The Disney Studios cartoon, Buzz Lightyear, has been banned in several Arab and Asian countries, including Indonesia, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, due to passages making the promotion of homosexuality. In Morocco, while the British film “The Lady Of Heaven” about the life of the Prophet and his family was banned because of the version ” Shiite adopted, Buzz Lightyear did not suffer the same fate.
This Sunday, June 19, Buzz Lightyear from the American giant Disney will be broadcast in Morocco in cinemas. According to critics refusing to air it, the animation includes a scene where two female characters exchange kisses.
After the announcement of its broadcast in Morocco, the controversy grew and Internet users began to attack Moroccan cinemas which, according to them, ” accepted the broadcasting of homosexual scenes in a cartoon intended for children”.
Quickly, and to prevent the controversy from gaining momentum, or even another turn, Ciné Atlas decided to put the dots on the “I” about the broadcast this Sunday of Buzz Lightyear. On its Facebook page, the cinema has made it clear that the film has received a visa for all audiences for Morocco and that Ciné Atlas has no role as “censorship”.
“Dear viewers, we are posting this unusual message, because our social media manager is harassed with questions about BUZZ L’ÉCLAIR and the controversy around this animated film. CINEATLAS is not a distributor of the film in Morocco”.
And to add: “Following the numerous messages we received, we questioned the company which distributes the film in the Kingdom, which confirmed to us that it received a general public visa for Morocco.“, explains Ciné Atlas.
The Moroccan franchise thus clarified that it has no other information for the time being before adding: “ We have no role of censorship, we respect the directives given by the authorities, we respect the choices of our spectators. Thank you in advance for your understanding and loyalty. “.
It should be remembered that the cartoon in question includes passages where two female characters are depicted exchanging kisses. The countries that have banned its broadcast have indicated that they have contacted Disney in order to remove these scenes from “ lesbian kiss for their audience or to produce a second version, but the American giant refused their request.
The United Arab Emirates, for example, announced that the ban on the cartoon was due to a violation of the media content standards in force in the country, and in particular indicates that the content of the film is inappropriate for the age classification he is aiming for.
In Indonesia, which refused to broadcast Buzz Lightyear, the media regulator announced that ” the film’s distributor Disney rejected the option of releasing two versions of the film under a dual rating system that would have allowed younger audiences to see the cartoon, noting that it is indeed the “first commercial children’s cartoon to feature overtly gay imagery“.
Indeed, in the ” spin off “ from the “Toy Story” saga, we find the character of Alisha Hawthorne, a space ranger and Buzz Lightyear’s best friend who starts a family with another woman.
For Chris Evans, who lent his voice to the space ranger, the decision of certain countries to ban the diffusion of the cartoon was taken by idiots » who still cling to the past.
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