July 3, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Pro-LGBT activists are praising Disney’s Toy Story 4 for including a “small but important moment of LGBTQ representation” with a scene of two moms dropping off a boy to school, both of them showing him affection.
“At the start of the movie, when Woody’s new owner Bonnie goes for her first day of kindergarten, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene where one child is dropped off by two moms. Later, the moms return to pick up their child and give them a hug,” states Gay Times in a June 26 article about the scene.
“It’s a small scene, sure, and it’s certainly not the major representation that queer people have been waiting for, but it’s still important. This is one of the biggest movies of the year, after all, and will be seen by millions of all ages around the world,” it added.
Toy Story 4 is now in cinemas and features the continuing saga of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and other beloved characters in yet another iteration of a series that has delighted audiences and filled the coffers at the Walt Disney Company. The movie was produced by Pixar studios, which is wholly owned by Disney – a company that is one of the biggest media empires on the planet.
Kate Gardner at The Mary Sue agreed that the pro-LGBT moment “was not groundbreaking by any standard” but praised the scene as a “small moment of normalisation.”
“Here was a major family-friendly film, one of the biggest Disney Pixar releases, and they included a lesbian couple with their son. It’s a small moment of normalization, even if it’s minor. This isn’t a show on Netflix, or a banned episode of Arthur. It’s a Disney Pixar movie, and it showed two women caring for their child together,” she wrote.
The American Family Association (AFA) said in a report that the scene “blindsided” families.
“The scene is subtle in order to desensitize children. But it is obvious that the child has two mothers, and they are parenting together,” wrote Monica Cole, director of One Million Moms, in a piece appearing on AFA. The small scene could have only been included with the “sole purpose of attempting to normalize this lifestyle,” she added.
Cole said that Toy Story 4 is the “last place parents would expect their children to be confronted with content regarding sexual orientation. Issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon.”
“Disney has decided once again to be politically correct versus providing family-friendly entertainment. Disney should stick to entertaining instead of pushing an agenda and exposing children to controversial topics,” she added.
Focus on the Family also cautioned parents about the scene in it's “plugged in” review of the film.
“The very brief inclusion of a same-sex couple in the background of one scene, which we've noted in this updated review, is also an important issue families will want to consider with regard to this film,” the review stated.
The film marks Disney’s latest effort to push the normalization of homosexuality on children. Other Disney films that push the normalization of homosexuality include:
- The Disney cartoon Doc McStuffins featured a family headed by two lesbian “moms” in its 2017 show about an aspiring doctor. It's marketed to preschoolers.
- Disney’s 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast featured a homosexual subplot where one of the film’s characters was refashioned to be homosexual.
- Disney Channel introduced in 2017 a homosexual teen character in “Andi Mack.” The show was aimed principally at a preadolescent television audience.
- Last year the writer and co-director of Disney’s popular “Frozen” animated film gave what the Huffington Post called a “glimmer of hope” regarding main character Elsa coming out of the closet as a lesbian.
- Disney’s upcoming film Jungle Cruise will feature for the first time an openly homosexual character.