Pixar released its newest short film, “Out”, featuring its first main gay character on May 22, 2020, just in time for Pride Month. This touching short film has a running time of 9 minutes filled with feels. “Out” is about a gay man, Greg, who is being pressured by his partner, Manuel, to come out of the closet to his parents. The short film is a great depiction of the anxiety, stress, and internal conflict that members of the LGBTQ+ community go through on a daily basis before they can get the courage to come out of the closet to their loved ones.
Spoiler Alert!
Greg is struggling to come out to his parents about his sexuality. When his parents unexpectedly show up to help him move, he rushes Manuel out of the house. Before Manuel leaves, he firmly tells Greg to tell his parents the truth. Greg somehow switches bodies with his dog, Jim, when he wished that he were in Jim’s shoes. After his mom comes close to discovering the framed photo of Greg and Manuel, Greg (in Jim’s body) creates a couple of distractions so that he can hide the photo in a new location. In the end, left to desperate measures, Greg lunges and bites his mom’s arm as she comes very close to discovering the photo.
She runs to the front yard in tears. She questions whether or not she is a good mother. She talks to Jim as if he was Greg, telling him that she is hurt he is moving so far away, but they’ll always be there for him. They want him to find someone who loves him as much as they do. And that whoever it is, they hope he makes Greg happy. Greg realizes that his mom already had a feeling that he was gay and she already accepted him as he is. After this realization, Greg goes to switch bodies back with Jim, by snatching the collar off of Greg’s neck.
Once they switched back, Greg (now back in his body) tells his parents the truth. The scene cuts to Greg making hot cocoa for four with Manuel. The two share a kiss and then Greg introduces Manuel to his parents. The short ends with a magically looking dog and cat floating off into a rainbow, which is a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community.
More LGBTQ Characters
While Greg isn’t the first gay character that Disney and Pixar have, Greg certainly is the first main gay character. Pixar’s latest release, Onward, had a lesbian relationship mentioned in the film by one of the female police officers saying “my girlfriend’s daughter”. In the 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, LeFou, Gaston’s sidekick played by Josh Gad was expressively gay and was played as such. In “Toy Story 4”, a scene shows two mothers picking up their daughter from the daycare in the background. Lastly, in Star War’s latest film, “The Rise of Skywalker”, we saw a kiss between two female characters.
Disney and Pixar have made great strides towards diversity and inclusivity over the years. We are starting to see more LGBTQ representation in Disney and Pixar’s films, which become staples in households for children. We hope that through these images combined with parents teaching unconditional love, children grow up learning acceptance for everyone, regardless of who they love. We are all created equal and should be treated as such.