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[ManaByte]

This has been floating around for a while, but now IGN actually published it. Following Lightyear (and Strange World, which IGN doesn't mention), the new Iger-era Disney is pushing back against the rainbow in the company:

Inside Out 2 Was the Hit Pixar Needed, but the Laid-Off Employees Who Crunched on It Are Still Hurting - IGN

Inside Out 2 is the highest-grossed animated film ever. But behind the scenes, Pixar workers grappled with crunch, layoffs, and an avoidance of LGBTQ+ themes. Our report of the tumultuous making of the sequel to one of the most beloved Pixar films ever.

www.ign.com

Outside of the financial strain of it all, sources also paint a picture of a studio that’s terrified to rock the boat, with some internally pushing to avoid LGBTQ themes, requiring edits to Inside Out 2.

But multiple sources say that Disney leadership internally put a large part of the blame for Lightyear’s financial failure on a same-sex kiss in the film, which was briefly removed then reinstated after an internal staff uproar. In a joint statement to Walt Disney Company leadership, LGBTQ workers and allies at Pixar said leadership was censoring “overtly gay affection” at a time where employees were also protesting the company’s response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

The apparent hesitance to touch on LGBTQ themes storylines in particular affected Inside Out 2’s development, according to several of our sources. Multiple people recall hearing about continuous notes to make Riley, the main character of both Inside Out movies, come across as “less gay,” leading to numerous edits that ramped up around September 2023 after the resolution of the WGA strike. Sources describe rumors that there was special care put into making the relationship between Riley and Val, a supporting character introduced in Inside Out 2, seem as platonic as possible, even requiring edits to the lighting and tone of certain scenes to remove any trace of “romantic chemistry.” One source describes it as "just doing a lot of extra work to make sure that no one would potentially see them as not straight."

It’s worth noting that Pixar released a short in 2015 that followed Riley’s first date with a boy. Still, many fans online started to call out queer-coding in Inside Out 2 from the moment the first trailer arrived. (Inside Out 2 spoiler to follow). The movie also teased a “Deep Dark Secret” that Riley was harboring throughout, only to reveal in the post-credits that the secret was that she once burned a hole in the carpet. Many fans, however, thought the reveal would be that Riley was actually grappling with her sexuality, and even felt “baited” over what it actually was.

“Mind you, Riley is not canonically gay,” one source says. “In the film, what you saw, nothing about Riley says that she is gay, but it is kind of inferred based on certain contexts. And so that is something that they tried to play down at multiple points.” Another source calls some leadership “uncomfortable” with queer themes at large, and the insistence on keeping those themes out of Inside Out 2 was “a big thing throughout” development.

The movie has made $1.68 BILLION and hits Disney+ next week.

 

[HL3.exe]

Its probably because they also want to sell and expand in ass backwards territories like China and Russia. Disney doing Disney stuff

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Many fans, however, thought the reveal would be that Riley was actually grappling with her sexuality, and even felt “baited” over what it actually was.

Because when I think Disney I think "grappling with sexuality".

 

[ManaByte]

Its because they want to sell and expand in ass backwards territories like China and Russia. Disney doing Disney stuff

The article explicitly says it's due to Lightyear bombing, not China or Russia. Disney doesn't even release their movies in Russia after the Ukraine invasion and China has been blocking US movies for a while. Strange World is also a reason because the board told Chapek they'd fired him if he released it. He did, and it lost millions.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Its because they want to sell and expand in ass backwards territories like China and Russia. Disney doing Disney stuff

That was already the case before, yet you didn't have these cuts.

 

[HL3.exe]

The article explicitly says it's due to Lightyear bombing, not China or Russia. Disney doesn't even release their movies in Russia after the Ukraine invasion and China has been blocking US movies for a while. Strange World is also a reason because the board told Chapek they'd fired him if he released it. He did, and it lost millions.

True, I mixed it up with marvel stuff. Also stuff I don't watch and care for because of the pandering to global markets.

 

[BlackTron]

I'm sure "normal" gay people who just want to be left alone and mind their own business are super pleased that there has to be an anti-gay movement in a company in order to correct a pro-gay movement so strong they had to jam their messaging in a kids movie about Buzz Fucking Lightyear.

They push you until you cannot possibly tolerate another drop, almost waiting for you to crack with BIGOT ready to launch off the tip of their tongues.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Yes but is it actually good? Pixar really fell off after the pandemic

 

[Revolutionary]

Put a chick in it and make her lame and LESS gay

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Yes but is it actually good?

