When the new Disney movie Versa came out, no one really expected it to cause such a stir. The short tells a simple story about love, loss, and finding peace again through music and dance. After it premiered at the Animation Is Film Festival in Los Angeles, a few still images hit social media. Then, everything exploded.
People online started joking, arguing, and turning what was meant to be an emotional film into something else. Many called it “heterosexual propaganda,” poking fun at how people often get upset about LGBTQ+ themes in films. It was meant to be funny, but as always, some missed the joke. What should have been a tender story suddenly became part of an internet debate.
The Story Behind the Film
So what is Versa about anyway? It’s a short film directed by Malcon Pierce, who worked on Moana and Tangled. The new Disney movie follows a couple who drift through glowing skies in what Pierce describes as a “cosmic dance of life.”
In one scene, the woman’s belly shines with a bright star, showing she’s expecting a baby. Two other stars hover near the couple’s hearts. Then the sky darkens, and those same stars fade. It’s beautiful and sad at the same time, like life often is.
The name Versa seems to come from the idea of contrast, things that oppose but also balance each other. Light and dark, joy and sorrow, hope and despair. It’s about how love still lives, even after loss.
A Real Story of Love and Loss
What gives the film its depth is that it’s based on something real. Pierce and his wife Keely lost their infant son, Cooper. That loss became the heart of Versa.
At Cooper’s baby shower, they were given a crystal star that hung in their kitchen window. When the sunlight hit it, little rainbows spread across their home. It became their way to feel close to him. “It was like he was still with us,” Pierce said in an interview.
That same star appears in the film as a symbol of remembrance. For the couple, it was a small light that reminded them of love and connection. Pierce once said Cooper became his “North Star,” guiding him through grief and into healing.
A Symphony Without Words
The short doesn’t have a single line of dialogue. Every emotion is shown through movement and music. Composer Haim Mazar worked with Pierce to create a soundtrack that matches the ups and downs of the story. He used a 69-piece orchestra, which gives the film a full, emotional sound.
Mazar actually wrote three versions of the score before they found the right one. The result is music that rises and falls like breathing, matching the couple’s emotional rhythm. There’s an ice dance scene too, meant to show how fragile love can be when you’re hurting.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Pierce also used the Japanese art of Kintsugi as a visual metaphor. In Kintsugi, broken pottery is repaired with gold. Instead of hiding the cracks, it makes them beautiful. In Versa, love becomes the gold that holds the broken pieces of grief together.
The beauty of the new Disney movie lies in this silence, in how it lets the visuals and music speak without saying a single word. It’s emotional, soft, and deeply human.
Social Media’s Unexpected Twist
After the film’s images hit X (formerly Twitter), people couldn’t resist turning it into a meme. Users started pretending to be outraged about the new Disney film being too “straight.”
One person joked, “My 3-year-old granddaughter looked at me and asked, ‘Grandma, is it normal for a woman to love a man?’ Disgusting.” Another said, “Keep this disgusting heterosexual breeding propaganda away from children.”
It was sarcasm of course. People were mocking how others had criticized Disney before for including gay or trans characters in stories. This time, the joke was on those who usually cry “propaganda.” It showed how ridiculous it sounds to get angry about love, no matter what kind it is.
Still, a few people didn’t get the humor and started arguing for real. That’s the internet for you.
A Familiar Pattern of Controversy
Disney always seems to be in the middle of cultural debates. The company has faced backlash for years over who it includes in its stories. Movies like Lightyear, Onward, and Cruella had minor LGBTQ+ representation and still got called “agenda-driven.”
So when Versa came out, people online switched the narrative. Now a film about a man and woman in love was being called “too straight.” It was funny, but also showed how tired people are of constant outrage.
The joke reactions around the latest Disney short pointed out that maybe audiences have gone too far in reading politics into every single story. Sometimes a love story is just that, a love story, and that’s what makes this new Disney movie stand out among its peers.
A Universal Message of Connection
Beyond all the memes and jokes, Versa tells a story that’s real to anyone who’s ever loved or lost someone. It reminds people that grief doesn’t mean love disappears. It changes shape, but it stays.
Pierce shared that for a long time, he couldn’t walk into his son’s nursery. When he finally did, it broke him. But that pain also helped him heal. It pushed him and his wife to reconnect and face their loss together.
That moment became part of the film’s message. Versa shows that when something breaks, it’s not the end. Love is still there, hidden inside the cracks.
The Art Behind the Emotion
The animation is breathtaking. Every color, every movement means something. Warm gold tones fill the happy scenes, while cool blues and grays wash over the sad ones. The colors shift slowly, guiding viewers through the emotional stages of grief.
The visuals float between real and dreamlike, mixing the feeling of being grounded and lost all at once. It feels like you’re watching emotions, not just characters. Even without dialogue, you understand everything they feel.
That’s what makes the new Disney movie stand out. It doesn’t explain anything with words. It just shows you, and somehow that feels even more powerful.
Art as a Path to Healing
For Pierce, Versa became therapy. Instead of hiding from grief, he created something out of it. Turning loss into art gave his pain a purpose. It’s a reminder that even from heartbreak, beauty can grow.
The Kintsugi idea appears again here. It’s not about pretending things were never broken. It’s about accepting that life changes us, and the scars we carry can still shine.
In that sense, the film speaks to everyone. It’s about what it means to lose, to remember, and to start again. The film captures that journey with honesty and grace.
Why the Online Reaction Matters
You could say the memes around Versa are just jokes, but they show something bigger about how people react to art today. Social media makes everything louder. People rush to debate or defend things before even watching them.
By mocking outrage, users made a point. The fake backlash against the new Disney short film reminded people how strange it is that we get angry about love on screen. Maybe what we really need are more stories that remind us of our shared humanity instead of dividing us.
When people finally look past the noise, they’ll see that Versa is not about identity politics. It’s about real human emotion.
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Disney’s Softer Side
Disney has made plenty of big adventure films, but sometimes the smaller ones say more. Versa joins the quiet lineup of heartfelt shorts like Bao and Paperman. These films don’t need dialogue to make people feel something real.
The latest Disney short film is proof that emotion alone can drive a story. It doesn’t rely on spectacle or superheroes. It focuses on what makes us human, love, loss, and hope.
A Celebration of Love in Every Form
Ironically, all the jokes about “hetero propaganda” did the opposite of harm. They brought people together to laugh. The humor made folks realize how silly constant outrage can be.
Pierce’s personal story about his son’s memory and the way he turned that into art struck a chord. Whether you’ve lost someone or not, you can feel what he’s saying. It’s not about what kind of couple is on the screen. It’s about the love that connects them.
In the end, Versa reminds us that love doesn’t need labels. It just exists, and that’s enough.
Finding Light in the Darkness
The new Disney movie Versa started as one father’s way to honor his child. It ended up sparking a global debate that mixed humor and emotion.
While people online joked, the real message of the film was much softer. Love never truly leaves, it only changes form. The glowing stars in the film are more than decoration; they’re symbols of memory and light that never go out.
In a world full of noise and outrage, Versa stands quietly apart. It reminds us that it’s okay to feel, to grieve, and to find beauty in brokenness. And maybe, that’s the message we all needed to hear.
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