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Disney airs first ever Pixar animation with gay main character

The animation shows the main character deciding to come out to his parents
The animation shows the main character deciding to come out to his parents

Disney has aired its first ever Pixar animation featuring a gay main character.

"Out", a short film released on the company's streaming service, Disney Plus, on Friday, tells the story of a man struggling with whether to come out to his parents.

The main character, Greg, is planning to move to the city with his boyfriend, Manuel, and his inner turmoil rises as his parents come to watch him pack.

However, Greg switches bodies with his dog, and as he tries to hide evidence of his relationship, he soon realises he shouldn’t hide who he truly is from his parents.

“Out” was directed by Steven Clay Hunter, who has worked on hit films including “Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E.”

It is part of a new series of short films which will be shown on the streaming service.

Jim Morris, the president of Pixar, wrote on the studio’s website: “These films are unlike anything we’ve ever done at Pixar, providing an opportunity to unlock the potential of individual artists and their inventive filmmaking approaches on a smaller scale than our normal fare,”

Many have called for Disney to make some of its main characters gay, with some campaigners previously asking the company to make Elsa from Frozen a lesbian as a positive example to children.

Pixar has featured some LGBT characters in the past, including Onward, in which minor charcater Lena Waithe voiced a purple cyclops who mentioned she had a girlfriend.

Eagle-eyed viewers spotted quick shots of same-sex couples in the backgrounds for “Toy Story 4” and “Finding Dory”, but this made fans ask why they could not write more prominent LGBT roles.

However, some other Disney properties including Star Wars and Marvel have begun to feature LGBT characters.

"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” featured the franchise's first ever same-sex kiss, and Marvel film "The Eternals" is set to feature the first openly gay hero.

In the 2017 remake of “Beauty and the Beast,’’ LeFou, Gaston’s sidekick, was presented as gay.