Exploring the legacy of Mr X Toon and his reimagined gay Disney characters

Let's take a look at the legacy of late gay NSFW animator, Mr X Toon.

One of the Disney characters designed by Mr XToon, shirtless and with a purple hat.
Image: Via X - @TheCinemaura

Mr X Toon rewrote animation history as it should be: gay, horny, and masterfully crafted in the style of Disney. The artist turned their popular characters into gay porn stars.

Disney is ubiquitous in mainstream culture and entertainment, and has shared many questionable stories of romance; from kissing a sleeping woman to keeping a woman captive in a castle, and having another give up her voice and change her body for a man.

These are the films that many of us grew up watching. Despite starring women, they embolden heteronormative and patriarchal narratives. The cartoon women protagonists function as role models for girls and objects for the male gaze. These animated films are also full of himbos just waiting to be appreciated by the gay male gaze.

There is gayness scattered throughout Disney, but never in the form of openly-queer characters until recent years (2016, to be exact). There have been numerous queer-coded characters in Disney films; unfortunately, they are the villains of the stories. Andreas Deja, a gay animator who, unlike Mr X Toon, was actually employed by Disney, created and worked on some of these famous characters.

X Toon animated poster for Moano and Ariel. It shows a man version of Arial the princess, and a man version of Moana all grown up. They pose shirtless, Moano behind Ariel, and Ariel holds up a shell necklace.

Positive media representation is vital for marginalised communities in reducing negative stereotypes and raising self-esteem, while also providing role models and influencing policy change. Intersex filmmaker River Gallo has been breaking ground for intersex representation with their feature debut Ponyboi, and voiced an intersex dog in the recent animated production Fixed.

While we may stan Scar, Jafar, and Ursula, we deserve gay leading animated men. Existing solely as a villain in the media can harm identity and self-esteem. Mr X Toon shared instead a pure, wholesome love of gay sex and hunks.

He retroactively rewrote queer desire into our favourite works of art, and he did it to the highest standards. His Disney-style animations would have anyone second-guessing whether they are real deleted scenes or leaked snippets from upcoming remakes.

Poster for a Mr X Toons animation with Hercules and Aladdin. Hercules is shirtless and buff, and appears to be taking part in a sexual act.

Humour is utilised in his depictions of sensual experiences, which serve as a welcome respite from the unending and unironic seriousness of more mainstream, heterosexual erotic material. He also involved the community by putting out open calls for people to voice-act in his work.

With a long history of censoring the LGBTQ+ community and censoring nude images in art, it is brave to be uncensored and authentic, and Mr X Toon’s work has been rightfully adored for filling a gap in representation, a lusty Disney gay animated gap.

Mr X Toon animated shirtless disney hunk

The creator behind Mr X Toon has always an enigma, and nothing was known about the man or his personal life. A post shared recently by a person claiming to be “a close friend of David,” the real name of the animator, said that Mr X Toon died on July 25, prompting an outpour of tribute messages from fans online.

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