“The Owl House” is an animated fantasy comedy show on The Disney Channel created by Dana Terrace. It premiered Jan. 10, 2020 and received positive to moderate reviews from audiences and critics as season one started airing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The show started gaining more attention and praise when elements of queer representation and romance with the main protagonist started to blossom as the second half of the first season was teased. Queer audiences were not disappointed when the second half of season one aired in the summer of 2020. It was revealed that a character by the name of Amity Blight officially had a crush on the main protagonist, Luz Noceda. Amity’s crush is not subtle either, which is groundbreaking for a Disney show. The show would later premiere its second season to even more praise and admiration by critics and audiences alike in June 2021. The second season would turn out to be a massive improvement from season one with better writing and more queer representation. A new character in season two would be Disney’s first nonbinary character, explicitly using they/them pronouns and being voiced by Avi Roque, a queer nonbinary person of color.
The show touches on chronic illness struggles in the form of a curse analogy. The series thankfully doesn’t fall into various tired tropes that would make the portrayal of a chronic illness disingenuous.The series also properly portrays mental health issues without the use of analogies to great success. A panic attack and a corresponding grounding technique are shown on screen. For people who experience panic attacks or know someone who has panic attacks, this scene can be a great way to learn how to ease one. Multiple characters are victims of abuse and not only have suffered different types of abuse, but have different trauma responses which allows a variety of abuse victims to relate. “The Owl House” also shows what it’s like growing up neurodivergent both with and without using analogies. If you are a psychology major or have any kind of mental disability, this part of the series might resonate with you. Continuing the dive into mature subjects, the actions of the main villain, Emperor Belos, have direct connections and indirect allusions to real historical events. If you are a history major, this part may be intriguing for you.
Not only does the show portray mature topics with nuance and respect, but it is also extremely tight in the writing department, especially in season two. Which is a feat considering the unfortunate circumstances placed on the crew after season two was finished. “The Owl House” has beautifully animated scenes by guest animators which include Spencer Wan, Kofi Fiagome, and Tom Barkel. “The Owl House” is airing its third season, however it was shortened to only three 40 minute specials and was confirmed to be the last season which was not Dana Terrace’s preferred outcome.
As a long time fan of “The Owl House”, I recommend this show to virtually everyone as it’s one of the most well written animated shows in years. The show is a treat, especially to queer people and those with an interest in psychology, history, writing, horror elements, and animation. Most of the series is available on Disney+ if you are interested in catching up. The second episode of season three is planned to air on Jan. 21 at 9 p.m. on Disney Channel and the final episode of the series is airing sometime in April this year.
