The Shrink Tank

Actually, Disney does have one girl show that comes to mind,
Kim Possible.
In fact, the show is almost a man hater show considering 9 out of 10 of the male characters in it are viewed as dumb/corny/dimwitted comedy relief in some way.

So it's not all men shows.

Honestly who cares, so what if there are no leading single girl/woman roles? BET doesn't get harassed for it's lack of white leading roles does it?

Correct me if i'm wrong but aren't the people writing the stories men? (a quick google search reveals the names Mark Andrews, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Ralph Eggleston, John Lasseter, Angus MacLane, Bob Peterson, Jeff Pidgeon, Joe Ranft, Andrew Stanton & Joss Whedon, all of whom are men)So then wouldn't it make sense that men would naturally write about men? Most people associate much better with the feelings, plights and lives of those similar to themselves so it would be a fairly logical conclusion to assume that these writers are just writing about what they understand and relate to. I personally would rather see a story that the writer can associate with and add realism based on experiences to than something that is baseless.

Don't you all remember J.K. Rowling? She was a woman that wrote books about Harry Potter, who is a boy/man? There was an article of her in Reader's Digest and there she said that she quite identifies with Harry Potter. Why can't guy writers do it? Isn't it mentally stimulating to do something outside our comfort zones? People are not interested whether the writer associate with his/her written piece(unless the writer is interviewed). I believe the reason why people like certain movies(whether the leading character is male/female) is because the movie touches on values/issues that most people can relate to.

I find the idea that we "need" more female lead characters to be sexist. Are girls so in need of fictional role models that writers have a social obligation to provide them?

Even if that is the case, there are plenty of movies and shows with admirable female leads, from Dora the Explorer to the Sarah Conner Chronicles. Pixar, like any other producer, goes through many scripts before selecting one good enough for their next movie. If the best stories they happen to receive all have male or male-esque leads, so what? Their job is to make money through the production of good movies.

If there were reason to believe that Pixar would summarily reject any script with a female lead - a poor business model at best - then there would be cause to blow the metaphorical whistle. Otherwise, stop worrying about it.

Thank you. Finally. After I saw the review of Up! I finally noticed the lack of female leads, and it frustrates me. But reading the other comments I need to reply to them.

Sworyk; 'men writing about men' is just plain silly. Harry Potter and his compatriots were written by a woman, I've read a dozen books written by men with female leads, and I personally am female but write male lead characters as well as female. It's not as difficult as it seems to switch genders when writing. Besides, these are childrens' films dealing with standard issues; pretty easy for a character to explain and act upon, whether the robot/monster/rat is male or female.

Bob; it's easy to say it's more sexist to notice the lack of woman than it is not to have any, but this isn't a perfect world. We haven't reached a point that we treat all people with compete equality and don't need to worry about it. Are girls so in need of fictional role models? Yes. Boys, too. Being anthropomorphic makes it easier to relate to characters, to learn the lessons, but only seeing males on screen has an effect on girls, just as only female leads would have an effect on boys, and what they thought they were capable of, when seeing their heroes do it.
Now, if we look at Pixar movies individually, there's nothing wrong, they're each enjoyable, clever movies. But seen together, as a series of films that are almost promised success just by being chosen by Pixar's team, it becomes more obvious that there's a bias. It's not about whether male or female movies are chosen, it's about the stories being simple enough for the character's gender to be almost interchangeable, yet somehow come out male every time.

Right, not exactly a comprehensive comment, but it's time to go.

girls can relate to other people better than boys can. boys will seriously struggle to do relate to most girl roles. if a movie is about a girl, you basically rule out like 30% of the child population (20% of boys would maybe still see it). since pixar movies require HUGE investments of time and capital, they probably don't want to rule out 30% of the market. As a man, it pains me to admit that when i was younger i would be much less likely to see a movie with a girl main character.

one could even argue that the reason why alice in wonderland and the wizard of oz were successful is because the movie wasn't about THE GIRL, the movie was about all the characters AROUND the girl. trust me, im sure many scripts have been tossed pixar's way with a girl character, but pixar knows what's going to sell or not.

im not trying to offend anyone i'm just playing devils advocate here

Pixar makes movies with leading male characters...and? Are they stopping you from writing movies with female characters? No wait, you don't write movies. You're a shrink. Which begs the question...what does any of this have to do with being a shrink?!?

Pixar isn't just making movies. They make franchises. Whether anyone likes it or not, a Pixar film (in association with and because of Disney) is so much more than just the film. It becomes toys, amusement park attractions, clothing, food and so much more.

It sends a message when these cool stories feature a male character as the lead. The supporting female roles are usually great- funny, quirky (Sally in Cars and Elastigirl in The Incredibles were really awesome characters). But it doesn't really matter how strong the female characters are when they are consistently cast as support and never given the lead. This sends a message to little girls.

Pixar films create rich, complex characters in full, amazing worlds. It sends a message to girls when the characters they identify with most in these are cast in the supporting roles. It tells us that, no matter how smart, talented, cute or cool we are, our main purpose is to support the men, keep them in line, love them...

There's nothing wrong with those roles in theory, it's important to support and love, but the female characters need a chance to be supported for a change.

And, while I have nothing against Princesses myself (quite the opposite, actually), it would be really nice to see some cool chicks lead a Pixar movie (or even a Disney movie) and not put on a tiara.

Because of their audience and the scope of their films, Pixar does have a social obligation to provide role models that everyone can identify with in equal positions. Give the girls a chance to shine.

Megan--Pixar makes entertainment. What gives you the right to burden them with a "social obligation" to do anything? Why does Pixar have a responsibility to make movies with strong female leads? Does Mattel have a responsibility to create a male counterpart to Barbie that has a personality? Does BET have a responsibility to create programming that appeals to white people?

Why can't we just do what we want to do and let other people do the same? The guys at Pixar are making the kinds of movies that they want to see. You're free to do the same thing if you choose.

Sorry if I seem irritated here, but I don't expect hip-hop music to represent my white male suburban experience and I don't expect the Lifetime Channel to portray men in strong, positive roles. It gets to be a real drag when anytime a white dude does something people pile on with a bunch of criticism about it not being inclusive enough.

I would argue WALL-E is mainly focused around the female character Eve. Once WALL-E finds her, everything changes. He even leaves the only place he has ever known to follow her.

No one cares so long its a movie/cartoon worth watching. What's with all the complaining? You don't like it, go write, direct and produce your own movies. Not that I like the idea so much but this is still a male dominant world. How many presidents do you know that are/were female? How about leaders of some sort? A war hero? CEO of a major company? I mean come on... The list goes on! Do I need to say more or do I make my point? I'm not a sexist person but all I'm saying is...its the reality!

Easy. Girls will enjoy a movie with a boy character (as long as it's not too boyish), but boys will typically NOT enjoy a movie with a girl main character. That's just the way it is and there's nothing wrong with it.