Disney’s Pixar has dominated the animated film industry for so long that it has no other competition but itself. Now, the company might be pushing the envelope further by reportedly depicting a lesbian couple in the Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory .
The trailer tipped fans about the relationship between the two women in the upcoming movie. In the clip, at about the one-minute mark, a baby cries after dropping a sippy cup. One of the women then bends down before exclaiming, “Poor baby, let me get that for you.”
When they turn around, they are shocked to see an octopus sucking on a pacifier. The whole scene seemed innocent enough, but that didn’t stop fans from speculating that Finding Dory might be depicting a lesbian couple, said USA Today .
Does ‘Finding Dory’ depict Pixar’s first lesbian couple? https://t.co/TcRS71gH3I (Photo: Pixar) pic.twitter.com/dYqlNPbOo9
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 31, 2016
The only hint that the couple is gay is the haircut of one of the women, reminiscent of Ellen DeGeneres.
Ellen DeGeneres is voicing the main lead in the Finding Nemo sequel. Although Pixar has not released a statement confirming all the speculation, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if indeed Finding Dory features lesbian characters.
DeGeneres, of course, is married to Portia de Rossi, and it would be easy to imagine for the talk show host to use her influence into writing a lesbian couple in Finding Dory , even if it’s only a cameo.
Daily Mirror said that Disney’s Pixar might have finally listened to the different calls for the company to tackle LGBT issues in its animated movies.
In fact, fans have been asking the company to give Elsa a partner in Frozen 2 , with the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend going viral for a time.
The advocacy was started by Feminist Culture founder Alexis Isabel, who wrote , “The entertainment industry has given us girls who have fallen in love with beasts, ogres who fall for humans, and even grown women who love bees. But we’ve never been able to see the purity in a queer relationship.”
One Twitter user has already pointed out that Frozen already depicted a gay couple in the presence of the owner of the Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna.
@OneElevenGirl @amazingjr87 @DLthings @DisneyPixar There was also the (supposedly) gay dads and their kids in Frozen pic.twitter.com/8o2bKZNop1
— Le Parcorama (@parcorama) May 24, 2016
In the scene, the owner waves to what seemed to be a man inside the sauna with four kids. Some fans believed that it was his partner, while others have thought that it was just a random family.
On the other hand, Salon said there’s a lesson to be gleaned from including a lesbian couple in Finding Dory .
Even if this is just all speculation for now, Nico Lang wrote, it might be because members of the LGBT community are so desperate for inclusion that they just grab on to whatever morsel they could find in pop media.
Finding Dory Trailer Features Lesbian Couple?
According to data compiled by Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Hollywood has overlooked LGBT members within the past year. The data show that less than 20 percent of the movies in 2015 had gay characters; and if they did, they spent a measly 10 minutes or less on screen.
“If audiences are perhaps jumping the gun in anticipation of this possible milestone, it’s because queer people are desperate and hungry for more than we’ve been given in the past,” said Lang.
Nevertheless, the message from the LGBT community is for Hollywood, Disney’s Pixar included, to stop walking the line of ambiguity and finally make a stand. Just like in Frozen , where the trader can be mistaken for a gay or not, the sequel to Finding Nemo only just hinted at a relationship.
Finding Dory may feature Disney’s first lesbian couple https://t.co/Kkcff9h5qG pic.twitter.com/SWZILnvqGS
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) May 30, 2016
The one thing that could have erased doubts for sure is if the two women were holding hands, but Pixar didn’t take that next step.
To date, Disney’s Pixar has been coy despite all of the rumors about a lesbian couple in Finding Dory .
[Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney]
