Pixar seems to think so. light year The film failed at the box office due to a same-sex kiss, which prompted the studio to make changes. Inside Out 2. A by-product of a successful project. toy story The franchise and the studio's first major film in theaters in two years following the COVID-19 pandemic, light year The film was a critical failure for Pixar. Unfortunately, the film failed at the box office for several reasons, including a premise that was too confusing to sell to a general audience and controversy over the decision to recast the famous voice of Buzz Lightyear. However, much media attention was given to a brief same-sex kiss between Alicia Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) and her wife, Kiko. Although it lasted less than a second, the scene generated so much controversy that one Oklahoma theater chain tried to cut the scene from showings.
It seems that Pixar and Disney learned the wrong lesson from light year. For a recent report on the troubled production of Inside Out 2IGN We spoke with several Pixar employees who were laid off in May. Multiple sources say Disney leadership placed a large portion of the blame on light yearFinancial failure due to a kiss between two people of the same sex in the movie, as one employee said, “It is, as far as I know, still a thing, where leadership will arouse light year Specifically, he says, “Oh, light year “It was a financial failure because it had a weird kiss. That's not why the movie failed.”
This seems to have had a cascading effect on other Pixar films, specifically Inside Out 2Remember to get multiple sources of continuous feedback to make it happen. Inside Out 2The main character in the movie, Riley, looks like she's “Less gay.” Sources told IGN that some of the leaders were “uncomfortable” With generally strange topics and insisting on keeping those topics out of scope Inside Out 2Sources describe hearing that extra effort was put into making the relationship between Riley and new character Val seem as platonic as possible, even requiring adjustments to the lighting and tone of some scenes to remove anything that could be read as romantic. One source describes it as “They do a lot of extra work to make sure no one sees them as being straight.”
Another source added: “Note that Riley is not legally gay. In the movie I watched, there's nothing about Riley that suggests she's gay, but that's kind of inferred based on certain contexts. So they tried to downplay that at various points.”
Pixar Learns the Wrong Lessons from Lightyear
Decision to include a kiss between two people of the same sex in light year It was made at a particularly tense moment in the culture. Disney CEO Bob Chapek has come under fire for his poor handling of the company’s response to Florida’s controversial Law 1557, popularly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans schools from discussing LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom. The kiss was cut from light year But it was later added back as many LGBTQ+ employees and allies at Pixar protested the bill and claimed that Disney and Pixar leadership were censoring “overt homosexual sentiment,” with much attention being paid to the friendship between Luca and Alberto in 2021. Luca. when light year It didn't perform well, with many of the same people who use the term “wake up, go broke” referring to same-sex kissing in light year To bomb the movie instead of other actual reasons.
Pixar CEO Pete Docter recently came under fire for claiming the studio would move towards “universal stories,” which many read as a throwaway line to films like Luca, turn redand racist These films were sold as deeply personal stories from the filmmakers. Whether intentional or not, the implication seemed to be that stories centered on women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community could not be “universal.” Pixar began the 2010s feeling bold, bringing on new directorial talent and exploring original ideas. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pixar’s decision to send new films to theaters was unprecedented. turn red, spiritand Luca Heading straight to Disney+, where they’re sure to underperform, has left many Pixar fans and employees feeling frustrated. Similarly, the aversion to LGBTQ+ themes has left many Pixar employees rightfully upset.
Disney unfortunately seems willing to listen to the vocal minority, and fans aren't the only ones disappointed. As one Pixar employee told IGN, “Many of us have come to terms with the fact that we may never see a major gay character in a Pixar film.”
