Are we ready for a gay Disney princess? We may be closer than you think
Homosexual characters are extremely rare in children’s films, but many believe including them would better reflect society’s changing norms
The antelopes next door were gay – maybe.
For viewers of the animated Disney hit Zootopia , it’s been a bit of a guessing game. In an early scene, rookie rabbit police officer Judy moves into her new apartment and meets her new neighbours. Bucky and Pronk are both antelopes and both men, who live together and bicker like a married couple. But ... were they?
The answer, available to sharp-eyed movie fans, comes in the closing credits: Bucky and Pronk share a last name, Oryx-Antlerson.
While gay and lesbian characters are standard players in films and TV shows for adults, they remain a fleeting or barely acknowledged presence in children’s entertainment.
Last week, a campaign to change this caught fire on Twitter, under the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend – a plea to Disney to make one half of its beloved princess duo a lesbian in the forthcoming sequel to its 2013 animated blockbuster Frozen.
A children’s film may seem like the last place to be talking about sex. But advocates note that in almost every gaudy princess film or action-packed superhero cartoon, there are relationships – mums and dads, aunts and uncles, princes and princesses – that, thus far, have quietly reinforced a traditional standard for romantic love.