Pixar has always been on the move to bring in new short films. On Friday, Pixar released its latest short film Out on Disney+. This edition is the first-ever LGBTQI-based short-film in the Pixar Universe. Out is a part of Pixar’s SparkShorts — a collection of six animated independent short films streaming on Disney+.
Out, a ten-minute long short film from Disney, is directed by Steven Clay Hunter. It revolves around a guy named Greg who finds it difficult to come out to his family regarding his sexual orientation.
Out follows Greg who is in love with Manuel and they move in together. However, one day Greg’s parents decide to drop-in for a surprise visit. This prompts Greg to force Manuel to leave. While leaving, however, Manuel tells him to tell his parents. This leaves Greg in a painful dilemma. Due to a magical spell on his dog, Jim accidentally switches bodies with him. He tries to hide the evidence of his relationship from his mother while she helps him settle down. In this whole game of hide-and-seek, he realizes that he should not hide his love and come out instead. Especially when all his family wants is for him to be happy with anyone who loves him. And with this realization, he comes back to his real self.
The realization of Greg and him coming out to his family is a beautiful scene. It isn’t something you’ll see in Disney’s projects frequently. It’s truly heartwarming and makes Out worth watching.
Disney has been often criticized in the past for its lack of LGBTQI characters in its huge universe. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had the franchise’s first same-sex kiss near the end and few other projects like Onward, Toy Story 4 and Finding Dory are amongst those very few Disney movies which featured any character from the LGBTQI community.
Tessa Thompson’s character Valkyrie was confirmed to be the first LGBTQI superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and The Eternals is also set to feature the first openly gay hero. Disney is working on the flaw of missing out a particular community and it’s commendable. Keeping in mind the wide outreach Disney has, the step seemed mandatory.
Out is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.