{"id":641696,"date":"2026-03-08T20:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T20:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/641696\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T20:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T20:42:15","slug":"pixar-head-pete-docter-defends-cutting-lgbtq-content-in-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/641696\/","title":{"rendered":"Pixar Head Pete Docter Defends Cutting LGBTQ Content in Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you remember a couple of years back when Disney CEO Bob Chapek<\/a> stepped in over Florida\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d bill? Now it\u2019s time for Pixar to put its foot in its mouth, and just as it\u2019s got a new (and apparently pretty good) movie in\u00a0Hoppers<\/a>\u00a0playing in theaters.<\/p>\n

Longtime studio alum Pete Docter spoke to the Wall Street Journal<\/a> recently about a number of things, including some recent duds like\u00a0Elio\u00a0and\u00a0Lightyear. The former had an LGBTQ storyline<\/a> cut that many who worked on it argued made for a better and more complete movie than what hit theaters in 2025. According to Docter, this aspect of the film was cut because the studio didn\u2019t want kids seeing things they weren\u2019t prepared for or hadn\u2019t talked about with their parents. \u201cWe\u2019re making a movie,\u201d he said, \u201cnot hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s worth noting that over the decades, Pixar has explored topics such as, but limited to: becoming a widower<\/a>, suddenly becoming a single<\/a> or adoptive parent<\/a>, environmental collapse<\/a>, existential dread<\/a>, motherhood<\/a>, and job burnout<\/a>. The first Incredibles\u00a0has a subplot where Elastigirl thinks Mr. Incredible is having an affair,\u00a0Toy Story 3\u00a0has the toys accept death by furnace, and\u00a0Elemental<\/a>\u00a0is about interracial relationships. The last two movies Docter directed were Soul, which is about a Black man finding joy in his life again, and\u00a0Inside Out<\/a>\u2014maybe the most therapy-ass movie (and series<\/a>) in the studio\u2019s entire 40-year tenure\u2014is about messy preteen emotions that lead to its main character running away from home.<\/p>\n

Suffice to say, Pixar specializes in playing therapist or mediator for many things parents probably wouldn\u2019t want to chat about with their young\u2019uns. Docter\u2019s comment sucks, and illustrates how empathy and personhood only goes so far. But hey, enjoy\u00a0Hoppers\u00a0and wait to see how long before he issues an apology or clarification. I give it to Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you remember a couple of years back when Disney CEO Bob Chapek stepped in over Florida\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":641697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[209,171,104697,273084,6060,3721,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-641696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-elio","tag-entertainment","tag-hoppers","tag-inside-out","tag-pete-docter","tag-pixar","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116195501569038921","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}