It appears that streaming has not been particularly kind for the animation industry. After HBO Max cancelled a number of beloved animated projects, and removed others from their platform altogether, it looks like Disney has made a similarly controversial decision.
Specifically, Disney has cancelled the animated series The Owl House, created by Dana Terrace.
The fan-favorite series was cancelled by Disney just after airing its third and final season. Unfortunately, this season only lasted a meager three episodes. So, with such a massive fanbase attached to the series, you can imagine the backlash that Disney has received so far. A lot of the backlash started after Disney released the following promo you can view below.
The promo contains a very small fraction of a clip from The Owl House, and as explained by one Twitter user, it was enough to send “half of twitter into a frenzy.”
Here’s the video:
As for the Twitter user’s response:
disney really cancelled a show that’s capable of sending half of twitter into a frenzy with a .5 second random ass clip
— Éłá´śá´Ťá´ŤĘŹ 🫧 (@numumy) September 25, 2022
In an additional post, Twitter user @numumy claimed that Disney canceled the show because it “didn’t fit its brand.”
disney canceled the owl house a while ago bc it “didnt fit its brand”. its final (and shortened due to cancellation) season is airing its first episode this october, and a .5 second clip of it was released. that tiny clip was enough for TOH to trend on twitter
— Éłá´śá´Ťá´ŤĘŹ 🫧 (@numumy) September 26, 2022
This was further emphasized by the show’s own creator during a Reddit AMA. The creator explained that Disney “wanted to be done with TOH [The Owl House] and this was the perfect chance to do that. Even getting the consolation season 3 episodes was difficult, apparently. Hard to say, I wasn’t allowed to be a part of any conversations until I was just… Told. Wasn’t even allowed to present my case.” Now you can see some of the responses involving Disney and how upset fans are below:
Disney channel has lost more than 2/3 of their viewers, and they cancel everything that the remaining viewers want to watch.
The MCU is losing people fast(shows included), The Starwars stuff isn’t popular and I only know 2 shows that they are currently airing with any solid fans— TwiggyGlitched (@JasonPa92477991) September 26, 2022
They cancelled it before season 2 even aired. They gave it no chance to grow and truly prove itself, even though it had already acquired a devoted fanbase capable of expanding astronomically during season 1 alone.
And guess what? IT DID!!!
— An Alien (@Iglagoolagos) September 26, 2022
Everyone: Why would you cancel such a popular show? A 2 second clip was literally the main takeaway by far for an entire video that wasn’t even related to it? It’s making Twitter go crazy this seems like throwing away money?
Disney: The inner mechanisms of my mind are an enigma. pic.twitter.com/ZcDpzNQq7Q
— RL300 (@RL3004) September 25, 2022
The Corporate side of companies not making the worst fucking decisions ever impossible challenge
— Kyezoar (@Kyez0ar) September 26, 2022
And, furthermore, some users have believed that Disney cancelled the series because they’re “homophobic.” The show includes a queer protagonist, and as a result, this has upset the LGBTQ community as well. Here are some of their responses on the matter:
Disney hated associating their brand with a queer protagonist, whose romance with another girl was a major part of the plot.
It undermined their ability to sell a minor background character mentioning they’re gay once as great representation.
— An Alien (@Iglagoolagos) September 26, 2022
i bet if lumity didnt exist they could milk that shit up to 10 seasons and make it be ready in 2-3 months
— ay3r1 ⚢ #TOH #SDOL (@YURlSGF) September 26, 2022
homophobia, literally no other explanation
— tthhaattss aammoorree (@MightyWario_) September 26, 2022
The creator, Dana Terrace, concluded their thoughts with the following statement:
“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”. 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.”
As such, it is certainly sad news for fans of The Owl House.