If you’re hoping to get full confirmation this weekend on whether “Finding Dory” does, in fact, feature Disney-Pixar’s first gay couple, keep your expectations low.
The apparent lesbian couple, first spotted in the latest trailer for the highly-anticipated sequel of 2003’s “Finding Nemo,” appear onscreen for mere split seconds.
Without spoiling the film’s plot, the two women appear not much longer than they do in the trailer. The moment will more than likely fly over the heads of young moviegoers this weekend — and those of many adults, too.
But those keeping an eye out for the scene may be left scratching their heads, wondering if a short hairdo and an arm grab amount to confirmation of the pair’s homosexuality.
Even Ellen DeGeneres, the voice of Dory and notable LGBT icon, isn’t clear on the sexual orientation of the two female characters.
“I don’t know,” she said at a recent press conference when asked whether the two characters are gay. “I didn’t know anything about it until I heard this rumor.
“I was looking for that particular scene, and it appears that there are two women,” DeGeneres went on to say.
“One woman has a very bad short haircut, which I find very offensive,” she then joked. “If that’s the definition of a gay woman, then how dare you? Just because someone has a short, bad haircut doesn’t mean she’s gay. [She just has a] bad hairdresser. So I don’t know that that’s the case.”
Still, the star applauded the fact that the issue is in the cultural zeitgeist. “It’s a great conversation … Whether they intended it to be a woman with a bad, short haircut being gay or not, I think it’s a great thing.”
Disney-Pixar has not yet confirmed whether the “Finding Nemo” sequel features gay characters. But if it’s true, it would — technically — mark the first time for Pixar to include a gay character in one of its films. And in this case: two.
The quick peek at the trailer had a lot of people buzzing on social media. But some LGBT supporters may find themselves unsatisfied as the film opens this weekend.
“[It] would help the reputation of the studio, which has a tradition of shutting out LGBTQ character portrayals,” an Out Magazine article said, noting Disney’s failing grade in the GLAAD index.
The movie appearance of what might be Pixar’s first lesbians seems almost perfectly timed, following social-media campaigns like #GiveElsaAGirlfriend and #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend, urging Disney to include LGBT characters in its future slate of films.
“Finding Dory” swims into theaters Friday, June 17.