I Had No Idea Elio Features A Star Trek Fan-Fave, And It's A Perfectly Nerdy Cameo

If you look up headlines for Elio here lately, there's a lot tied to how it's struggled at the box office. While I get that there are a multitude of reasons people may not be going to the movies as of late, as a Star Trek fan, I'm imploring for others in that fandom to "boldly go" and get a ticket. at least after the great cameo by a franchise actor. (Note that there are mild spoilers from the movie below.)

Elio isn't jam-packed with nods to other iconic sci-fi franchises as far as I can tell, which is what made its subtle but powerful nod to Star Trek so effective for me. It played a small part in this movie being a new favorite of mine from the talents at Pixar, though I might have gone and seen it even sooner had I known the great Kate Mulgrew was in it.

Kate Mulgrew's Voice Cameo Comes In At The Beginning Of Elio

Elio is with his aunt inside of a space center near the movie's beginning, and he sneaks away to a room housing a replica of one of the interstellar probes from NASA's Voyager mission. When he triggers a recording explaining the relevance of the Voyager mission, it's none other than Star Trek actress Kate Mulgrew dishing out the info.

Mulgrew isn't a fully-formed character within Elio, unfortunately,, and for all intents and purposes, she's just a disembodied voice in the exhibit room. That said, those with an exhaustive knowlege of the best sci-fi movies, or any Trek fans with a Paramount+ subscription, likely clocked that it was her the same as I did, and I can only assume were grinning ear to ear over how perfect it was.

Why Star Trek Fans Will Lose Their Minds Over This Scene

For Elio fans who aren't as dialed into the world of Star Trek, there's an added layer of fun to Kate Mulgrew's scene in the movie, as the actress portrayed Cpt. Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager. That show didn't air until decades after the start of NASA's mission, of course, but I don't think it was any mere coincidence that led to her being cast for a scene that could easily have been handled by literally anyone without genre references in play.

Mulgrew's latest stint in animation comes on the heels of Netflix losing Star Trek: Prodigy, the animated Trek series that featuring an A.I. iteration of her Janeway. The actress is staying active in Hollywood while apparently waiting for an offer to return, as she told fans she "hasn't closed the door" on the idea of bringing the character back to live-action.

While we don't know if or when she'll return to Trek, it's so cool to see her have a standout voice role in Elio. The latest Disney movie has struggled at the box office despite solid reviews from viewers who have gone and seen it. I hope now that some Trekkies are aware one of their favorite captains has a part to play in the film, they'll check it out and see the movie so many are missing out on.

Elio is still in theaters, so make a point to get out there and see one of my favorite Disney/Pixar collaborations I've seen in quite a long time. Unfortunately, I think this is going to be yet another entry in the sci-fi genre that gains popularity far too late, but I'm still crossing my fingers that it can rally and find the right audience.