Disney restored a same-sex kiss that had been cut from Toy Story prequel Lightyear, a producer has confirmed.
In March, reports emerged that LGBT and ally employees at Pixar had sent a letter to Disney voicing their outrage that the company had seemingly censored ‘overtly gay affection’ in its films.
This included a same-sex kiss in upcoming animated film Lightyear, which tells the story of the real-life Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) that inspired the TV shows and toys introduced in Toy Story.
One scene in the upcoming film sees Buzz’s commander Alicia Hawthorne – voiced by Orange Is The New Black icon Uzo Aduba – share a kiss with her partner, another woman.
The scene had originally been cut, but was restored following backlash from employees stemming from Florida’s controversial Don’t Say Gay bill.
Speaking to media including Digital Spy, Lighyear producer Galyn Suysman said it was ‘important’ the scene was restored.
Lightyear had ‘always had the lesbian couple,’ she said.
‘They’ve always been a part of the film, being able to put back the kiss was important to us.’
She explained that the ‘touching moment’ is vital to the plot as it ‘helps Buzz to see the life that’s being lived in front of him… that he’s not having.’
‘He doesn’t have those kinds of relationships. He doesn’t have a child, he doesn’t have what she has,’ Galyn said.
‘And so it was important for us to get that back in there and we’re really excited about that.’
Disney has featured extremely mild LGBT+ representation in their films in the past, usually in blink-and-you’ll-miss-it background scenes: The Frozen shopkeeper (Yoo-hoo, big summer blowout!) refers to his ‘family’ and the camera pans for a millisecond to another man and four children.
2020’s Onward, meanwhile, featured a secondary character – a purple cyclops – make a passing reference to her ‘girlfriend’, which was apparently such a shocking ordeal that the film was banned in multiple countries in the Middle East.
Disney appeared to push forward rather than go backwards, with Marvel’s Eternals featuring an openly gay supherhero and the franchise’s first gay kiss.
It too was banned in multiple countries, as has the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel which features a lesbian character.
While much of the backlash comes from ultra-conservative, ultra-religious countries where homosexuality is still illegal, a new row has begun closer to home for Disney.
The newly-passed anti-LGBT legislation, dubbed the Don’t Say Gay bill, limits educators in Florida from teaching young children about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Any educator who does not follow the rules could face legal battles, with Republican politicians in the state arguing parents should be the ones to educate their children on any relationship not between a man and a woman.
Disney was initially silent on the controversy, leading to anger among employees and fans, with CEO Bob Chapek later apologising for Disney’s silence on the matter in a memo to staff members.
The text of the legislation states: ‘Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through [third grade]’ or ‘in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards’ in other grades.
It adds that parents ‘may bring an action against a school district to obtain a declaratory judgement’ and they may be awarded damages and legal fees if it is found that a school violated the bill.
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