Disney Pixar’s latest movie was a box office flop after the entertainment company decided to cancel Tim Allen as the voice of the main character Buzz Lightyear. The film, Lightyear, debuted over the weekend and earned $51.7 million in North America, which was lower than expected, and second place to “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which held the top spot for the second week in a row raking in more than $58 million over the weekend.
Disney’s new Toy Story spinoff opened in 4,255 locations in America and in 43 markets over the world. However, fourteen Muslim-majority countries banned the Disney movie from crossing their borders because the film included a controversial lesbian kiss.
Countries that have banned the movie include the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, which are Muslim-majority countries. In Malaysia, for example, the movie has been blacklisted and has been banned from the country’s movie theaters. The country refuses to air a movie that “promotes” homosexuality or a homosexual lifestyle.
Although Disney executives tried to cancel and cut the lesbian kiss from the film, Disney workers staged a protest and urged the company to keep the kiss in response to Disney’s lackluster reply to the Republican Don’t Say Gay Bill in Florida.
Lightyear was a big flop in its first weekend. Critics fear that Disney’s choice to move away from Tim Allen as Buzz’s voice and to include the lesbian kiss might have hurt its performance. People were estimating that the movie was going to make as much as $70 million in its first weekend, in alignment with other Toy Story movies.
However, it seems that Lightyear will have to find other ways to make up for its disappointing opening weekend.
It would be interesting to see if Disney decides to keep the lesbian kiss in the film or if they will try to please everyone by cutting it out. Tim Allen has not commented on the film’s flop or his firing, but we’re sure he’s secretly celebrating. This movie was not a win for Disney, but perhaps it will be a lesson learned as the company tries to please everyone while still staying true to its values.
This is not the first time that Disney has come under fire for its inclusion of LGBTQ+ content. In 2019, the company was forced to remove a “gay moment” from its live-action remake of “The Lion King.”
As more and more countries become accepting of LGBTQ+ people, it seems that Disney is slowly following suit. However, the company still has a long way to go before it is truly inclusive. Hopefully, films like Lightyear will help pave the way for a more inclusive future for Disney and its various holdings.
Do you think that Disney’s inclusion of LGBTQ+ content is a good or bad thing? Should Disney have included the lesbian kiss in Lightyear, or was it too controversial for a family movie?