This is a topic that has not been addressed in Disney’s animated movies
Steven Clay Hunter has an impressive career that has lasted 23 years and counting, as an animator at Pixar. Over the course of his journey, he had come up with characters like a seven armed octopus, a Canadian daredevil, and a wheezing toy penguin. And with his new short film Out, Steven is animating something that he never expected to do in his career.
He is both the writer and director of the nine-minute movie, which is currently available for streaming on Disney+. The story is about a man named Greg, who somehow switches bodies with his pet dog Jim. The story is about how Greg finds the courage to come out to his parents and talk to them about his boyfriend Manuel.
A matter close to the heart
Hunter has loosely based Greg’s character on himself, and has made him the first LGBTQ protagonist in the history of Pixar. It includes the usual Pixar elements of bright and colourful characters, it also includes something that was never shown before, like when Greg hugs his boyfriend Manuel.
Animating this movie brought out all sorts of emotions in Hunter, who had worked all these years in animation and had never thought of animating something that was so close to his heart. The movie received warmed responses and Hunter’s directorial debut is a huge success. Hunter, who is 51 now, talked about how he only found the courage to come out to his family when he was 27 addresses the importance of not hiding your true self from others. He spoke about how he was in a relationship, but since he didn’t reveal his sexuality to his parents, he and his boyfriend broke up.
Out adds to the list of heartwarming stories by Disney and Pixar and is now a new milestone for both companies.