And he implores the earthy sailors to dig for gold, but insists he can't join them: "I've got this crick in me spine." Ratcliffe's manservant, Wiggins, is even less masculine than the sailors. He has a pencil-thin mustache and a soul patch. In a fantasy sequence, his outfit turns white, trimmed with gold lamé.įurthermore, Ratcliffe has shoulder-length hair tied into pigtails with red bows. Ratcliffe is foppish, dressed in a purple doublet with ruffled cuffs, and a cape. As the representative of the crown among the group who left England to settle in what will be known as North America, Ratcliffe stands apart. Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas (1995) is also tagged as a coded gay villain in Monique Jones' "Just Add Color" blog. Here, CBR looks at 15 characters in Disney and Pixar movies who are confirmed as gay, or are believed to be by the fan community. In other cases, viewers have criticized the studio for coding its villains as being gay, conflating gayness with evil or going so over the top as to be insultingly stereotypical, pigeon-holing an entire community.
However, in some cases, viewers have embraced Disney characters as being part of the fold, or for reflecting their own journey for acceptance.
Aud Bool on the blog Prezi describes the term: "Coded gay is when a gay stereotype, 'gay behaviors' or 'camp' are used to imply that a character is homosexual while never explicitly stating that they are." This is often not seen as a positive practice. Some of these depictions have been more forward than others.įew Disney characters are explicitly declared to be gay by the studio or its filmmakers, but viewers have picked up on "gay coding," characters exhibiting traits corresponding with LGBTQ. Following the times, and in a few cases leading them, Disney has had characters in its films that audiences have perceived to be part of the queer community. Among the points of interest is how LGBTQ people and concerns are represented. As one of the top companies in its field, fans, critics and the public look to Disney for leadership, examine the themes in its movies and praise or criticize the company for how it reflects the world. Its movies reinvented fairy tales and stories from legend and literature. The Walt Disney Company has been one of the premier film and animation studios for almost nine decades.