Ellen DeGeneres brushes off Finding Dory theories

Dory, for one, doesn't see it.

Ever since the latest trailer for the highly anticipated Pixar sequel Finding Dory landed last month, there has been speculation over whether the film includes LGBT representation - particularly concerning a quick shot of two women who some interpreted to be a lesbian couple. Such stated inclusion would be a first for Disney animation.

Now, Ellen DeGeneres - the voice of Dory herself - has weighed in: "I didn't see it."

Ellen Degeneres voices Dory in the new Disney Pixar movie, Finding Dory.

DeGeneres, whose "Yep, I'm gay" Time magazine cover two decades ago became an iconic visual, was wry in her remarks after attending Wednesday's world premiere of the film. This was her second viewing of the completed film, she said, and she could detect no sign that the two women in the brief shot are a same-sex couple.

"One of the woman has really short hair," DeGeneres said cheekily. "And I have to say, it's not a great haircut because it was really chopped up in the back ... I think people assume anyone with a bad short haircut is gay."

"Robin Wright has short hair," the comedian told USA Today. "There are a lot of woman that are straight that have short hair. It's just not as common."

Also after the premiere, Finding Dory director Andrew Stanton wouldn't confirm or deny whether the two blink-and-you'll-miss-'em women - who appear in a reaction shot to octopus Hank (Ed O'Neill) in a stroller - are a couple.

"They can be whatever you want them to be," said Stanton, who also directed Finding Nemo. "There's no right or wrong answer."

The Disney-Pixar film Finding Dory, stars comedian Ellen Degeneres.

Stanton and producer Lindsay Collins playfully said they never asked the characters whether they were a lesbian couple. That's not a question that Pixar filmmakers ask their characters, the director said.

Last month's heightened speculation speaks to the degree to which many people want to see LGBT representation in a major Disney-distributed film - be it animation, superheroes or Star Wars characters. That includes trying to decipher whether two male antelope characters in the current animated hit Zootopia are married, and such recent trending hashtags as #GiveElsaAGirlfriend (in a Frozen sequel) and #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend.

DeGeneres did tease that one Sting-Ray in the film is now a Sting-Rhonda, noting: "So it's a (transgender) sting."