The times, they are a-changing at Disney. Last month, I wrote about how The Walt Disney Company decided to distance itself from its past Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.
“Disney’s distancing from DEI is a major step in the right direction,” I wrote in February. “The company will probably never totally abandon leftism, but it’s nice to see it moving back toward its founder’s vision for the type of entertainment Disney is supposed to produce.”
Another Disney project is reflecting a change in mindset. At the end of last year, I wrote about a Disney-Pixar series that just debuted on Disney+ that originally featured an LGBT character, but the studio backed off on that subplot.
The animated series “Win or Lose,” which debuted in February, initially featured an LGBT character named Kai who suffered a crisis of identity in a bathroom in one scene, but Disney-Pixar demurred on that storyline.
“Forget the politics of it all; if Kai’s plight isn’t the main plot of the episode, the scene comes across as something a writer shoehorned into the show to make a woke point — which isn’t much of a shock, given Disney’s track record the past couple of years,” I wrote in December.
Related: Some Disney Fans Are Up in Arms Because the State of Florida Is — GASP — Inspecting the Monorails
“I’m glad Disney removed something that at best sounds contrived and unnecessary and at worst sounds like more left-wing indoctrination,” I also wrote. “Maybe there’s hope for Disney to go back to its bread and butter yet.”
Disney might be dancing with the ones who brought them because the same series that axed the LGBT character includes a character who is a Christian. The Disney fan site Along Main Street (with which I’m not familiar) explains:
The show’s debut episode introduces Laurie, an ambitious young softball player who desperately wants to get a hit to impress her teammates and her coach/father. That’s kid’s sports movie 101, but the way the show introduces her internal struggle by incorporating her faith is a surprisingly mature move.
Laurie hits the scene in a time of prayer right before she steps up to the plate, and Pixar is not shy about the Christian imagery that surrounds her. She encounters heavenly light, there’s an angel cut out in her bedroom, and she even begins her scene with the words “Heavenly Father.” That’s pretty direct.
It makes sense when you consider that a few of the most influential people at Pixar are devout Christians, including Chief Creative Officer for Animation Pete Docter. It also falls in line with Walt Disney’s Christian convictions. A handful of quotes from Walt Disney express that faith, which he held privately but sincerely.
“I ask of myself, ‘Live a good Christian life,’” Disney told author Roland Gammon. “Towards this objective I bend every effort in shaping my personal, domestic, and professional activities and growth.”
“I have watched constantly that in our movie work the highest moral and spiritual standards are upheld, whether it deals with fable or with stories of living action,” he added.
Much in the same way that minorities clamor for representation and the ability to say “we’re here,” Christians are part of the fabric of American life. It’s long overdue that we see portrayals of faithful believers in mainstream entertainment.
“Pixar has given us a Christian character without relying on the holier-than-thou stereotype perpetuated by Hollywood,” explains Along Main Street’s Zach Gass. “By having her struggle with her beliefs that she still ultimately clings to, we are given a much more respectable and intensely realistic representation.”
Some people may frame the inclusion of this character as a pendulum swing away from the wokeness that has characterized Disney’s output the last couple of years. I’d rather see it as a return to Walt’s original vision for a studio whose output represented Judeo-Christian and American values. It’s a welcome sight to behold.
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