Looks like it:

The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $1.682 billion worldwide, breaking multiple box-office records, including becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It also became the highest-grossing film of 2024 and the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time.

 

[yazenov]

Forced DEI "the message" Californian garbage doesn't sell outside California. News at 11.

 

[StueyDuck]

it's funny that this crowd always focus on sexualising kids...

Smart of Disney to realise their errors, the movie made many dollary-doos.

Money talks.

 

[The Cockatrice]

China has been blocking US movies for a while.

Source? They arent blocking anything that doesnt have LGBT stuff in them.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Yes but is it actually good? Pixar really fell off after the pandemic

Yes. Safe. More of the same. But ultimately good.

 

[Trunx81]

Well, this settles it: Lesser gay movies make more money.

 

[BlackTron]

Put a chick in it and make her lame and LESS gay

one (sweet) baby step at a time

 

[kurisu_1974]

Forced DEI "the message" Californian garbage doesn't sell outside California. News at 11.

The saying actually is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_at_11

Sorry for being that asshole.

 

[kruis]

Yes but is it actually good? Pixar really fell off after the pandemic

No. It's a pointless retread of the first movie. Safe, diverse and boring.

 

[SJRB]

I can only hope the people who are so obsessed with the sexuality of characters in a kid's cartoon movie are on some kind of watchlist.

 

[violence]

Only weirdos want to work for Disney. The higher ups need to reel it back in.

 

[Sonik]

Looks like the cult is losing its propaganda outlets one by one

 

[AJUMP23]

I guess it worked and reinforced the position that removing all the gay stuff pays off.

It is a kids movie, leave the sexual awakening out of it.

 

[Hookshot]

Now if only Disney could help me the same way.

 

[calistan]

Seems like madness that there's any sort of story to be found in "character who was never previously gay, is still not gay in new movie."

I think the key part of that IGN drivel is "laid-off employees".

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Source? They arent blocking anything that doesnt have LGBT stuff in them.

China has banned the West’s biggest blockbusters, from Marvel movies to ‘Top Gun.’ Here’s why the new ‘Minions’ movie was approved

Most Hollywood fllms don't make it past Chinese censors and to the big screens in China.

finance.yahoo.com

Every year, China allows only 34 foreign films to be shown in its theaters. The China Film Administration (CFA), the government body that oversees film approvals for Chinese audiences, is now rejecting more American titles. Last year, 39% of imported films came from the U.S.—down from 46% in 2020 and 47% in 2019, according to Chinese film blog Theatrical Film Database.

Chinese authorities frequently ban movies and scrub scenes that include same-sex storylines or scenes deemed unpatriotic. Beijing so far hasn't approved Lightyear, which Disney attributes to its refusal to wipe certain scenes; the film shows a female space ranger sharing a kiss with her female partner. China also rejected Spider-Man: No Way Home because Sony Pictures declined to cut scenes that included New York's Statue of Liberty.

So if you look at 40% of 34 that gives you approx. 13-14 US-created movies per year, I can imagine why every spot on that list is a goldmine...

"Inside Out 2" tops Chinese mainland daily box office

"Inside Out 2" tops Chinese mainland daily box office-

english.news.cn

BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Disney and Pixar's animated film "Inside Out 2" topped the box office chart on the Chinese mainland on its premiere on Friday, data from the China Movie Data Information Network showed.

The sequel to 2015's "Inside Out" generated a daily box office of 16.78 million yuan (about 2.36 million U.S. dollars) on the day.

 

[BlackTron]

Seems like madness that there's any sort of story to be found in "character who was never previously gay, is still not gay in new movie."

I think the key part of that IGN drivel is "laid-off employees".

Appears character was gay during development, then they reeled it in/made edits, resulting in a character that is canonically not gay but was still has some hints/suggestion in surviving footage. I think this is notable, not the same as saying "never gay character is not gay again".

 

[The Cockatrice]

China has banned the West’s biggest blockbusters, from Marvel movies to ‘Top Gun.’ Here’s why the new ‘Minions’ movie was approved

Most Hollywood fllms don't make it past Chinese censors and to the big screens in China.

finance.yahoo.com

So if you look at 40% of 34 that gives you approx. 13-14 US-created movies per year, I can imagine why every spot on that list is a goldmine...

