Pixar has released a short film starring the studio's first ever gay main character, in a touching tale about coming out. Here's the trailer, so you can have a look for yourselves:
It's called Out and it tells the story of Greg, who is really excited to move in with his boyfriend Manuel, but also has to deal with the anxiety of coming out to his parents, and his fears about their reaction.
It was released yesterday and has been made as part of a series called SparkShots for Disney+.
The story sees Greg visited by his parents, and follows his attempts to hide his relationship with Manuel.
However, with the help of his fairy god-pets - a mystical cat and a dog that encourage him to tell the truth and finally overcome the anxiety surrounding his relationship - he manages to pluck up the courage to come out.
It was directed by Steven Clay Hunter, who also animated several classic films such as - to name but a few - Finding Nemo and WALL-E for Pixar.
It was produced by Max Sachar, who also worked on Toy Story 3 and Coco, amongst others.
That's a decent CV for any project.
Discussing the series in a statement, Pixar Animations Studios president Jim Morris said: "The SparkShorts program is designed to discover new storytellers, explore new storytelling techniques, and experiment with new production workflows.
"These films are unlike anything we've ever done at Pixar, providing an opportunity to unlock the potential of individual artists and their inventive filmmaking approaches on a smaller scale than our normal fare."
They certainly are unlike anything we've previously seen from Pixar, but that's a good thing.
The release of Out is a pretty remarkable moment, given that Walt Disney Studios has been criticised in the past for a lack of representation of gay characters.
Despite moments that have hinted - and sometimes more than that - towards diverse orientations in films such as Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it is still something of a landmark for an openly gay story to be told on Disney+.
As it happens, a number of Disney projects currently slated will contain LGBTQ+ character, including the forthcoming The Eternals and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Back in March, The Walt Disney Company's CEO Bob Chapek shut down an ill-informed critic who said that the company was losing money by endorsing products that 'promote LGBT ideology'.
He said that Disney wants 'to tell stories that our audience wants to hear that reflects their lives'.
Featured Image Credit: PixarTopics: Disney, Interesting, US Entertainment