Was This Pixar's First Transgendered Character?

Inside Out was easily one of the best and most complex storylines that has come out of Pixar, with lovable characters, relatable issues of growing up, and emotional emotions. But as I was thinking about it afterwards, there is a surprising element that I missed during my first screening. See if you can catch it.

There are really two coinciding storylines happening in this film: what's happening to Riley on the "outside" and what's happening to her emotions on the "inside." Granted, that's a lot to follow (particularly for a child), but pay close attention to the other emotions within the film. In the clip above you have the mother's emotions, all female, and the father's emotions, all male. We could go into length about the different key emotions leading the rest and why or how they were chosen, but I want to go back to Riley, who obviously has mixed gender emotions. Coincidence?

Now, I rely on the main man himself, Jon Negroni, for my Pixar knowledge, but this small detail suggested to me that, among the many other unique traits of this film, Pixar has potentially made the first transgendered lead character in an animated film. Upon further research, I found this lengthy video with many tidbits about the film.

Some neat facts about the film, but if you can't take the 18 minutes out of your day to watch it, I'll give you the main focus for this article:

Fact # 102: Though Riley's emotions are mixed in gender, her father's emotions are all male and her mother's emotions are all female. This was done for quick readability. Docter acknowledges that "it's a little phony, but hopefully people don't mind!"

So, even though I thought Pixar was taking a huge step, it seems that wasn't their intention.