Disney Pixar’s Lightyear banned in UAE : NPR

This image released by Disney/Pixar shows the character Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Chris Evans, in a scene from the animated movie “Lightyear,” which will be released later this week.

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This image released by Disney/Pixar shows the character Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Chris Evans, in a scene from the animated movie “Lightyear,” which will be released later this week.

PA

UAE government officials have banned the airing of the animated summer release from Disney and Pixar studios Light yeara spin-off of the Toy Story movies.

The film, which chronicles the adventures of space cadet Buzz Lightyear, is due out later this week.

The film “is not permitted to be publicly screened in all cinemas in the UAE, due to its violation of the country’s media content standards,” the UAE Media Regulatory Office tweeted on Monday.

The agency said all films screened in the country are “subject to monitoring and evaluation prior to the public screening date, to ensure the safety of content released under the appropriate age rating.”

The film “is not permitted to be publicly screened in any cinemas in the UAE, due to its violation of the country’s media content standards,” the office said in a tweet.

The film includes a homosexual kiss, although this scene was not explicitly listed as a reason to ban the film from being screened. The United Arab Emirates, like other countries in the Middle East and Muslim nations around the world, criminalize same-sex relations.