Posted in: TV | Tagged: animation, disney, disney channel, the owl house

The Owl House: Clarifying Those Bob Chapek/Bob Iger/Disney Rumors

As animated series go, Dana Terrace's The Owl House has much to be proud of when it comes to its three-season run. From an awards standpoint, you can't do much better than walking away with a 2021 Peabody Award for Children's & Youth Programming. And that was due in large part to the Disney Channel series embracing LGBTQIA+ representation in ways that "The Mouse" hasn't in the past, from being the first Disney property to feature a same-sex couple in lead roles to introducing nonbinary characters to featuring a same-sex kiss between leads. But let's not look past the most obvious thing it had going for it. It was really, really good. Which is why fans were puzzled and bothered by the way the animated series was treated during what would be its final run, with Season 3 reduced to three specials (as opposed to the 19 and 21 episodes that Season 1 and 2 had, respectively).

Heading into the end of 2021, Terrace took to Reddit (more on that below) to share some thoughts on the series ending, alleging that one Disney executive felt that the series didn't fit with the company's "brand" and that their dislike was a factor in rolling back the season and eventually ending the series entirely. Now, The Owl House Production Associate Rebecca Rose has taken to Twitter to clarify a few things about how the decision came about & the show's future, as well as what roles ex-Disney head Bob Chapek and previous-and-now-new Disney head Bob Iger did (and didn't play) in the series' demise.

"Chapek wasn't responsible for the situation regarding S3 of The Owl House. Honestly, he probably has no idea that the show even exists. You can be upset with him on the Don't Say Gay bill or any other actions/remarks, but he wasn't responsible for anything regarding TOH [The Owl House]," Rose wrote in the first of a series of six tweets looking to clarify some of the rumors and misconceptions out there. "In terms of Iger being back, nothing can be done to change the situation with S3. He also wasn't the one who greenlit the show in the first place. Been seeing a lot of people saying Iger greenlit it and Chapek canceled it, neither of those are true."

When it comes to decisions like the one made regarding The Owl House, those are made by folks in charge of divisions- not Chapek or Iger. "With a company as big as Disney, there are different divisions. Example, Disney Channel is a part of Disney Branded Television, then Disney Branded Television is part of Disney General Entertainment. These divisions each have different individuals in charge to oversee them. Basically, a CEO of a company like Disney doesn't really have any direct influence on a TV show like 'Owl House," Rose added. When it comes to what viewers can do to save their shows, Rose responds with an answer we hear from show creators every time: watch, keep watching, and convince others to watch. "If you want to voice and show interest in additional content, support the show!" Rose encouraged. "Watch it on YouTube (Thanks To Them just passed 4 million views the other day) and Disney+. Those numbers really go a long way to show support behind a show!"

Here's a look at what Terrace had to say back in October 2021 via Reddit regarding some of the questions & rumors regarding the animated series' abbreviated third & final season:

Why is Owl House ending so soon? Why was s3 cut?

Was it the LGBT+ rep? While we have had issues airing in a few countries (and are just straight up banned in a few more) I'm not gonna assume bad faith against the people I work with in LA.

Was it covid/budget related reasons? Every show had to tighten their belts. 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. Even getting the consolation s3 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. LOVE the transparency and openness here (this is sarcasm).

So it was the ratings. That argument doesn't hold water either. Our ratings were GOOD (for a Channel show during the streaming wars lmao) but they were also incomplete. This decision was made, to my knowledge, before Agony of a Witch premiered and WELL before we were on Disney +. Also, how are you gonna judge ratings when you don't rerun the show you're trying to measure? Get OUTTA here you silly billies.

SO WHAT WAS IT?! 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. 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.

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