Did Pixar Make Riley 'Less Gay'?

The team behind animated hit Inside Out 2 were told to make main character Riley Andersen “less gay”, according to former Pixar employees.
Released in June, Inside Out 2 followed Riley, and the emotions inside her head, as she hits puberty and begins to grow up. Along the way, she meets Val, who many assumed would be her love interest.
But the studio made it very clear that the two were nothing more than friends. And, according to IGN, there was a reason why.
The report, which included interviews with 10 former Pixar employees who were all made redundant after working on the film, detailed “the pains of [those] layoffs, the pressure that surrounded [the film] and larger cultural concerns at the studio”.
Numerous sources told IGN that they were explicitly told to make Riley, who is 13 in the sequel to the 2015 smash, “less gay”.
The report went on to say “special care” was taken to make Riley and Val’s relationship “seem as platonic as possible… even requiring edits to the lighting and tone of certain scenes, to remove any trace of ‘romantic chemistry’.”
One source said it amounted to “doing a lot of extra work to make sure that no one would potentially see them as not straight.” Studio bosses were “uncomfortable” with the idea of queer themes in the film, and an insistence on not including them was a “big thing throughout”, it was claimed.
“Mind you, Riley is not canonically gay,” another source added. “Nothing about Riley says she is gay, but it is kind of inferred. That is something that they tried to play down at multiple points.”
Towards the end of the report, another source said: “A lot of us accepted the fact that we may never see a major gay character in a Pixar movie.”
Inside Out 2 is due to stream on Disney+ soon.
#insideout2 #insideout #pixar #disney #gay
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[@All.in.th3.family]

I feel like Riley being gay wouldn't be the issue but the fact that Val is EIGHTEEN. Riley is THIRTEEN. That's the real issue.

[@Cheese-Cakelol]

Val is eighteen?? I didn't know 😮

[@lalalalala2958]

If it was a one sided crush that wouldn't be an issue at all. A thirteen year old, maybe not even aware they are queer, girl having a confused crush on a girl that is older that they look up too is like a canon event for queer women. "Do I like her or do I want to be her?" Is something a lot of queen women experience when growing up and discovering their sexuality. It is also equally common for that older girl/woman they look up to to have no interest in them at all romantically. The story of a straight teenage boy having a crush of a female teacher of friends mom, or older sister that isn't reciprocated is SOOO common in media. So why should the same idea but conveyed through a queer lens be scrutinized?

[@catindabox9313]

Good val shouldn't be the love interest from what I can tell Val is a senior and Riley is a freshman *dills the fbi* right there

[@justindems7436]

you r going to tell me you never had a crush when you were 13?

[@All.in.th3.family]

​@justindems7436 thats not what they were talking about. They just brought up the fact Riley is way younger than Val. Val is at least 17+ while riley is 13. Which is EXTREMELY understandable.

[@justindems7436]

@@All.in.th3.family which is my point, i had crushes on people older than me when I was 13, everyone does, doesnt mean those people were into kids. I mean in the end i didnt see the movie and i dont care to die on this hill but it seem presented as a 13 yo who crushes on a 17 yo which is possible, it would become a problem only if the 17yo makes advances on the 13yo

[@yairennyr]

Even if she was straight the romance would have been unnecessary

[@naya4050]

It's about EMOTION not ROMANCE. PEOPLE, PLEASE. CHILL TF OUT

[@starry_moon1335]

Idk about you but I think they failed miserably because to me Riley is *very* gay

[@7hyunjinnn7]

shes 13 and its not that good to make a childrens movie a romantic movie with kids

[@kyozushi_daggers8540]

Stop making everything about sexuality, it's a fucking children movie.

[@LeelasULTRAV1OLET-b9e]

Real

[@tofu7269]

if val wasnt eighteen i wouldve loved to see riley being hinted at as a baby gay. No big love interest, just a crush. The show was already so emotionally relatable for me, that woulve made it even more

[@Star_Ruler]

this feels false claims because riley is most definitely lesbian, however i do think that making the relationship between val and riley as platonic is the right choice considering val is 18 and riley is 13, which them dating is illegal , but it was very obvious riley had a crush on val

[@LeelasULTRAV1OLET-b9e]

I definitly thought they were gay. I thought Riley had a crush on Val.

[@Aukku_chan]

Duh just watch a movie without shipping. Val was her role model and their sister liek sister relationship was so cute!

[@nalyaagosto9491]

They're just kids and not everyone is gay

[@Honeycoupe]

Mind you, Val is a SENIOR, while Riley is a RISING FRESHMAN.

[@twigcullen1964]

Val was the type of person every young teenager had a crush on. I'm glad they weren't more than friends (purely because of the age gap) but I feel like Riley having a crush on her would really expand her annoyance at her parents for thinking she had a boyfriend (in the short made after the first movie). The second movie just felt like a lower stakes version of the first so it would've been nicer to see Riley's romantic feelings (for anyone) make it (possibly) better than the first.

[@6ARELYXASTERIA]

Bro the kids can't enjoy a show? IT'S A KIDS SHOW!!

[@polarplayz2179]

So they think being gay is okay no thanks

[@Anonymous251-pt2zh]

​@@polarplayz2179 what's wrong with being gay?

[@Ilikefrogs..]

And some kids are gay. Some kids have gay parents. You think they wouldn’t feel good to see themselves and their families represented? Even as a straight person with straight parents, I find the constant pushing of heteronormativity in media to be boring and exhausting. I can’t imagine how queer kids raised in queer families must feel.

[@Ilikefrogs..]

@@polarplayz2179Being gay is okay. And gay kids with gay parents and family need to grow up seeing that.

[@6ARELYXASTERIA]

@@polarplayz2179 finally someone agrees with me

[@trinkab]

I wonder if we would have had a different movie if Didney hadn't gotten Pixar.

[@Honeycoupe]

The same-sex kiss in Lightyear got it banned in like 14 countries. Of course it’s a reason the film failed.

[@itzdan0s477]

Baloney, not in this day and age

[@Resident_Insomniac_2295]

...why was so much effort taken to make gay not acceptable?

[@Ruairi_Arrowsmith123]

No 🏳️‍🌈 in kids films

[@TeganFioreHair]

Wow

[@SAX-00-i7e]

👍

[@Bisudo]

Good.