OpenTube

Beyond True Love's Kiss: Accidental Aromantic Representation in Disney

emi's things

56,191 views

Scenes:
Brave (2012)
Frozen (2013)
Zootopia 2 (2025)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
Cinderella (1950)
Aladdin (1992)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
Pinnochio (1940)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Up (2009)
Tangled (2010)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Walt Disney's Florida Project (1966)
Interview with Roy E Disney (1987)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Oliver & Company (1988)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Pocahantas (1995)
Mulan (1998)
Early Test Animation for Monsters Inc. (1998)
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Moana (2016)
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Zootopia (2016)
Encanto (2021)
Heartstopper (2022)
Sherlock Holmes (2010)
Project Hail Mary (2026)
Dumbo (1941)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Frozen 2 (2019)

Audio:
In Dreamland - Chillpeach

References:
Adrià Termes Berruga. (2023, December 9). Disney’s Renaissance Era. Medium. Medium: disneys-renaissance
Alp, A. (2021, August 13). From Snow White to Moana: the Evolution of Disney Princesses. The Stanford Daily; The Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation. https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/12/...
Brand: Walt Disney Animation Studios. (n.d.). Box Office Mojo. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/brand/b...
Determan, S. (2021, February 18). The many merry eras of Disney. BFI. https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/many-...
Jaffar, F. (2023, March 28). Types of relationships (e.g. romantic, familial, platonic, professional). Medium. Medium: types-of-relationships-e-g-romantic-familial-platonic-professional
Mercuri, M. (2024, January 31). Every Disney Princess Movie Ranked And In Order Of Release. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/entertai...

Comment aromantic reccs!

20 Comments

@autumnwhistles-yc5xb 3 months ago (edited) Pinned

25:08-25:20 FLASH WARNING; minor 29:35-30:04 intermittently; 31:10-31:12 (thank you for the other one though!!)

great vid!!!

@Ooferdoodlez 3 months ago (edited)

Can I just say: Nick and Judy’s relationship, and the way they’ve been perceived by the public, really shows why aromanticism is and should always be a part of pride. The amount of people calling the two of them “straight baiting” just because they don’t like that their relationship isn’t what they want it to be is incredibly insane and aphobic. Just wanted to say that.

People when gay relationships : “why can’t two people just be friends!”

People when straight friendships: “you two must have secret crushes on each other .”

@jeannefostergoriot 3 months ago

You know what, I hadn't really thought of Nick and Judy as a QPR, but I was never fully comfortable shipping them romantically. And it just. Fits. Soooooooo. Adopted

@kayleighdriessen 3 months ago

As an Aro I cannot stress enough about wanting to see more characters who's primary relationships are not monogamous romantic relationships, like how Judy has Nick or Elsa with her sister Anna, there's still meaning and belonging out there for people who have no desire or interest in the typical nuclear family but still want a family whether they are biological or found.

@janabrkic426 3 months ago

I'm so glad you added nick and judy to this list, bc portrayals of plaonic relationships feel so weirdly rare nowadays?? as if a story always has to end in a romantic pairing and I've been getting so tired of it
that's why I like phm so much, it normalizes a platonic relationship as grace's reason to be brave!!

also other aro character reccs!! there are two in the penumbra podcasts' Juno Steel (rita - aro, jet - aroace) and one in Second Citadel (sir talfryn - aroace), and then in Red Valley (Gordon - aro)
I know for a fact I followed more podcasts for specifically aro rep, but I haven't listened to those yet and I have forgotten which ones those reccs were lol maybe I'll come back someday to write those down~
and I'd be remiss to not mention a friends book who's main character is aro too (Bodyshare - Luke Milton)

@wild_fire-fly 3 months ago

i think it's worth remembering that many aromatic people don't want a relationship that is similarly strong to a romantic one. happiness shouldn't be reserved only to those that have a very strong relationship. it's also a part of amatonormativity to see a strong, primary bond as something everyone should have. shout out to loveless aros

great essay, just needed to add that

@jennamiller2713 3 months ago

I think you touched on a great point with Brave--it COULD have been a story about Merida fighting to choose a romantic partner that she picked for herself, but it really is about her fighting for her right to choose no one. Very important, very aro difference

@Thunderstar6 3 months ago

Nick and Judy being a qpr is the best thing I've heard all day.

