Onward’s gay character still leav Disney behd s petors - Polygon

Contents:

• IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
• WHAT WAS THE FIRST MOVIE WH AN OPENLY GAY MA CHARACTER?
• 5 THGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE MCU'S FIRST OPENLY GAY SUPER-POWERED CHARACTER
• DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)
• HOW MANY TIM IS DISNEY GOG TO INTRODUCE ITS ‘FIRST’ GAY CHARACTER?
• DISNEY JT CAST ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY MOVIE CHARACTER, BUT THERE’S A CATCH
• PIXAR SHORT FILM ‘OUT’ FEATUR STUD’S FIRST GAY MA CHARACTER
• ALL 10 TIM DISNEY INTRODUCED ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER (AND GAVE US NOTHG)
• ONWARD’S OPENLY GAY CHARACTER STILL LEAV DISNEY BEHD S PETORS
• JUNGLE CISE: DISNEY’S FIRST GAY MA CHARACTER (AND COMG OUT SCENE) EXPLAED
• PIXAR’S “OUT” WILL FEATURE DISNEY’S FIRST ANIMATED GAY MA CHARACTER - INSI THE MAGIC

IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE

The pany has never been known for s great LGBTQ+ reprentatn or polics, but 's e unr even more scty than ual after fans learned that the pany was donatg money to legislators Florida backg that state's ntroversial "Don't Say Gay" bill. Especially when the news broke that Pixar has been censorg gay ntent out of s films for Disney really been producg enough spirg ntent to unteract s donatns and lack of a statement?

When this live-actn remake me out, Disney touted LeFou (played by Josh Gad) as beg their first gay character and even said that he had an "exclively gay moment" the film. Disney and Marvel Studs proudly announced that 2019 they had troduced their first gay character the Marvel Cematic Universe, only to have fans fd out that was an unnamed character one scene played by the movie's straight -director.

MacGregor, played by Jack Whehall, was supposed to be Disney's "first major gay character" when Jungle Cise was set to be released way back 2019, but bee of the global panmic, the film was layed until 2021. Marvel's first gay superhero and the first married gay uple the MCU both happened 2021, which was que the year for "First Gays" for the pany. Artie is one of several characters advertised as the pany's "first major gay character" after both LeFou Bety and the Beast and MacGregor the layed-for-several-years Jungle Cise.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST MOVIE WH AN OPENLY GAY MA CHARACTER?

After news broke that Disney not only donated to legislators backg anti-gay bills, but also repeatedly cut queer ntent om their movi, Pixar cid to rtore a scene the Lightyear film where a female character named Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) kiss her female partner. Comedian Jaboie Young-Whe will be voicg a new character the upg animated film Strange World who is volved "the first openly gay teen romance a Disney feature" acrdg to Twter er Matthiew Saghezchi, who saw a clip om the film at the Annecy 2022 ftival.

While gay characters were equently ed for lghs or not explicly stated to be queer the earlit mastream Hollywood films, a brief relaxatn Germany's film productn the early 20th century allowed for LGBTQ+ classics like "Different om the Others" and "Mädchen Uniform. Later, the New Queer Cema the 1990s flourished as many pennt filmmakers (many of whom were gay) told fluid, empathetic stori about queer dividuals. The film, which featur an all-Black st, was one big step toward makg gay cema that isn't whewashed, featur a range of inti, and don't make s queer characters one-note or vehicl of sufferg.

The German film "Anrs als die Anrn" (English: "Different om the Others") is one of the olst survivg movi wh a gay protagonist and was ma durg a rare perd when German film censorship was relaxed after World War I.

5 THGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE MCU'S FIRST OPENLY GAY SUPER-POWERED CHARACTER

It centers on a vlist who tak his life after gettg blackmailed for his sexualy and ends wh an appeal for gay tolerance by German gay rights activist Magn Hirschfeld. Charl Bryant's adaptatn of gay wrer Osr Wil's play of the same name reportedly featured several queer llaborators—namely, bisexual lead actor Alla Nazimova and set signer Natacha Rambova (her mored lover).

In one scene om the 1938 screwball edy "Brgg Up Baby, " the word "gay" was ed a queer ntext for likely the first time (possibly thanks to queer performers' e of "gay" as a slang term). When a woman asks reputedly bisexual actor Cary Grant's character why he's wearg a feathery bathrobe, he rponds, "Bee I jt went gay all of a sudn!

Loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murr se, Aled Hchck's "Rope" tells the story of two heavily d gay men who murr one of their classmat for the sheer thrill of .

DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)

"Victim" opens 1960s London, where a man's ath leads the film's gay ma character (Dirk Bogar) to disver a blackmail scheme agast several gay men. While "The Children's Hour" is notable for prentg a sympathetic queer ma character a time when that was rare, has also been cricized for rercg the "tragic gay endg" stereotype. "Portra of Jason" was shot over 12 hours, as experimental filmmaker Shirley Clarke terviewed Jason Holliday, a Black gay sex worker and aspirg baret dancer.

Although one uld argue that such a gelg terview procs was exploative, Holliday's mgs about his life, dreams, and art the face of societal anti-Blackns and homophobia provi the kd of tersectnal look at LGBTQ+ inty that '60s media sorely lacked. Produced durg the fal months of the Hays Co, Robert Aldrich's film about the breakdown of an agg lbian TV actor clud a lbian sex scene that broke down a major taboo associated wh the Co's erasure of gay characters on screen. Origally an Off-Broadway play by Mart Crowley, the film explor the unrlyg tensns that surface when a iendly group of gay New Yorkers gathers for a birthday party.

"Word Is Out: Stori of Some of Our Liv" prised terviews wh 26 lbians and gay men who spoke about their liv and experienc as part of the LGBTQ+ muny. William Friedk's "Cisg" was reviled by many gay viewers, wh one pamphlet sayg that, the film, "gay men are prented as one-dimensnal sex-crazed lunatics … It is a film about why we should be killed.

HOW MANY TIM IS DISNEY GOG TO INTRODUCE ITS ‘FIRST’ GAY CHARACTER?

Gay first-time director Bill Sherwood's "Partg Glanc" is regard as the first film to al wh the AIDS crisis, which had a vastatg impact on gay and bisexual men particular the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the early 1990s, several openly gay directors beme volved pennt cema, creatg a crop of queer movi that treated sexualy as fluid—exampl clu "Orlando, " "My Own Private Idaho, " "Poison, " and many more. Starrg major Hollywood actors like Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, and Wley Snip as drag queens, "To Wong Foo" was the rare, explicly gay stud film that rose to the top of the box office durg s first two weeks theaters.

After years of tellg bold stori featurg gay and trans characters, his film "All About My Mother, " which follows a woman who rennects wh her ex-partner (a trans woman) won Bt Foreign Language Film at the 2000 Amy Awards. Ang Lee's film about the long-term secret romance between two wboys (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger) ma history as one of the first big mastream movi that centered on a gay love story. LGBTQ+ media advocy anizatn GLAAD puts out a yearly report on queer reprentatn media, and s 2019 report showed hopeful signs that media is beg more clive, wh a rerd number of gay characters on screen.

Throughout the film, the characters’ attractns are fluid, makg this one of the earlit films to feature lbian, gay, bisexual/pansexual, and transgenr them. 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.

DISNEY JT CAST ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY MOVIE CHARACTER, BUT THERE’S A CATCH

” That suggts a limed unrstandg of gay growg up, particularly of when our feelgs of affectn and special closens and difference n first velop. I'm sure there are plenty of never-released gay/lbian films om early cema, but what was the first film released theaters for the general public? For this qutn, let's nsir openly gay someone who claims they are gay wh words, or participat PDA on screen (not lookg for films wh implitn of sexualy, but factual evince).

Though there were var gay stereotyp film before , I stggle to fd an earlier movie that had a lbian character ( this movie a 14 year old stunt love wh her female teacher) that actually nfs her love.

PIXAR SHORT FILM ‘OUT’ FEATUR STUD’S FIRST GAY MA CHARACTER

German cema ntas some earlier exampl like Sex Chas om 1928 and Different om the Others om 1919 mentned knut's answer, but the former only ntaed ambiguo homoerotic them and the latter was severely censored and rtricted. He's not the first queer MCU character; he's the first out, super-powered MCU character In 2019's Avengers: Endgame, -director Joe Rso played an unnamed gay man a brief scene at a support group. Screenshot: DisneyArtie is never explicly picted as queer Disney’s new villa orig story, which ma all the hubbub that he was the latt “First” gay character at the stud all rather silly.

ALL 10 TIM DISNEY INTRODUCED ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER (AND GAVE US NOTHG)

That and the fact took three trailers for him to get a le of dialogue, but Whehall’s McGregor at least gettg a scene that humanized his relatnship wh his sister bee of the fact she didn’t abandon him for beg queer like the rt of his fay—even if the scene did dance around sayg the word “gay”—was actually pretty solid, if fleetg.

