Disney’s Biggest Loss of the Decade Is a Major Win for the LGBTQ+ Community

Disney has been hurting for an animated hit for the last year, and Netflix just swooped in and turned its rejected project into animated gold.

Debuting with a fiery 94% freshness score on rotten tomatoes, the film Disney passed up, Nimona, resonated with millions of fans. Premiering June 30, the tale of empathy, acceptance, and perseverance didn’t just stick it to “the Institute.” It defied Disney to become what fans call the best-animated movie of the year.

With groundbreaking animation styles, sensitive topics handled with care, representation of the LGBTQ+ community, and emotionally-gripping scenes, the triumphant Nimona is leaving recent Disney debuts like Elemental in the dust. Adapted from the novel by ND Stevenson—who has come out as trans-masculine—the film, initially backed by Disney, was dropped from Fox’s Blue Sky Studios. Judging by early reactions, Netflix scooped up a golden opportunity.

Disney Dropped the Ball

When Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, the animation house Blue Sky Studios underneath it was pursuing the effort to bring Stevenson’s graphic novel to the big screen. Amid COVID-19 struggles, Disney dissolved Blue Sky Studios and shut down the Nimona project. Although Disney could explain the shift with post-pandemic restructuring, former Disney staffers reported pushback about a kiss between the gender-nonconforming lead character, Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Sir Ballister Boldheart (voiced by Riz Ahmed).

Annapurna Pictures and Netflix resuscitated the explicitly queer story, and fans have awaited the arrival of a film that doesn’t shy away from its LGBTQ+ themes. With characters voiced by LGBTQ+ actors like Eugene Lee Yang, Indya Moore, Julio Torres, and RuPaul, authenticity shines through the plot’s inclusion of an unabashedly inclusive film. Nimona centers on the connection between Sir Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) and Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang). But the self-love story that unfolds about Nimona onscreen has fans flooding the Netflix queue—and pressing replay.

A shapeshifter, Nimona is an outsider in a society called the Institute, along with a villainous pal named Ballister. The two work as a team to take down the true evil in the world while Nimona unapologetically asserts an identity that doesn’t fit neatly into a box. Confidently retorting, “I’m a shark!” when characters assign other identities to Nimona, the character affirms the power of standing firm in your identity for both kids and adult viewers.

A Miss in Representation

Despite its stance on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and numerous attempts at inclusion in its films, Disney missed the mark with Nimona. The backlash from fans for a same-sex couple in Lightyear (2022) and Disney’s first non-binary character Lake Ripple (Ava Hauser), in Elemental hasn’t translated to box office success for Disney like the overwhelmingly warm reception of Nimona.

Maybe it was the timing of the project and the pandemic, but it likely has to do with the organic telling of an LGBTQ+ story by writers and actors proudly part of the community. The seamless delivery of the LGBTQ+ themes cutting to the core of audiences can be attributed to the skillful, gentle, and powerful presentation of the animated film’s representation without shying away from potential backlash.

With droves of fans railing against “woke” themes woven through Disney’s latest projects, it remains to be seen if the family entertainment giant will take a page from Nimona’s book. In the meantime, the LGBTQ+ community is scoring a milestone victory with the success of this emotional film, while Netflix lauds Disney’s latest fumble.