"Inside Out 2" tops Chinese mainland daily box office

"Inside Out 2" tops Chinese mainland daily box office-

english.news.cn

As expected, they dont block anything that doesnt have LGBT in it or similar aspects that their goverment doesnt approve, which means China is a goldmine as it always was if they stopped pandering to masses that dont actually watch said movies anyway and only love to complain about "muh lack of representation". The kicker is, this isnt just for China. It's a global thing. Most ppl dont care about forced LGBT stuff in movies. Hopefully the world is healing.

 

[ManaByte]

Appears character was gay during development, then they reeled it in/made edits, resulting in a character that is canonically not gay but was still has some hints/suggestion in surviving footage. I think this is notable, not the same as saying "never gay character is not gay again".

They tried the same thing with Frozen 2. They were going to have one of the new characters be a girlfriend for Elsa.

 

[BlackTron]

China also rejected Spider-Man: No Way Home because Sony Pictures declined to cut scenes that included New York's Statue of Liberty.

Wow go Sony!

At first I thought they didn't do it because well they would have to remove the whole finale but that was a different SM movie. I guess they just didn't want to bend here.

 

[Mistake]

One source describes it as "just doing a lot of extra work to make sure that no one would potentially see them as not straight."

These people are so far up their own ass, they have no concept of neutrality. Natural things don't need to be forced. The ones doing this stuff are harming the people they supposedly care about, and they're too thickheaded to understand it

Inside out 2 is fine as it is. Nice to have a movie for once with little controversy

 

[ResilientBanana]

Good, kids shouldn’t worry about sexuality so early on in life. Part of me feels like there is some sort of grooming going on when they put LGBTQ+ themes into a movie. I feel like if Elsa were depicted as gay, you’d have a bunch of impressionable little girls wanting to be like her. In my opinion, that’s different than naturally being gay.

 

[Bloobs]

Thanks Dick Jones

 

[DeafTourette]

Did you lot know you liked girls when you were little kids?

 

[Doom85]

It is a kids movie, leave the sexual awakening out of it.

Yeah, Disney films never dealt with sexual elements ever before.




And Hunchback? Was rated G.

But hey, yeah, we can have a song about lust, a silhouette of a man hung to death (Tarzan), a miscarriage (Up), the entire cast accepting their deaths as they plummet into a fiery inferno (Toy Story 3), the very clear implication of entire families including children being murdered (Hunchback and Mulan), a man being dragged to hell by demons (Princess and the Frog), over a hundred unborn babies being killed (Finding Nemo), a woman who wants to murder puppies and remove their skin (101 Dalmatians), etc., all that is totally okay with kids being exposed to based on the fact that nobody acted like dramatic crybabies over any the above.

But two women sharing a brief kiss?! Oh, the horror, get it away!

 

[DeepEnigma]

Did you lot know you liked girls when you were little kids?

We didn't "struggle with sexuality" as little kids. In fact, biologically our hormones were not even developed yet to feel any sort of sexual triggers.

We liked girls that we found visually pretty. Both sexes are fond of pretty girls. As adults both sexualities (straight or gay) are fond of pretty girls. That does not mean "sexual" or "sexuality."

Stop sexualizing children, Disney.

 

[SlimySnake]

Wow go Sony!

At first I thought they didn't do it because well they would have to remove the whole finale but that was a different SM movie. I guess they just didn't want to bend here.

lol fuck China.

Imagine getting triggered over a statue of liberty.

 

[BattleScar]

Because when I think Disney I think "grappling with sexuality".

Have you ever watched Mulan? Captain Li Shang goes through a whole lot during that movie.

 

[Lunarorbit]

This shit is so dumb

Who cares if she's gay. Losers, that's who.

 

[BlackTron]

lol fuck China.

Imagine getting triggered over a statue of liberty.

I guess it's supposed to be some sort of symbol of freedom or individual liberty or something like that.

So, uh, yeah.

 

[BlackTron]

This shit is so dumb

Who cares if she's gay. Losers, that's who.

Parents not wanting unnecessary messaging, situations and themes in their kids movie.

 

[Doom85]

We didn't "struggle with sexuality" as little kids. In fact, biologically our hormones were not even developed yet to feel any sort of sexual triggers.

We liked girls that we found visually pretty. Both sexes are fond of pretty girls. As adults both sexualities (straight or gay) are fond of pretty girls. That does not mean "sexual" or "sexuality."

Stop sexualizing children, Disney.

The lesbian couple in Lightyear were adults.
The son in Strange World was a teenager.
Riley in Inside Out 2 is 13.

None of the above are children.