news culture Buzz Lightyear banned in a dozen countries because of a simple kiss
The new feature film in computer-generated images from Pixar studios has not even been released in French theaters yet and is already subject to censorship in a dozen countries. The cause ? A simple scene of kisses between two women…
A kiss to the heart of censorship
Pixar studios do their great return to the cinema after two years of absence. After the 2020 feature film En Avant, Buzz Lightyear is in turn coming out in theaters next week. And yet, its distribution has already been banned in a dozen countries, mostly Muslims or Asians. The countries in question are Malaysia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian Territories, Syria, Iraq and the Emirates United Arabs.
The scene in question? A kiss between two women. Alisha Hawthorne’s character is the famous space ranger’s best friend. At one point in the film, we see her briefly kissing her wife. This scene had already almost been deleted by the studios, before finally being retained after Disney and Pixar employees rose up to defend the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Some countries currently banning the film have asked Disney, of which Pixar is a subsidiary, for a final version of the film, hoping that the scene will be removed from the film. The studios have yet to respond to these requests.
Buzz Lightyear, space ranger
Buzz Lightyear is a spin-off from the Toy Story saga and traces the birth of the famous space ranger, of which the toy we know is a derivative. In this film, Buzz Lightyear and his crew, including his commander Alisha Hawthorne, crash land on a hostile planet. The space rangers team will do everything to get home safe and sound… And for that, they will have to escape the terrible Emperor Zurg and his army of robots.
The computer-generated image film is produced by Angus MacLane (Finding Dory). He also participated in the writing of the screenplay with Matthew Aldrich (coconut) and Jason Headley (Ahead). All sublimated by signed music Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, The Batman). Chris Evansaka Captain America, lends his voice to Buzz in the original version, but in French theaters, it is the voice of Francois Civil that we hear. The movie Buzz Lightyear comes out on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 At the movie theater.
