The Owl House creator Dana Terrace took to Reddit earlier this week to provide fans with additional details surrounding the show’s shortened third season and sudden cancellation. It was an honest, disheartening, and surprisingly hopeful glimpse into the production, providing an idea of exactly what was out of Terrace’s control and why Disney decided to put Luz Noceda’s adventure to rest long before its time. According to the post, much of the reasoning behind the show being canned came down to it not fitting Disney’s brand.
“At the end of the day, there are a few business people who oversee what fits into the Disney brand and one day one of those guys decided TOH didn't fit that brand,” explains Terrace. “The story is serialized (BARELY compared to any average anime lmao), our audience skews older, and that just didn't fit this one guy's tastes. That's it! Ain't that wild? Really grinds my guts, boils my brain, kicks my shins, all the things. It sucks but it is what it is.”
This ultimatum feels awfully short sighted, and weirdly nonsensical when you consider what Disney as a company is today compared to several decades ago. It is no longer just an animation house that produces beloved shows and films alongside a selection of popular theme parks. It is one of the biggest companies in the world, owning the likes of Marvel, Star Wars, Fox, Pixar, and countless other properties that dilute what it means to be Disney. Disney now owns and regularly promotes The Simpsons - the original adult cartoon. How can The Simpsons fall into Disney’s remit while The Owl House sits outside of it? Don’t forget Family Guy, either.
The definition is so malleable in 2021 that declaring something doesn’t fit into that mould feels like a tired excuse, or a fundamental misunderstanding of why your content is so appealing in the first place. Admittedly, The Owl House leans more towards a young adult audience than children due to its ongoing narrative and willingness to engage with more mature themes, but given Disney’s growing reliance on streaming services, saying it doesn’t hold a place on your increasingly irrelevant television channel doesn’t hold much water. There are two sides to this dilemma, but cutting short one of the most progressive and well-received shows in recent years off the back of one executive’s disagreement is such a huge bummer. The shows Disney+ is currently pushing hard? The Walking Dead, Only Murders in the Building, and American Horror Stories. They fit the Disney brand? Really?
Terrace has said that production on the third season’s selection of shorts has already begun, so the boat has sailed for a full third season or extended story that goes beyond what has already been put to paper. However, fans aren’t taking this without a fight, with campaigns cropping up on social media that the production team are encouraging them to continue championing. These things don’t go unheard, especially in boardrooms where shows are renewed and cancelled on a regular basis. The Owl House might have a future under new leadership, or someone who isn’t willing to throw it under the bus so its time slot is replaced by something a little more appealing to general audiences.
There’s also the pandemic. “Every show had to tighten their belts,” Terrace explains in the same Reddit post. “Budgets were constrained and episodes were cut across the board. But we took the biggest bullet and I wasn't given the option of a "season 4 when parks open again". They just wanted to be done with TOH and this was the perfect chance to do that.” Given that Terrace created and pitched the show’s original vision, knowing that decisions surrounding its continuation and not even being allowed to present their case for a full third season only serves to highlight how cutthroat this industry seems to be. It’s a shame, but also gives us further reason to champion everything the show has managed to achieve from its storyline to its characters and its benchmark portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships and themes.
Terrace said on Reddit that queer themes weren’t to blame for the show’s cancellation, despite not being able to air in some countries and being censored in others. On the surface, Disney was supportive of a show that wasn’t afraid to establish a canon queer relationship amidst the two main heroines, all while splicing in various different genders and sexualities throughout that will doubt provide other creators with the confidence to keep pushing forward with bolder, more creative ideas at major studios.
Many seem to believe that The Disney Channel has been experiencing a modern renaissance of sorts in recent years, with a number of fantastic shows emerging all helmed by young, passionate creators hoping to push the field of animation forward. The Owl House, Amphibia, The Ghost And Molly McGee, Big City Greens, and several others have attracted passionate fans that would die for everything these shows have done for them. It's worth nothing that shows like Amphibia were in production several months before The Owl House, this combined with its more episodic nature likely allowed it to avoid the chopping block, even if the tightening of belts was still required for it to keep on moving. I understand parts behind why the show was cancelled, and the pandemic resulted in irrational decisions being made, but it still sucks.
Social media has transformed the dynamic surrounding shows like this as animators, writers, and showrunners interact directly with fans and provide all of the insight they can into how things are made and how hard they’re pushing for nuanced storytelling and worthwhile representation. Like any huge media industry, there are obstacles to overcome, but it’s worth celebrating the victories that surface in wake of this adversity. Terrace encourages fans to keep supporting the show, especially now it’s on Disney+ where the company has a tangible way to view figures alongside trending social media campaigns. Hot Topic also has The Owl House merch now, and I hate myself for living in the UK more than usual because of it. Please, I just want a Bad Witch Coven t-shirt...
But my final point still stands - the Disney ‘brand’ feels too diverse in the modern era to be used as an excuse to axe a show like The Owl House. It feels short-sighted and dictated by an old-school line of thinking that still exists within the realm of network television when the world is moving on to more accessible and innovative forms of media. Netflix and Prime Video have shown that original programming - even animation - can live and thrive in this space without compromise, and The Owl House could have done exactly that for Disney+ if it was given a chance. Maybe one day, but for now us weirdos have to stick together.