Disney Junior’s Muppet Babies TV series has taken an inclusive step forward with its powerful LGBTQ+ message.
In the latest episode, titled Gonzo-rella, Miss Piggy and her friend Summer are busy planning a royal ball. While everyone is picking outfits to wear, Gonzo becomes enamoured with a picture of a princess in a dress.
“Wow! Get a load of that dress. I’d love to wear a dress like that to your royal ball,” he says.
His hopes of wearing the dress to the ball are dashed when Miss Piggy and Summer inform him that only girls can wear dresses.
“According to the royal handbook, the girls come as princesses, and boys come as knights,” Miss Piggy says.
Later on in the episode, Gonzo proves Miss Piggy and Summer wrong when Rizzo the Fairy RatFather grants him his very own magical dress.
But since he was in a dress, none of his friends recognized him while they danced and enjoyed the ball.
“Everyone, there is something I need to tell you. The princess who came to your ball tonight was me. I’m Gonzorella,” he explains.
He then went on to say that he attended the ball in disguise because of the handbook’s gender restrictions.
“You all expected me to look a certain way. I don’t want you to be upset with me. But I don’t want to do things because that’s the way they’ve always been done either. I want to be me,” he exclaims.
According to the executive producer, Tom Warburton, the series had always planned to celebrate Gonzo’s gender non-conforming identity.
“Very early on, we wanted to do an episode where Gonzo just showed up to the Playroom wearing a skirt. And it was no big deal,” he said.
“Then story editor/co-producer Robyn Brown and her team wanted to take it a step further and do a Cinderella story based on the idea.
“And it was just SO wonderfully Gonzo. We hope kids watching to be 347 per cent of themselves in their own way too.”
Muppet Babies isn’t the only Disney animated series with LGBTQ+ representation.
The animated fantasy show, The Owl House, recently introduced its first non-binary character Raine Whispers – who uses they/them pronouns.
The series also established the main characters, Luz and Amity, as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Watch the heartwarming clip from the latest episode here or below.
YORO 😭🥺 Gonzo is the new queer icon pic.twitter.com/JVEchcA41E
— mayito 🦞 (@mayitoodice) July 26, 2021
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