Disney/Pixar’s upcoming film Finding Dory features a transgender stingray who transitions to become “Sting-Rhonda,” the film’s star Ellen DeGeneres revealed in an interview.
The sequel to the 2003 smash hit Finding Nemo has already fueled speculation that it will be the first Disney film to feature a lesbian couple, but Degeneres, who voices the titular blue fang fish, told USA Today in an interview that the film will feature a “trans sting.”
“There’s a stingray that’s becoming sting-Rhonda, so there’s a trans sting in the movie,” DeGeneres said.
A representative for Pixar didn’t immediately return Breitbart News’s request for confirmation.
In May, eagle-eyed viewers of the Finding Dory trailer speculated that the film would be the first Disney project to feature a lesbian couple, after a blink-and-you’ll-miss it shot of what appeared to be two women walking near a baby stroller.
The creative team behind the film have not confirmed or denied whether the couple is, in fact, lesbian, and DeGeneres also remained mum on the subject in her interview with USA Today.
“I don’t know if it’s true or not or if she just has a bad short haircut, you know?” DeGeneres joked. “Who knows if she’s a lesbian.”
Some fans of other Disney film properties have lobbied the studio to include LGBT characters in its films.
Two social media campaigns launched on Twitter last month included a petition to introduce a female love interest for Frozen princess Elsa and a petition to introduce a male love interest for Captain America, with fans using the hashtags #GiveElsaAGirlfriend and #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend, respectively.
There is some recent precedent for gay Disney characters; earlier this year, an episode of ABC’s fairy-tale drama Once Upon a Time featured a lesbian true love’s kiss between Ruby and the Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum