Disney’s latest animated film “Strange World” is a cute adventure-based story about father-son relationships, curiosity, and self-discovery. It is centered in a fantasy-based world that values exploration where much is unknown about the planet they live on.  

It follows the main character, Searcher Clade, as he tries to save the discovery he made on a past expedition with his estranged father. The discovery was energy exhibiting plants that gave their society electricity. He worries that his son Ethan will become like his grandfather and put exploration above everything else and leave his family and responsibilities behind.  

The plot is straightforward and delivers a theme about family values and finding yourself in a stylized, meaningful way. So, it comes as a major surprise to learn that the film was set to lose an estimated 100 million dollars in the box office. What was it about this film that led to this devastating blow? 

Fans noticed that advertising for the movie was very slim compared to other Disney works. Usually, a new animated feature meant pop-ups for it on social media, un-skippable YouTube ads, and plenty of other forms of marketing. For Strange World however, hardly anyone knew the movie was even coming out. This suggests that Disney didn’t spend a lot on properly marketing the film, which explains the empty movie seats come opening day for the feature.  

Another controversial aspect of the film was its inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters. Ethan Clade, the son of Searcher, expresses his crush on another boy named Daizo, and it is hinted at the end of the movie that they end up together. Disney purposefully did not release the film in nations with restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights like China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, West and East Africa, and the entirety of The Middle East. Skipping these markets was a huge risk taken by Disney, but allowing representation in their animations creates more room for diversity and inclusion in the industry, and taking the financial blow for the cause is quite noble.  

A majority of the reviews for the film only talk about the inclusion of the openly gay orienting character, and many parents complain about this development and bash Disney for the decision to include the character in the film. It is incredibly disheartening to see people entirely discredit a film because of their own bias and opinions instead of reviewing the movie for how it is. Only focusing on the new representation in the film instead of giving the creators credit for making an astoundingly beautiful animation with a creative story isn’t fair for all parties involved in the making of this movie.   

We live in a time where inclusion is everywhere, and diversity is impossible to avoid. People getting upset over the idea that non-traditional relationships exist and get representation in our media is hard to comprehend. Seeing this new development for inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals in Disney animation gives hope for the future of representation in media. I am hopeful that Disney does not let the misguided reviews and box-office flop disrupt the inclusion of these characters in future works.