Because of their history Disney aren't openly shouting this one from the rooftops and major publications like Variety are glossing right over it, but at the Annecy animation film festival Disney played Strange World footage showing one of the main characters, a teenager, flirting with another boy at school.

Some - though again we clarify not Disney themselves - are hailing it as the first openly gay teen romance in a Disney feature.

This stands in contrast to animated series Gravity Falls creator and executive producer Alex Hirsch's experience last decade when one male character just putting his arm around another was challenged by Disney.

Variety don't use the word "gay" in either their article title or their description of the scene.

Walt Disney screened three sequences from “Strange World.” In the first, Ethan flirts with heartthrob Diazo while friends from school look on, teasing in a friendly and warm-hearted way. Much to Ethan’s chagrin, his dad Searcher soon joins in, embarrassing his son with an overeager show of acceptance.

They name the voice actor for this character, Jaboukie Young-White, and the other newly revealed voice cast but make no mention of his being gay.

When we saw the trailer for this film last month and only two voice cast for the film having been named, we thought that odd.

Now it makes sense.

Strange World will land in Australian cinemas on November 24.

[ Main Image: Strange World. Credit: Disney via IMDb.com. ]

References

Croll, B. & Hopewell J. (June 17, 2022). Jake Gyllenhaal Joined by Dennis Quaid, Lucy Liu, Gabrielle Union in Disney’s ’Strange World’. Variety.

IMDb.com. Strange World 2022. (viewed June 19, 2022).

Know Your Meme. Disney's First Gay Character. (viewed June 19, 2022)

Lee, Jennifer (Jun 17, 2022). Walt Disney Animation Studios Present... Annecy.org.

Saghezchi, Matthieu [@MSaghezchi] (June 17, 2022). Just saw the very first glimpse into #Disney ‘s #StrangeWorld at the #Annecy2022 festival - it features the first openly gay teen romance in a disney feature!!! Twitter.

Wikipedia. Jaboukie Young-White. (viewed June 19, 2022)