Pixar introduces its first gay main character in the short movie Out
by Craig Risi
One of the things I’ve liked about Pixar movies is that they’ve never been afraid to introduce mature topics to their younger audiences. Many subjects can be difficult for parents to want to bring up and explain to their kids and somehow through the world of animation, Pixar has found a way of dealing with topics like, grief, loss, death and emotions in a way that is both understandable and entertaining.
Pixar is tackling arguably one of their most challenging topics yet as the trailer for new short movie Out features their first-ever openly gay main character. Its most recent film, Onward, did feature a gay character voiced by Lena Waithe, but that was a supporting role at best and didn’t make much of an impact on the story. In Out however, that character takes centre stage as a man named Greg finds himself struggling to come out to his parents while he preps for a big move
Like most of Pixar’s shorts, this one looks like it will be incredibly touching and emotional. I guess there is a reason the company has won the Oscar for Best Animated short five times. It also appears to tackle the subject matter quite delicately and this will hopefully make it easier for parents and younger ones to digest and understand this deeply sensitive topic for many people.
Out is the latest in a series of Shorts by Pixar as part of the Sparkshorts series on Disney+. It is already available for streaming to Disney+ subscribers, though when South African audiences will be able to see it is anyone’s guess.