In 2012, LAIKA Studios—known for stop-motion classics like Coraline—released ParaNorman, another gothic children’s classic about a boy named Norman who can see and talk to deceased people, and is often seen as weird and creepy by his family and peers because of it. Since release, the film has received praise from the LGBTQ+ community for its inclusion of what is probably the first openly gay character in mainstream animation in Mitch.
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Mitch is the love interest of Norman’s sister, Courtney, throughout the film. On top of being the older brother of Norman’s best friend Neil, he also falls into the classic jock archetype. With Courtney being a preppy, popular girl-archetypal character, it would seem obvious that by the end of the film, they get together. However, the film subverts the clichéd romantic plot device by revealing at the end that Mitch is gay and has a boyfriend who loves romantic comedies.
Of course, with LGBTQ+ representation being so scarce, some fans demanded a sequel, and of course wanted to see Mitch’s boyfriend make an on-screen appearance. Recently, writer and co-director of the film Chris Butler has revealed that over the years, he and the folks at LAIKA have gotten numerous comments over the years when it relates to Mitch’s boyfriend.
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This Pride month, he and filmmaker Thibault Leclercq have taken it upon themselves to give fans an official design of Mitch’s boyfriend.
“I think it’s going to be awesome to revisit this world and that character. The idea was to not go too far from Mitch. Like being a little leaner, but keep the kind of athletic vibe of the character”, Leclercq says of the character design.
The character’s name is Luca—the name of another gay animated icon—and in the concept art, we see the 2 walking and holding hands. Luca stares deep into Mitch’s eyes with captivation as Mitch is explaining something of interest to him with glee.
@catgirlfingies comments: “Wow this is so cute & just rly rly wholesome 🥺”
@non_aexistant comments: “The first openly gay animated character finally gets his boyfriend 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈”
It was nice to see them re-explore this character during Pride Month, and fans are still holding out hope that the franchise and revisited and a sequel will hold more gay representation as we are beginning to see LGBTQ+ themes shown in children’s media like Nimona.
In addition to helping LGBTQ+ people growing up understand that it is okay to be different, LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to struggle with mental health and feelings of isolation due to the pressure of fitting in within our overly-heteronormative society. Seeing themselves represented in kid’s media could go a long way with helping them feel understood. It’s important that children are shown that LGBTQ+ people exist so that they may be better prepared for the real world and build empathy.
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