We have learned that Lightyear, the highly anticipated Pixar film about the origin of Buzz Lightyear, will not be showing in Malaysian cinemas. The film was originally slated for a release on June 16.
While there has been no official statement from Disney or our Lembaga Penapisan Filem (LPF) regarding why the movie is skipping our screens, we can say with some certainty that it is likely due to a kissing scene between queer characters, Alicia Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) and another unknown female character.
LPF is famously known for banning or cutting down screen time from films that feature or hint the presence of homosexuality. According to the LPF Film Censorship Guidelines, any theme, storyline, scene, or dialogue featuring “sex scenes between a man and a woman” and/or “homosexual and unnatural sex scenes” will be scrutinized. Films like Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and most recently Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore all went through the anti-LGBTQ chopping board, while others, like Brokeback Mountain, were banned for their “positive depiction of homosexuality.”
As for Lightyear, this particular scene was also cause for some strife within Disney. While the fact of their relationship was acknowledged, internal decisions within the studio initially opted to edit out that moment. The kiss was later reinstated after internal backlash from Pixar employees and Disney’s public silence over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast was eventually released in 2018 (after its initial ban) when the studio refused suggestions for an edited version to be shown in Malaysian cinemas. It is very likely that Disney has once again refused LPF’s request for an edited version of Lightyear, minus any queer-coded scenes, and is withholding its Malaysian release.
If that is indeed the case, we at Goggler support the studio’s decision to not release the movie if it meant being forced to make such egregious cuts. Storytelling shouldn’t be restricted to a binary.
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