Although it’s been several weeks since the release of Toy Story 4 and the movie has done gangbusters both with reviews and at the box office, the oft-outspoken group One Million Moms has now come out to complain about a "subtle" moment in the movie.
Unlike some of the other Disney movies out there, Toy Story 4 is not getting some moms up in arms for some adult jokes that can be found in the script. Instead, the online group seems to be upset that Toy Story 4 has a minor scene featuring the inclusion of LGBTQ characters.
Or as One Million Moms puts it:
[Some] praise it as a ‘small moment of normalization, which is exactly why 1MM finds this to be so dangerous. It has not been mentioned much in mainstream media, which could appear as acceptance when really it was because it happened so fast. But the scene was included and intentionally not announced prior to the movie release in hopes it would be kept quiet to expose as many children as possible. So many families probably plan on seeing this movie if they haven’t already and will be blindsided by this subtle but obvious promotion of the LGBTQ lifestyle.
It's common for people to go online these days after a movie comes out to complain for myriad reasons. This particular complaint shouldn’t come as a surprise given anytime there is diversity or changes in the gender or ethnicity of a popular character, people come out of the woodwork to voice criticisms. We just saw this when Disney cast Halle Bailey, a black actress, as the new Ariel, as well.
The scene in question, and honestly I’m not going to even put a spoiler warning in here because we are talking about five seconds in a 100-minute movie, is set at Bonnie's new school. Bonnie is heading to said school for the first time and one of her other classmates is shown being dropped off by her two mothers. One Million Moms also mentions a second scene in which the same child with two mothers is picked up.
The scene is subtle in order to desensitize children. But it is obvious that the child has two mothers, and they are parenting together.
In any case, movies are for the consumer and the consumer can spend money on whichever projects he –or definitely she in this case – chooses. At the end of the day, it’s unclear if this petition, which is coming three weeks after the release of Toy Story 4, will have any actual effect on the box office.
Toy Story 4 won the box office two weekends in a row and was only bested after Spider-Man: Far From Home – another Disney property – hit the movies schedule. It has made $662+ million globally, with more than half of that coming from foreign markets that are sometimes less LGBTQ friendly.
Related: That Time One Million Moms Tried To Stop Lucifer From Happening
Speaking of Disney, Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame also recently featured a similar LGBTQ moment in which Captain American grieved with an openly gay man who lost his partner during The Snap. This writer could not find evidence of One Million Moms creating a petition about that movie moment.
