'I'm always down for an adventure'

Disney Pixar's latest film is an out-of-this-world adventure, say cast including JLS star Aston Merrygold and Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett - the film is in cinemas this weekend

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When David Bowie asked “is there life on Mars?”, it may have been an allegory for escaping into stories to get away from the realities of life, but the question in its literal form is something that scientists, philosophers, and average Joes alike have grappled with for centuries.

It's certainly a wonder held by Elio Solis, the 11-year-old main character of Disney Pixar's latest offering, Elio. The boy is a space fanatic, endlessly fascinated with what might be going on beyond the confines of Earth, but he goes a step further than anyone has ever dreamed: he actually gets to meet some extraterrestrial beings.

Elio gets beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organisation that has all sorts of unusual representatives from galaxies across the universe - and his adventure teaches him a lot more about life on Earth than he'd ever imagined.

"I remember when I first got the character description for Elio, (I was) like: 'Wow, I can relate to him'," says 15-year-old Yonas Kibreab, who lends his voice to the protagonist.

"I mean, I'm always down for an adventure. My imagination will take me wherever, and it might get me in trouble sometimes, just like Elio did. But it's great to have an imagination."

At home on Earth, orphaned Elio sometimes feels like an alien himself. Lonely and misunderstood, he's more than up for the adventure of mingling with extraterrestrials, but when he's mistakenly identified by the Communiverse representatives as Earth's leader, he realises he might have his work cut out for him.