Over the MOON

Disney Pixar's Elio is an out-of-this-world adventure, say the cast including JLS star Aston Merrygold and Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett.

- By RACHAEL DAVIS

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 voices 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.”