Disney cartoon DuckTales – that’s right, Disney – just introduced two gay dads
DuckTales revealed that Violet has two gay dads.
Disney’s DuckTales reboot has revealed that a major character has two gay dads.
The third season premiere of the revived DisneyXD show dropped the quiet reveal about the family of Violet, a classmate of Huey, Dewey and Lewey played by Libe Barer.
The episode sees Huey and Violet facing off at their scouting group for the title of Senior Woodchuck — with Violet eventually earning the title after saving Huey’s life.
As she celebrates in front of the assembled crowd of family members at the event, it’s revealed that Violet has two dads — who are adorably both wearing T-shirts bearing the phrase “I’m With Dad.”
Just in case the point was lost on the audience, at one point Violet’s friend Lena cheers: “That’s my sister from a couple misters!”
DuckTales fans thrilled with gay duck dads.
Fans of the show on Twitter were overwhelmed to see a small moment of LGBT+ representation done right in the animated show, which is a reboot of the original 1987 series.
One wrote: “A step in the right direction for LGBT representation… Thank you so much, DuckTales.
“Seeing gay representation in my favourite show means the world to me. I love that they’re fathers to two beloved characters.
“Though they only make a small appearance, I’m still incredibly grateful for everyone behind the scenes who fought for it. Let’s hope it leads to more!”
DuckTales revealed that Violet has two gay dads
Another added: “i just really love how DuckTales made it clear that they’re gay and they’re both violet’s dads.”
Others seemed taken aback by the lack of interest in the moment, with one fan asking: “How did this fly under the radar?
“One of the characters from the new DuckTales got revealed to be the child of a gay couple. And it’s just something everyone accepts without question. Why aren’t people celebrating this??”
Show’s executive producer says he wants better representation, not cookies.
The two dads don’t have any lines in the episode, and DuckTales exec Frank Angones — credited as a writer on the episode — acknowledged fans may be hoping for more than just background characters.
Angones had revealed the existence of the moment in a Tumblr post in November, writing: “Want to be very up front and honest about this: Violet’s dads are present and show up but do not play a huge role in the story thus far.
“As with all of our characters, we had a lot of conversations about who Violet was and what her background was and came up with this fun notion of her too enthusiastic, overly supportive dads who love being dads.
“We didn’t really have a story built around them, but when the time came for an episode focusing on Huey and Violet in a particular situation, it made sense that they would be there.”
Angones added: “I’m well aware that the ‘queer representation through parents and background characters’ trope is an issue, and we’ve sort of stumbled backwards into a lot of heteronormative romances in this show.”
Hinting at “specific hoops you have to jump through to make changes to established Disney characters”, he added: “That’s really no excuse… we really have not done enough relevant LGBTQ+ rep.
“We do have some themes and ideas coming up that address relevant LGBTQ+ narratives. But there’s always opportunity for a lot more; I don’t want a cop out and a cookie for saying ‘look at this one thing we did!’
“I know this response is a bit of a bummer, but I didn’t want to lead anyone on. But please believe, as I’ve said before, I’m dedicated to being better and finding new opportunities for three dimensional representation, on this show and the next and the next.”
