Ask the Flying Monkey! (March 4, 2008)

Q: I've heard a couple times that the original script for the animated Dreamworks movie The Road to El Dorado had the two main characters hinting that their relationship was deeper than friendship. Do you know if this is true? – HPiper, Columbus, OH

A: The Road to El Dorado, the animated 2000 movie with lousy Elton John songs and the voices of Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh as traveling con artists, was supposed to be an homage to the “road” movies of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. But is it gay?

Some critics saw an “ambiguously gay” subtext even in the finished product. And, HPiper, you’re absolutely right that the original script included references that were much more obvious. Branagh told Entertainment Weekly at the time of the film’s release, “There was a lot of me saying to Kevin, 'What's the plan now, darling?' But they cut the 'darling's out, actually. Jeffrey [Katzenberg, the CEO of Dreamworks Animation] would say, 'I don't think you can say “darling.”’ I'd say, 'It's affectionate.' He'd say, 'Yeah, yeah. Different kind of audience.''' Reportedly, these pet names still show up in some of the subtitles.

I called up Dreamworks and asked for the final word, and the woman said to me, “That’s the weirdest question I’ve ever received.” I said, “Welcome to my world.” But she wasn’t able to learn any more than I already had.

Q: Can you think of any other examples of animated movies that have gay characters? -- Brent, Seattle, WA

A: Okay, okay, so no one really sent in this question. But hey, I wanted to answer it anyway!

Sure enough, there is a long history of coded or “vaguely gay” characters in animated movies. Unfortunately, those characters are almost always the villains: Jafar in Aladdin, Scar in The Lion King. But those movies never specifically come out and say they’re gay, you say? Maybe not, but the characters tend to be cultured, preening, prissy, fearful of females, and very, very effeminate.

But apart from The Road to El Dorado, there is one less stereotypical gay character, in the 1995 Disney film Pocahontas. No, not the preening Governor Ratcliffe (voiced by David Ogden Stiers) or his doting effeminate, poodle-loving man-servant Wiggins (also voiced by Ogden Stiers) — two more examples of Disney playing the gay-as-villain card.

It’s the character of Thomas the settler (voiced by Christian Bale).

Pocahontas is often referred to as the story of a “love triangle” between Pocahontas, John Smith, and Pocahontas’ stuffed-shirt fiancé Kocoum. But it’s actually a “love square,” with Thomas pretty clearly in love with John Smith too. Check out those longing gazes that Thomas gives John Smith at the beginning of the movie, and then his intense jealousy later when he spies on John Smith kissing Pocahontas. It’s not even subtle, which just goes to show that if your character isn’t a caftan-wearing, poodle-stroking stereotype, American audiences will cluelessly refuse to consider he might be gay.