I am absolutely livid. Big surprise: Disney has done something moronic again. I am in shock. Truly, I am completely flabbergasted by this occurrence. Now, if you couldn’t tell by the sarcasm dripping from these words, I got a story to tell that boils my blood. Let me regale you with a tale of stupidity that exceeds what I had thought possible.
Recently, I have watched a show called The Owl House. I had seen a few clips of it on YouTube and it looked interesting, so I decided to take a look. I was expecting a fun little show that would be mildly entertaining, but what I got was an emotionally gripping story with some of the best character writing and development I have ever witnessed (Specifically season two is where it really shines. The first season was still great though). It is extremely close to usurping Avatar: The Last Airbender as my favorite piece of visual media, and that show has stayed at the top since I watched it as a child! I had just finished the second season of The Owl House and had begun to wait for the eventual season three, but I read something that made my heart sink. The show got cut. In the blink of an eye, an entire season of one of the best pieces of media I had experienced was shortened to only three slightly enlarged specials. I was dumbfounded; I could not for the life of me think of any reason to cancel the show that had been nominated for many awards and had won both a Peabody Award and the BMI Cable Television Award. That was, until I stumbled upon a reddit post written by the creator of The Owl House, Dana Terrace.
Within this post, she answers many of the questions that the community had been asking regarding the cancellation, and none of them inspire much confidence in Disney moving forward. A prevailing theory was that of the LGBTQ representation in the show causing some misgivings with the Disney brass on high, which would be somewhat typical for the company. Dana does not outright contradict this statement. Rather, she is just “not gonna assume bad faith against the people I work with in LA.” Other theories included the Covid epidemic causing budgeting problems and the possibility of ratings not being up to the standard that was necessary, but Dana shot both of these down. It seems that compared to other shows, The Owl House performed well both on the screen and in production during Covid. So, if none of these are to blame for the cut, what is? Branding.
At the end of the day, there are a few businesspeople who oversee what fits into the Disney brand and one day one of those guys decided TOH didn’t fit that “brand”.
Dana Terrace
Evidently, because the shows audience skewed to an older demographic and because it is a serialized show (meaning that it has a story that unfolds episodically), it wasn’t worth letting it be finished. That is asinine and inconsistent. A few years ago, no one would have said that Star Wars would have fit under the Disney “brand,” but that didn’t stop the company from purchasing and preceding to push out the most mediocre movies on the face of this planet to make a quick buck. This is a completely arbitrary reason to cut a show; in fact, I hesitate to call it a reason at all. It feels more like an excuse. I just really do not understand.
Ain’t that wild? Really grinds my guts, boils my brain, kicks my shins, all the things.
Dana Terrace
I couldn’t agree more, Dana. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done to give The Owl House the final season that it deserves, but I know that I will sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to be captivated by whatever magic Dana is able to create. The show is all about magic and witches, and I am just glad that some of the enchantment of that universe has leaked out for myself and others to enjoy. Please give The Owl House a shot! It is on Disney+ just begging to be watched. I promise you won’t regret it.
Cheesecakeify My Opinion 
Keaton, I first want to say how sorry I am that The Owl House was canceled. It’s a strange and sad thing when something we so thoroughly enjoy is stopped suddenly with very little explanation as to why. I must admit that I do watch quite a bit of Disney – trailers, old DVDs, and Disney+. With that said, I can’t recall seeing much promotion for this show while it was airing, which is rather odd since it had numerous accolades and sounds like it was well loved by both fans and critics. I know Disney has been in the hot seat before with LGBTQ issues, most specifically with the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida, so it wouldn’t be surprising to me if LGBTQ representation was the primary reason for canceling the show. If that is in fact the case, shame on Disney for depriving people of representation within a well-crafted show, but even more so within a company that spans the globe and is so influential.
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I see it more and more often that big companies like Netflix, Disney and Hulu are cancelling shows that fans really enjoy. Recently a lot of reasons for it have been surrounding the pandemic, but I think looking at branding really shows a different light to what these companies may be prioritizing. This is reminiscent of when Netflix canned “I Am Not Okay With This” after receiving raving reviews and even setting the show up for a second season. Maybe it’s all a ploy for more successful reboots or spinoffs in the future? Who knows, but it definitely shows what kind of content these companies are aiming to release more of.
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As we talked about on Twitter, unfortunately the streaming/binging model of entertainment is straining the resources of all these companies and forcing studios to pump out endless “next big things” to appeal to investors rather than focus on quality and finishing out stories to appeal to fans. I sincerely hope some of these creators can at some point buy back the rights to their intellectual work and take their ideas to another place where they can be better support and fully fleshed out to the end.
I wouldn’t hold my breath for that though.
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Fantastic post with a strong point of view. I’ve heard about the Owl House controversy, but until reading this knew nothing about it. You do a good job of bringing material together from a range of sources that people otherwise might not see. I also like that you do a great job of including links where you are actually quoting sources. Also appreciate the structure – using indents and the like – in your blog.
Only one concern I would raise. You have such good argumentation that name calling with words like “asinine” tend to detract from your point. You have such other great words that actually describe what you are getting at.
Good post!
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UGHHH I hate when this happens to my favorite series. Netflix and Disney have both been major culprits for cutting shows because of controversy or other irrelevant reasons. Your writing is really captivating to read and shows that you’re actively involved with this topic. Not to mention, I really liked the pull quotes that you put in your article. It adds contrast and drama to the story. The quotes added another p.ov. to the story, but I think you could expand your ideas by including more examples of how Disney has abused their branding image. Can you think of other similar incidents or even Disney movies being cut? Other than that, I think your post was at the perfect length and told a compelling story.
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