Disney is slated to openly embrace Hollywood’s descent into the world of woke and feature its first openly lesbian character in its upcoming film Onward.
The upcoming film, which is described as taking place in “a magical universe whose fantastical citizens — think elves, dragons and manticores — have lost their connection to the magical arts,” will feature a lesbian character — a Cyclops police officer named Officer Spector.
While the character, voiced by “openly gay” actress Lena Waithe, only appears in one scene in the movie, it signals a huge shift for Pixar.
“It just kind of happened,” the film’s producer, Kori Rae, told Yahoo Entertainment. “The scene, when we wrote it, was kind of fitting and it opens up the world a little bit, and that’s what we wanted.”
The film centers around two brothers, Ian and Barley, who lost their father but receive a gift he left behind, “which turns out to be a 24-hour resurrection spell.” According to Yahoo, “the spell immediately goes haywire, forcing the duo to embark on a ticking-clock quest to find a replacement element before their father vanishes again.”
Officer Specter, the lesbian cop, makes an appearance amid the brothers’ journey.
As Yahoo details:
Officer Specter enters the narrative in mid-quest as Ian and Barley are en route to the magical mountains outside of their otherwise ordinary town. The brothers’ reckless piloting of Barley’s beloved van, Guinevere, brings them to the attention of one-eyed Specter and her faun sidekick, Officer Gore (Ali Wong), who pull the boys over. Not wanting to be escorted home, Ian casts a masking spell that temporarily disguises him and Barley as Colt. The ruse fools Specter, who listens as “Officer Bronco” complains about his girlfriend’s kids and the difficulty of being the new guy in their mom’s life. She immediately sympathizes with him, saying: “My girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out,” but suggests that the best thing they can do is try to be there for them. In that moment, both Ian and Barley start to understand that their family’s new arrangement is as difficult for Colt as it is for them. As Ian’s illusion starts to break down, the brothers make a quick exit… but not quick enough to avert Specter’s suspicions. She gets a message to the real Colt through the police switchboard and the chase resumes.
Pixar’s move coincides with the LGBT lobby putting pressure on studios to boost representation of queer characters on screen. A few years ago, many speculated that two passing characters depicted in Pixar’s Finding Dory were a lesbian couple. Left-wing fans of Frozen also pushed for Pixar to make the film’s princess, Elsa, a lesbian. The effort took off on Twitter, with #GiveElsaAGirlfriend trending at the time. Despite the pleas, Disney did not give Elsa a girlfriend in the film’s sequel. Disney did feature a lesbian kiss in its blockbuster Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Onward is slated to hit theaters March 6.
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