“To Woke and Beyond”: Why Disney’s Direction Will Be Determined by Lightyear

The following article is based on a conversation with someone who has seen the film Lightyear. As such, this article is speculative.

I got off the phone with someone who has seen Lightyear earlier today. We chatted about the movie, the feel, the quality, and then we came across a very interesting discussion. When the issue of “the kiss” came up, this person who had seen the movie replied that if people are turned off by cultural stuff in this movie, there are other things that go much farther than a lesbian display of affection. I was intrigued. How could we go much farther in a children’s animated movie that features the very first LGBTQ act of affection in a Pixar film? “Toxic masculinity,” I was informed. The movie is all about toxic masculinity. I couldn’t believe it.

At a time when Disney’s stock is cratering, parents are aghast at the Reimagine Tomorrow leaked videos, and content engagement for Disney+ seems to be heading in the very wrong direction, I struggled to believe that even Pixar could be this dense. Did they really make a Buzz Lightyear movie that transforms the loveable Buzz into a toxic male who needs to be corrected by other characters of diverse backgrounds? Could they actually believe that would be an enjoyable kids’ flick?

“Yes,” was the answer.

But it gets worse. According to my friend, the movie also features changes to the bad guy, Zerg (Zurg?), which are so drastic that it completely changes the way kids and parents will look at the villain. I have no idea what that means, but I was informed it wasn’t good. That means that both Buzz Lightyear and his nemesis are intrinsically altered in a negative way. For Buzz, he will now be strung through the critical race theory formula: he goes from being a hero to all and now becomes a character who has innate bias against minorities which he must overcome through shame. Imagine being a minority child playing with a Buzz Lightyear toy and watching that be the basis of your action figure.

Saw #Lightyear tonight! It was honestly kind of a blast and a weirdly good takedown of toxic masculinity?

Most importantly, I would DIE for Sox, who is immediately an all-time great Pixar character pic.twitter.com/Tg7iIhYQzJ

— Joshua Axelrod (@jaxelburgh) June 9, 2022

Speaking of which, I’m told that the expectation here is that families are going to hate this movie. I don’t often use the word “hate.” Go back and read my articles. But if you are a casual mom or dad who thinks they’ll take their young son to see Lightyear, I’m told that this is not that kind of movie. Instead, this is a very serious, very dire, drab affair. This is not Toy Story. And again, I’ve been told that Chris Evans is a failed choice for this role. Tim Allen’s ability to bring warmth and heart is sorely missing as Evans is said to essentially play Captain America in a grim space adventure.

Finally, I want to address the cultural importance of this movie. It is extreme.

We just came off of Top Gun: Maverick, a movie that is unabashedly nonpartisan and non-ideological. It follows the hero’s journey, it respects its legacy characters, and it spends its runtime building up the icons of the lore. It has been so much more successful than Hollywood predicted that I believe it will change the industry thought process. On the opposite side of that spectrum, I am told that Lightyear isn’t the most woke movie you could imagine, but it’s perhaps more woke than you could imagine a children’s movie being. Whatever you think of “woke” and all the things associated with it, this is Pixar and Disney’s giant step forward to present that world view into children’s entertainment. Should it succeed at the box office or on Disney+, I see no business reason why they wouldn’t continue to pursue such. But should this thing fail, the opposite of Top Gun: Maverick, Spider-Man No Way Home, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2… then surely this would be the death knell for propagandizing kids in Disney movies. It would also represent the first Pixar film in theaters after years of straight-to-streaming content and that content being an absolute theatrical bomb.

I have no idea what is going to happen with this movie. It could perform great as people just show up based on brand loyalty. It could collapse if audiences realize what is going on. I’ll tell you one thing though: never has a second weekend been as important as it will be in this film’s run. Once everyone knows what the movie is before taking their kids, what will the hold be then?

"Zurg Has Been Reimagined for Lightyear and 5 Other Things We Learned from Pixar" https://t.co/D6ztKkbmxP

— @pdkobelin (@pdkobelin) June 13, 2022

Finally, I want to say that I think critic reviews of this movie are absolutely not worth your time. The problem is that this film is going to be a “statement movie.” What that means is that any critic who comes out against it could be accused of being against presentations of “toxic masculinity” or LGBTQIA+ issues in children’s movies. What critic wants to take that mantle? I bet you could count them on your hand. After chatting on the phone, I’m actually stunned the movie has the lower rating that it does compared to other Pixar movies. “Stunning and brave” could be the label we give to any critic willing to give a thumbs-down for Lightyear. But for that reason, I don’t think it’s worthwhile to depend on critics to tell us if this is any good — they have too much to lose by saying it’s not. Instead, count the number of reviews that give it just high enough a score to get it above a Rotten Tomato “splat.” The numbers of 3/5 scores and C- ratings are likely to be disproportionately high.

Ultimately though, this is the movie that will determine whether there truly is a Disney backlash out there. This is the movie that decides where our culture goes in terms of left-leaning sociocultural statements being a norm in children’s programming. And everyone out there gets a vote. Your votes come from your wallet and the whole world is the direct democracy that Disney will hear from. As always, we’ll report on it accurately from this site just as we always try to do. Just don’t expect us to fall for any particular narrative in the first weekend (unless it is an absolute bomb because it couldn’t come back from that).

Let the vote begin. To woke and beyond or to broke and beyond? You decide.

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