“Queer coding: an eye-opener of heteronormativity in Disney’s animated movie (1937-1999)”

“Queer coding: an eye-opener of heteronormativity in Disney’s animated movie (1937-1999)”

This paper aims to analyze the way in which a cinematographic universe frequently presented as desexualized, that of the Disney animation studios, built on the contrary deeply moralizing and homophobic representations of sexuality. Although sexuality is not an object of discourse, it shapes the narrative the image of films towards the promotion of an enchanted heterosexuality. In the absence of text, visual signs are in charge of coding each characters sexuality. Queer coding, theorized by the film historian (Russo, 1981) but also by fans on social networks, aims to understand the way in which the sexualities of characters are constructed. The codes of recognition developed by sexual and gender minorities in urban centers at the beginning of the 20th century are frequently appropriated by Disney’s studios to construct their villain characters. Our paper will combine analysis of recurring elements of the film corpus with a more detailed case study of Pinocchio (Sharepensteen, Luske, 1940) and Peter Pan (Geronimi, et al, 1953).