The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced on June 14 that "Lightyear," a Disney animated film, had been rated NC16 in Singapore due to its "overt homosexual imagery."
It is the first animated children's film to receive an NC16 rating in Singapore for LGBTQ+ material. The release date is June 16.
Disney declined to release an edited version
Singapore's media authority said that Disney, the film's distributor, chose not to broadcast two versions of the picture under a dual-rating system, with the lower-rated version available for viewing by younger audiences.
Two female characters kiss each other
According to the IMDA, "Lightyear" is the first commercial children's cartoon to incorporate overtly gay depictions.
Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger, appears in this prequel to Pixar's "Toy Story" trilogy.
The film features a kiss between two female characters and "some portrayals of a female lead character and her spouse establishing a family and experiencing various milestones."
Within the first 30 minutes of the film, the kiss occurs.
Disney had first omitted the kissing scene in issue from the film, sparking criticism.
It was reinstated when Pixar employees protested the suppression of LGBTQ+ characters.
Since 2003, Singapore's Simultaneous Rating Release procedure has governed the categorization of motion pictures.
It permits distributors to distribute several versions of the same film in order to "cater to different market niches," according to the IMDA.
IMDA noted that the goal is to "give customers with alternatives" and make "Lightyear" accessible to a younger audience.
Classification guidelines
The NC16 rating for the animated feature was determined based on IMDA's film classification rules, the organization claimed.
A fundamental premise was that the rules should be "responsive to broadly accepted social norms and values"
The opinions of parents of younger children and the advisory committee were taken into account.
Cheryl Ng, the head of the Films Consultative Panel, deemed the NC16 rating "acceptable."
While it is a great animated picture set in the United States, Singapore is a varied culture with many tastes and perspectives, according to Ng.
Given that this is a children's animation, a large percentage of members believed that the explicit representation of same-gender marriage merited a higher grade.
Ng noted that some members were "uncomfortable" even though they were prepared to contemplate a lower rating because it meant the film may be aired uncensored to a large audience on free-to-air television.
Certain nations will not screen the film.
According to a June 14 report by Reuters, the film would not be screened in fourteen Middle Eastern and Asian nations.
The likelihood of it being shown in China is remote.
This occurred when officials in China reportedly requested cutbacks, but Disney refused.
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