Elio,’ Pixar’s new movie about a boy who wants to be abducted by aliens, has its roots in a true story about one of its directors.

Pixar trades soul-searching for star-seeking in its most whimsical — and least self-serious — original cartoon in over a decade.

“Elio,” a Walt Disney Company release in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for “thematic elements, some action and peril.” Running time. 99 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.