(A spokesperson for Disney declined to comment for this story.)
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The most overtly LGBTQ project in Pixar’s canon is a 2020 short film, “Out,” about a gay man struggling with coming out to his parents - which the studio released on Disney Plus as part of its SparkShorts program.īut according to multiple former Pixar employees who spoke with Variety on the condition of anonymity, creatives within the studio have tried for years to incorporate LGBTQ identity into its storytelling in ways big and small, only to have those efforts consistently thwarted. And 2016’s “Finding Dory” features a brief shot of what appears to be a lesbian couple, though the movie’s filmmakers were coy about defining them that way at the time. In 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” two moms hug their child goodbye at kindergarten. In 2020’s “Onward,” a one-eyed cop (Lena Waithe), who appears in a few scenes, mentions her girlfriend. In Pixar’s 27-year history, there have been just a small handful of unambiguous LGBTQ characters of any kind.
the Machines,” produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Netflix - is the exception that proves the rule: This explicit fact of Katie’s identity is only fully revealed in the final moments of the film when her mother makes a passing reference to her girlfriend. Arguably the most high-profile LGBTQ character in an animated studio feature to date - Katie (Abbi Jacobson), the teenage lead of “The Mitchells vs. To be sure, there are several examples of forthright LGBTQ representation in feature animation created for an adult audience, including in 1999’s “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,” 2007’s “Persepolis,” 2016’s “Sausage Party,” and 2021’s “Flee.” But in a G or PG rated animated movie, the pervasive approach has been to tell, not show - and only barely at that. The decision marks a possible major turning point for LGBTQ representation not just in Pixar films, but in feature animation in general, which has remained steadfastly circumspect about depicting same-sex affection in any meaningful light.
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Following the uproar surrounding the Pixar employees’ statement and Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, however, the kiss was reinstated into the movie last week. While the fact of that relationship was never in question at the studio, a kiss between the characters had been cut from the film. The stunning allegation - made as part of a larger protest over the company’s lack of public response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill - did not include which Pixar films had weathered the censorship, nor which specific creative decisions were cut or altered.īut in at least one case, the statement appears to have made a significant difference.Īccording to a source close to the production, Pixar’s next feature film, “ Lightyear” - starring Chris Evans as the putative real-life inspiration for the “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear - does feature a significant female character, Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba), who is in a meaningful relationship with another woman. On March 9, LGBTQ employees and allies at Pixar Animation Studios sent a joint statement to Walt Disney Company leadership claiming that Disney executives had actively censored “overtly gay affection” in its feature films.