It’s been rough for the mouse lately. When the Florida House of Representatives passed the nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay” bill, eyes turned to Disney. With hesitation on taking a side, hollow support, and a controversial internal message to employees and creative leads, the company has been under heavy criticism for its supposed "support" to the LGBTQ+ community. New voices have now spoken up about the company’s treatment of representation in its films, these from the now-defunct Blue Sky Studios.

Blue Sky Studios, known best for the Ice Age series, the Peanuts Movie, and the two Rio films, was bought out when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox back in 2019. Two years after the merger was completed, Disney shut down Blue Sky. The studio’s final film would end up being 2019’s Spies in Disguise. But what if I told you that there was another film in the works? Enter Nimona.

Nimona is a fantasy webcomic by ND Stevenson, who created the titular character for an assignment while attending the Maryland Institute College of Art. What started out as a webcomic on Tumblr was quickly swooped up by HarperCollins. The comic was officially published as a young adult graphic novel in May 2015, winning numerous awards.

Nimona follows a young shapeshifter, who usually takes the form of a human girl, as she seeks out the approval of Ballister Blackheart. Blackheart, a former knight turned villain, aims to take down the Institution after losing his arm in a joust. Blackheart takes Nimona in as his sidekick and shenanigans are quick to start. But once the two discover a terrible secret about the Institution, things suddenly get serious…

In 2015, 20th Century Fox Animation purchased the rights to adapt Nimona into a film by Blue Sky Studios. The film would be directed by Patrick Osborne (2014’s Feast), with Marc Haimes writing the script. When Disney purchased Fox, the initial announcements were about Nimona being delayed. But then in February 2019, Disney announced that Blue Sky would be shut down, scrapping Nimona.

Osborne stated that he felt “truly heartbroken” at the studio’s liquidation. One source told reporter Borys Kit that the film was 75% complete upon its cancellation. Upon this news, Disney initially placed the blame on the COVID-19 pandemic. But after the company has been under fire for its relations to the LGBTQ+ community, it seems as if there’s more to the story.

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A Girl Without a Home

Panel from Nimona from HarperCollins and ND Stevenson

Three former staffers have now come forward and told Insider about meetings between Disney and Blue Sky during the merger. According to the staffers, who prefer to remain anonymous, Disney had issues with Nimona, particularly with the film’s queer angles. Disney especially had issues with a same-sex kiss between Ballister Blackheart and Ambrosius Goldenlion, who had a romantic relationship in the graphic novel. One of the former staffers told Insider about how Disney’s response was especially harmful.

"We need more queer stories, but we also need to call out how nefarious it is when you don't tell queer stories. When the biggest entertainment company in the world creates content for children and systematically censors queer content, they are pushing queer children to dark places."

Since the initial response from Disney, staff members from various levels at the studio responded passionately on social media. In response, Bob Chapek of the Walt Disney company responded with an apology to the employees and a promise to do better in its support for the LGBTQ+ community. Pixar's employees were also verbal about Disney’s censorship of “nearly every element of overtly gay affection” in their films. Since the pushback, a same-sex kiss that had previously been cut has been restored in Pixar’s upcoming film Lightyear. While Disney has been making a visible effort into doing better for its LGBTQ+ employees and audiences, Nimona’s fate seems to have been sealed for good. The former staff members mourn the project.

"It was a film we believed in, that we loved, and that we thought people needed to see."