@alwaystheashes 3 months ago

Saiki K has some really good aroace representation in my opinion!

@b_bub_b 3 months ago

i fucking LOVED brave when i was younger and when i grew up i found out it was known by many as a pixar flop. i still think its probably one of my favourite disney movies and now i know why lol

@aiaikawa4012 3 months ago

I like to mention this when it happens, but thank you for separating aromanticism and asexuality. So often theyre treated as the same thing, or implied to be inherently connected, and it stings all the more when its asexuals that disregard the distinctintion. Its important to use the right words when we talk about people who are so invisible, even within the queer community

@Liadow3 3 months ago

Dude no wonder I loved merida so much as a kid

@melware1372 3 months ago

I got a huge aromantic/queerplatonic vibe from the emotional confession scene in Zootopia 2, and this is the first video I see mentioning even reading them as that. While I totally see how it could also be the buildup to romance and I don't want to take this away from people (as well-written romance in Disney movies is getting rarer nowadays), but I feel like given the specific wording in that scene and the way specifically typically romantic tropes and phrases made me think that the aromantic coding (whether intentional or not) should at least be considered

And of course regarding the whole arc of Judy trying to appeal to "normal" expectations to their partnership (putting emphasis on their "anniversary", trying to prove to everyone that they're a team like everyone else, fear of them being too different to work) and coming to terms with the fact that the reason they care about each other so much is because their dynamic is so unique, just screams at least queer in the broader sense

@kitifulnines 3 months ago

a point I wanna bring up about nick and judy's qpr is that the writers basically confirmed they were queerplatonic; they specifically said that their relationship is something "not quite platonic, but not really romantic either" which is... the definition of queerplatonic LOL. say what you will about zootopia's portayal of systemic issues ie racism (smth I myself dislike, and feel they executed at least somewhat better in the sequel) but nick and judy are probably the best queerplatonic rep I've seen in media, accidental or not, and that is genuinely bizarre to me.

@Aldersnap 3 months ago

I can make any character aromantic. It's a spectrum babyyyy. Doesn't matter how many kisses they've had: I can and will hit them with the aro beam.

@reaganmonkey8 3 months ago (edited)

24:21 I think Disney knew about those romantic expectations. The first time we see them in Zootopia 2, they are pretending to be a married couple with a kid in order to sneak into a shipping yard. But then it was revealed to be a heist.

@Arosukir6 3 months ago (edited)

I think something can really be said for the fact that, from what I've seen, most kids who like Frozen want to dress as Elsa rather than Anna. I don’t think that means most kids are aro-ace. I think it just means that the audience, especially a child audience, will respond to characters that are compelling and unique regardless of whether they can easily be placed into traditional gender roles, the "hero's journey," or even a villainous/flawed role. They respond to well-written characters. The same goes for kids who dress as Black Panther or Moana or Mirabel regardless of race, other superheroes regardless of gender, or even as non-human characters.

So there is no reason why we can't have representation of all kinds in our media! If you write good characters, average/typical folks won't care that they don't exactly match the character. They'll still like them. Yet for the folks who never got that rep before, it will mean the world!

@wormpirate Creator 3 months ago

We're gonna pretend it didn't say aromatic in the title for the whole first day ✌️🥹 truly the biggest struggle facing aromantic people around the world

@bdbd3750 3 months ago

hey! as a aroace person too i really appreciate this video you made :) i always find aromantic rep in media so rare and even growing up, i could never relate to many characters. i really like how you highlighted media with familial/platonic love as well as mentioning being a sucker for found family tropes lolll i love it so much too. finally, i hope more people find this video! well made