🐱 Why Is The Owl House So Far Ahead of the Rest of Disney in Queer Representation?

Why Is The Owl House So Far Ahead of the Rest of Disney in Queer Representation?

The Disney Channel's The Owl House has bisexual, lesbian, and non-binary characters, but the rest of Disney-produced fiction is wildly failing at inclusion.

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Disney Channel’s The Owl House is back (and the first five episodes of season two are streaming on Disney+), and since it has been back the plot had been moving in fantastic ways, while also providing fantastic LGBTQ representation.

This is nothing new, since it was made clear in season one that the female character of Amity Blight (voiced by Mae Whitman) had a crush on Luz (Sarah-Nicole Robles). Creator Dana Terrace, who is bisexual, confirmed that Luz is bi and Amity is a lesbian through Twitter, but now it is more than just word-of-god canon.

Luz has been blushing and crushing on Amity for a few episodes, clearly flirting. Amity called Luz “my Luz” and gave the girl a kiss on the cheek following her character development hair color change. In the latest episode, “Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door,” Luz and Amity officially become a couple, asking each other on a date.

Canon wlw couple, no subtext, dating—not to mention they are perfect and I love them. It is made all the more special because Luz is the protagonist of the series.

In addition to that, we have the non-binary character of Raine Whispers, who is voiced by non-binary actor and voice artist Avi Roque.

Raine Whispers is the “sharp and hardworking Head Witch of the Bard Coven,” a new character who is a rebel bard who uses they/them pronouns and is working with a rebellion to stop the Emperor. They are also the love interest to the character of Eda the Owl Lady (Wendie Malick).

We have seen a lot of non-binary characters in children’s animation lately, with Steven Universe: Future introducing a character named Shep, played by Indya Moore, a trans non-binary actor. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power had Double Trouble, who was voiced by Jacob Tobia. Danger and Eggs, Craig of the Creek, and Kipo and the Age of Wonder Beasts have all made similar headway in having non-binary and queer characters.

It is becoming more normalized, but also not being treated as something meant to stand out in the larger context of the show. For example, on The Owl House, Luz’s goals are to become a witch and find a portal back home. Her being bisexual is just a part of her story, and same with all the other LGBTQ characters we have seen thus far.

So why is Disney so bad at this when it comes to everything else? We have been seeing Disney’s mainstream movies attempting and failing to make some headway with gay audiences for the better part of a decade. They keep having to have “big gay moments” that end up feeling like misses. Even in the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe, with characters that have been gay in comics for years, we are still waiting to really see that as an actual part of their stories on the screen.

If the Disney Channel can give us well done wlw couples and non-binary couples, and children’s animation in general is evolving in this way, how long are we gonna have to keep waiting for Disney proper to figure out how to do it beyond subtext? We know they can do it right. This just means that when they fail to, it is a choice.

Amazing LGBTQ+ creators and allies have been putting in the work and laying foundations. Time for the major companies to step up.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Rumors about Walt's anti-semitism were perpetuated by the Communist cartoonist unions that Walt hated. But go ahead. trust a Commie.They'd never lie about anything...

I mean he also backed hitler prior to the outbreak of WWII, iirc

 

[💗Freddie Freaker💗]

The Owl House is legitimately good, even though there's hints of SJW stuff sprinkled in.

 

[TowinKarz]

I mean he also backed hitler prior to the outbreak of WWII, iirc

So did a lot of clueless businesspeople who only paid attention to the apparent recovery of post-Weimar Germany under him and were salivating at the chance to sell stuff to Der Konsoomers, not because they supported or even knew about the growing Nazi police state. Same reason LeBron prostates himself in front of the CCP, so he has access to that market to sell shoes to, not because he hates Chinese muslims .... Gauruntee you in 80 years nobody is going to be calling LeBron a raving Anti-Uyghur.

 

[Liquid Marlon]

It's because lesbians are more acceptable in cartoons for some reason, Disney got mad at Hirsch and Daron for adding/wanting to add gay male characters but in the ladder show they ended up making Marco's love interest gay and Disney didn't give a shit.

The alphabet people want to act like this show, Steven Universe, Adventure Time and etc are big wins for them when they really aren't, I mean guess unless you're a lesbian.

 

[The Token Ethnic]

Because it's okay when watered down American shows influenced by anime do it. Non-binary? Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit. Sure, you can make the kids bi or gay but aren't these shows supposed to be about going on adventures? I'm thinking that these cartoons are just the creator's wish fulfillment since they were lonely or bullied as kids.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

Dana Terrace: "Behold, my newest animated series starring lesbian witches!"
Disney: "Are you sure this will help us appeal to children?"
Dana: "Children?"

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

The Owl House is legitimately good, even though there's hints of SJW stuff sprinkled in.

And yet the fanbase makes it slightly overbearing to witness it. This is just like what happened to Alex Hirsch during the last couple of seasons of Gravity Falls. The personal politics overshadow what good things the cartoon represented.

It’s seems that there’s just no more nuance in chidlren’s cartoons.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Owls are no fucks given deadly predators and obligate carnivores who quite often, perhaps even typically, mate for life. In a male/female way, I'm going to assume. They're the literal opposite of this sort of degeneracy.

They also hate crows. And are hated by them. On both sides beyond all rationality. No comment as to which population group crows are often used as a proxy for in popular culture in the US.

Pity Disney can't make a cartoon reflecting the actual characteristics of owls, isn't it?

 

[Gensou Hadou]

And yet the fanbase makes it slightly overbearing to witness it. This is just like what happened to Alex Hirsch during the last couple of seasons of Gravity Falls. The personal politics overshadow what good things the cartoon represented.

It’s seems that there’s just no more nuance in chidlren’s cartoons.

Gravity Falls only had two seasons, and the second one ended right before Trump won 2016. That show dodged one hell of a bullet, much to Hirsch's dismay.

Children's cartoons aren't made for children anymore. They're made for manchildren and the children they're trying to groom/indoctrinate. In a better world, that would mean more shows introducing children to difficult subjects in a careful manner like how Sesame Street did the death of Mr. Hooper way back in the day, but in clown world, it just means shallow pandering...

 

[make_it_so]

All I know about this show is that one of the main characters is a blatant design ripoff of another, far more interesting character.

 

[cactus]

I keep saying it because I can't help it, but, that brown-on-teal hair makes it look like you smeared shit in it..... a competent animator would have realized that in the concept art stage, or rather, would've spun the color wheel right the first time.

Yeah, that was the first thing I noticed about that character. I didn't like the combination of brown and teal. It looks ugly. The color combinations of the characters are ugly in general.

The two main characters are literal self inserts of the creator and her crush from a while back, hence the ugly hair colors.

 

[madethistocomment]

The Owl House is legitimately good, even though there's hints of SJW stuff sprinkled in.

Eh..... I'd say that it has good bones (a horror comedy about a human girl winding up in a Bosch-inspired world who makes a deal with a witch there to work for her in exchange for learning magic is a really interesting concept) but has massively failed in living up to its potential. Instead of going with the initial premise, they threw it out the window as soon as possible to become a Harry Potter bootleg that focuses primarily on a sloppily written and hasty gay romance based on wish fulfillment. It's a shame, honestly.