It really do jt feel like yterday when we were promised the live-actn Bety and the Beast’s “exclively gay moment, ” only to be given Josh Gad dancg wh another man a ty agment of the film’s climactic dance sequence. Ever sce John Boyega and Osr Isaac’s Fn and Poe swapped jackets and lip-b their way to the galaxy far, far away’s hottt ship this si of the In T-65 X-Wg, Star Wars fans have wanted to see some gays space. Alas, after the Brothers Rso patted themselv on the back Endgame’s pre-release prs tours that they had brought the first on-screen explicly gay character to the MCU—after some fumbl along the way—we got...

Disney’s upg Cella, a live-actn orig story for the inic antagonist of 101 Dalmatians, is beg praised for featurg Disney’s first gay character. It’s a faiar tone for the pany, as Disney has pneered their “first” gay character at least 7 tim, give or take; Onward, Bety and the Beast, Jungle Cise, The Rise of Skywalker, Zootopia, Toy Story 4, and Avengers: Endgame all feature mor characters who make exceedgly subtle referenc htg at same-sex attractn. Disney has fally announced s first openly gay film character, but they cid to st a straight actor the was announced that Disney sted Brish edian Jack Whehall the role as Lily's brother, who will be openly gay, Jungle Cise.

ONWARD’S OPENLY GAY CHARACTER STILL LEAV DISNEY BEHD S PETORS

A lot of people were surprised to hear about the stg choice, pecially sce Hollywood had been recently met wh backlash over straight actors gettg st the few gay rol that are currently ntent is imported om twter. You may be able to fd the same ntent another format, or you may be able to fd more rmatn, at their web exced about this huge moment for the LGBTQ+ fay, and @jackwhehall is amazg BUT when so many gay actor iends of me are turned down for straight rol bee there’s a “whiff of gay”, ’s tratg to st NonGay people gay rol— Jam Barr (@imjambarr) Augt 13, 2018"Super exced about this huge moment for the LGBTQ+ fay, and @jackwhehall is amazg … BUT when so many gay actor iends of me are turned down for straight rol bee there’s a 'whiff of gay, ' ’s tratg to st NonGay people gay rol. You may be able to fd the same ntent another format, or you may be able to fd more rmatn, at their web, @Disney uldn’t fd ANY gay actors Hollywood to play the first openly gay character their new film?!?!

— Brandon Hilton ⭐️ (@BRANDONHILTON) Augt 13, 2018"Wow, @Disney uldn’t fd ANY gay actors Hollywood to play the first openly gay character their new film?!?! "Others have posted their support of Jack's stg, sayg that they’re jt happy Disney will pict an openly gay man a ntent is imported om twter. You may be able to fd the same ntent another format, or you may be able to fd more rmatn, at their web a gay man I love the fact that Jack Whehall will play Disney's first openly gay character!

JUNGLE CISE: DISNEY’S FIRST GAY MA CHARACTER (AND COMG OUT SCENE) EXPLAED

The real problem is there aren’t many out gay actors— Jam Leon (@JamLeon1) Augt 14, 2018"I actually don’t md Jack Whehall - he’s b of an overprivileged prick but he was very funny Bad Edutn. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe animated film follows a gay man’s journey to acceptance as he prepar to move to a cy wh his May 24, 2020Updated May 27, 2020The man nervoly practic ont of his dog how he is gog to tell his parents he is gay. “Jt look them the ey and say, ‘Mom, Dad, I’m — this is my boyiend, Manuel, ’” Greg says, holdg a amed photo of himself wh his boyiend ’s a scene om “Out, ” the new short film om Pixar Animatn Studs that troduc the stud’s first gay ma character.

PIXAR’S “OUT” WILL FEATURE DISNEY’S FIRST ANIMATED GAY MA CHARACTER - INSI THE MAGIC

In the 2019 Marvel movie “Avengers: Endgame, ” there was a brief appearance by a gay the 2017 live-actn remake of “Bety and the Beast, ” LeFou, Gaston’s sikick played by Josh Gad, was prented as Diaz is a general assignment reporter verg breakg news. More about Johnny DiazA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 19 of the New York edn wh the headle: Pixar Film ‘Out’ Featur Stud’s First Gay Lead.

Ined, the pany has, on many ocsns, announced s "first openly gay character, " and proudly patted s back for seemgly takg steps at posive reprentatn and cln. Avengers: Endgame featur the first openly gay character the MCU — allegedly — but, aga, this character is not named and is only on-screen for a short amount of time. She mentns gog through a siar thg wh her girliend’s dghter — this le was censored multiple untri due to anti-gay legislatn, but still marked a slight improvement terms of reprentatn Disney.

Artie is another character who was never explicly scribed as gay the source material — rather, he is prented as a queer-d 70s villa Cella.