‘Strange World’ Is Disney’s First Animated Movie Wh a Gay Lead. Why Is It Beg Buried?

Contents:

• IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
• ‘STRANGE WORLD’ IS DISNEY’S FIRST ANIMATED MOVIE WH A GAY LEAD. WHY IS IT BEG BURIED?
• DISNEY FILM FEATURG GAY MA CHARACTER BOMBS AT BOX OFFICE
• DISNEY ANNOUNC 'PRC,' FIRST FILM WH OPENLY GAY CHARACTERS.

IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE

That outle holds an obv potential for queer allegory, and ed many Pixar fans trackg the film’s velopment quickly labeled Lu as the stud’s “gay movie”—a g-out story to be placed on Pixar’s mantle alongsi s medatns on grief, artistic exprsn, lonels, Ayn Rand-ian objectivism, and parentg. ” That suggts a limed unrstandg of gay growg up, particularly of when our feelgs of affectn and special closens and difference n first velop.

That character, played tartly but briefly by John McCrea, is slightly ls of a scrap than the embarrassgly ballyhooed “exclively gay moment” 2017’s Bety and the Beast—but Artie still barely registered amid Cella’s cynil clamor.

Last year, Disney punted Love, Victor—a seri spoff of the feature film Love, Simon, the first stud film about a gay kid g out—om Disney+ to Hulu, clarg the young adult show a better f for that more grownup streamg service. Greg Gayne/HuluThe first season of Love, Victor very much felt like a show tend for Disney+ that somehow wound up alongsi Handmaid’s Tale. Love, Victor season two admirably exam life post-g out, as Victor (Michael Cimo) navigat his nascent relatnship wh barista Benji (Gee Sear) and tri to get his mother, Isabel (Ana Ortiz, queen of playg TV moms of gay kids), to fully accept his inty.

‘STRANGE WORLD’ IS DISNEY’S FIRST ANIMATED MOVIE WH A GAY LEAD. WHY IS IT BEG BURIED?

Victor and Benji grapple wh tra-gay nflicts jt as much as they do wh the wary nsiratns of the straight world. Disney’s latt major animatn fally livers on those reprentatn promis the pany’s been makg for years (Picture: Disney)Disney has fally done – after years of quick referenc, teasg and plenty of queer dg, the stud has s first gay lead character an animatn wh new film, Strange World.

Dpe s stumble earlier this year when Disney had to be phed to speak out publicly agast Florida’s highly ntroversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, as one of the world’s most powerful media pani has been an advote for LGBTQ+ rights and cln for many years via s msagg, polici and – of urse – merchandise. Everyone remembers the ial excement when was revealed Disney was gog to feature s first ‘openly gay’ character wh LeFou (Josh Gad) the 2017 live-actn remake of Bety and the Beast, before turned out was all to do wh Gad’s performance one scene and never tentnally baked to the script. Sce 2020, feels like we’ve been chg towards this evable moment wh Strange World, after Onward featured a lbian character, live-actn film Jungle Cise ma explic reference to Jack Whehall’s character McGregor beg gay and Toy Story adjacent film Lightyear showed Disney’s first animated same-sex kiss 2022 (aga, sadly cut some untri, as well as almost the US).

Fans were prevly upset to see Shang cut om the live-actn Mulan remake (Picture: Disney)However, is Strange World that is the Disney rtoon that is first to make one of s lead characters gay, balancg a way where is repeatedly referenced, forms part of a sub-plot and – ccially – allows for some lovely bondg moments between s supportive onscreen fay. Openly gay edian Jaboie Young-Whe stars as Ethan Cla, the grandson of legendary explorer Jaeger Cla (Dennis Quaid) and son of the more rerved explorer-turned-farmer Searcher Cla (Jake Gyllenhaal).

DISNEY FILM FEATURG GAY MA CHARACTER BOMBS AT BOX OFFICE

Ethan also mak an awome new iend Splat, FYI (Picture: Disney)Durg their geoly animated adventure, which ow a bt of gratu to pulp magaz, Jul Verne, Terry Pratchett and mythology, is ma clear early on that Ethan is gay and nursg a csh on one of his male iends. Strange World manag to balance a sual ‘not a big al’ approach to Ethan as Disney’s first gay lead character while also makg tegral to who he is and an element of his personaly that’s never bshed unr the rpet. The dispirg explanatn uld be that Disney, fearg uproar om all matters of the right, has chewed any big promo s more homogeno films receive.

Strange World was never sted to be a hot button issue wh anti-gay, racist, fossil fuel-lovg punds. 6 ln over the five-day holiday weekend spe beg herald as the first Disney movie to clu an openly gay ma character. However, those figur were rapidly, and signifintly, revised downwards when was unrstood how poorly the movie was performg wh wh other recent Disney animated movi cludg Lightyear (another disappotg box office flop), Strange World sought to crowbar progrsive to the film, cludg for the first time Disney’s history an openly gay ma character.

However, one liberal movie reviewer said Disney would likely e homophobia to shield om the film’s obv shortgs.

DISNEY ANNOUNC 'PRC,' FIRST FILM WH OPENLY GAY CHARACTERS.

“Disney is 100% gog to blame STRANGE WORLD’s evable bad box office on the fact that there’s an openly gay character the movie when realy, ’s gog to flop bee they didn’t market at all. More:Disney CEO fally speaks out on 'Don't Say Gay.

' But where's the gay Disney fairy tale?

The same-sex kiss first ma headl last month, when Pixar animators spoke out agast Disney an open letter obtaed by Variety, sayg that rporate executiv had mand cuts "om nearly every moment of overtly gay affectn.