Pixar and Disney’s animated movie Buzz Lightyear is facing a ban in United Arab Emirate’s cinemas.
According to the officials, the film was banned as it violated the content standards of the UAE. It was also mentioned that the film was containing same-sex kiss scene.
The Executive Director of Media Regulatory Office UAE Rashid Khalfan Al Nuaimi told Reuters that the film was banned, as it was containing homosexual scenes. Moreover, the twitter page of the UAE media regulatory office posted a picture of Buzz Lightyear with a red cross.
After the success of the Toy Story series, Pixar and Disney launched Buzz Lightyear, a new animated movie based on one of the characters from the toy story, which is facing a ban in 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries.
According to the plot, the female character of Aduba is having a relationship with another woman, who she kisses in the film. This scene raised many reactions on social media where some users mentioned that it is against the religion and culture of UAE, while others wrote that it should not be shown to children.
The producer of Lightyear, Galyn Susman mentioned that Disney has not received an answer from Chinese authorities on whether they would allow the film in cinemas, but China has rejected many homosexuality scenes in the past. She further quoted “We’re not going to cut out anything, especially something as important as the loving and inspirational relationship that shows Buzz what he’s missing by the choices that he’s making, so that’s not getting cut.”
Chris Evans also reacted to the objections created on Lightyear, “it’s great that we are a part of something that’s making steps forward in the social inclusion capacity, but it’s frustrating that there are still places that aren’t where they should be.”
Several reactions were observed on Twitter where @MikeSington tweeted “Firing back at Ron DeSantis. Disney has restored a kissing scene between two gay characters in the upcoming Pixar film “Lightyear.” It had previously been removed to avoid controversy. DeSantis, your move. Are you going to ban the film in Florida?
According to @kuwaittimesnews, #Kuwait’s Information Ministry is expected to ban Pixar’s upcoming animated movie #Lightyear from local theatres if Disney refuses to edit out scenes featuring LGBTQ+ characters and content.
According to @IGNSEA, Malaysia is the latest country to ban Lightyear from playing in cinemas.
Pixar’s other movies including “Eternals,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and “West Side Story” also faced a ban in the Middle East, Asia, and countries with a Muslim majority nation on containing LGBTQ scenes, but Disney refused to cut the scenes.
UAE’s Media Regulatory Office has previously announced a 21 plus age category, where they decided to stop censoring the cinematic releases but Pixar still is facing many bans in Middle Eastern Countries, as they criminalize same-sex relationships.
