How Four Major Animation Studios Are Celebrating Pride Month

Disney’s talk show What’s Up, Disney+ has invited three queer filmmakers to talk about how they told personal stories in their recent work. One of the speakers is Steven Hunter, director of the Oscar-shortlisted Pixar short Out, in which the gay protagonist comes out to his parents. The film is Hunter’s directorial debut, and he had to think hard about what he wanted to say through it. “It’s so intimidating but it’s so liberating at the same time,” he says of the experience.
Dreamworks series Madagascar: A Little Wild, which streams on Hulu and Peacock, has introduced a nonbinary character in its latest episode, “Whatever Floats Your Float.” As the animal characters prepare a Pride parade, they make efforts to find a float that feels just right for Odee the Okapi, who eventually says, “It doesn’t matter what we are as long as we’re proud of who we are.” Odee is voiced by nonbinary actor Ezra Menas.
Cartoon Network is focusing its Drawn To series, which champions diversity by looking at the stories of real-life kids and adults, around Pride this month. In the short below, Drawn To Expression!, participants relate how they express their individuality through different forms of creativity: cooking, music, drawing.