaminess, got us really excited, and it's about the way that you feel, not about what's real in a movie," Shi explained. "That's what excites me about animation, and I'm really happy with the way things turned out. That was really fun to nerd out about." Sadly, the movie's love for the sci-fi genre makes it all the more bittersweet that "Elio" flopped at the box office as hard as it did. But hopefully, much in the same way "The Thing" misfired in theaters on its way to becoming a cult hit, "Elio" will show newfound signs of life in the years to come.