Disney to Feature Openly Gay Characters – Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Disney plans to produce an animated feature film with two openly gay lead characters.
The Truth:
Disney has not announced plans to produce an animated movie that features openly gay protagonists.
The eRumor started with a story posted at the satirical website Amplifying Glass:
“’Princes’ is an adaptation of the children’s book, ‘The Princes and the Treasure,’ by Jeffrey A. Miles. In the book, two handsome princes, Earnest and Gallant, set off to rescue a princess, but fall in love with each other instead. The fairytale story ends with the two princes getting married and living happily ever after. The book has recently been released internationally after initially being available in the United States in February of 2014.”
The story was quickly shared more than 350,000 times after it was posted in November of 2014. Those readers, however, may have failed to read the website’s disclaimer:
“If you are looking for real breaking news stories, you have arrived at the wrong location. Nearly everything that we produce is designed to make you laugh and/or poke fun at the ridiculous nature of life in America. You would do well not to take anything that we say here too seriously.”
“The Princes and the Treasure” is a real book by Jeffrey A. Miles, as described in the eRumor, but Disney hasn’t announced plans to make it into a full-length animated feature.
But Disney did break new ground when it introduced openly gay characters on the Disney Channel for the first time in January of 2014. The characters appeared in the show “Good Luck Charlie,” TV Guide reports:
“In the storyline, parents Amy and Bob Duncan (played by Leigh-Allyn Baker and Eric Allan Kramer) set up a play date for their preschooler Charlie (Mia Talerico) with one of her new pals, who happens to have two mothers.”
A video clip of the scene can be viewed HERE.
A Disney rep said the storyline was developed under the “consultancy of child development experts and community advisors.” Still, the episode drew opposition from groups like One Million Moms, which, via the Huffington Post, said:
“Conservative families need to urge Disney to avoid controversial topics that children are far too young to comprehend. This is the last place a parent would expect their children to be confronted with topics that are too difficult for them to understand. Mature issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon, and it is extremely unnecessary.”
TruthorFiction.com contacted the publishers of “The Princes and the Treasure” for comment on any plans to develop the book into a movie. Future updates will be posted here.