‘Owl House’ is a perfect pick for a Halloween binge
Mashable's entertainment team picks our Watch of the Week, TV shows and movies that you absolutely must add to your list.
As Halloween approaches, perhaps you’re hankering for something sweet, a little scary, and a whole lot of fun? Then you must enter the weird and wondrous world of Disney’s The Owl House.
Created by Dana Terrace, this awesome animated series follows self-proclaimed “weirdo” Luz Noceda (Sarah-Nicole Robles) through a magical portal to The Boiling Isles, a world full of wacky witches and daffy demons. There, this bewildered human swiftly befriends a wild-haired sorceress known as Eda The Owl Lady (a saucy Wendie Malick) and her cuddly demon sidekick King (Alex Hirsch), who looks like a cross between a scruffy puppy and Cubone from Pokémon. Together, this charismatic trio gets up to much mischief, ruffling the feathers of stuffy covens and the local school of witchcraft, where conformity is considered a supreme virtue. However, Luz can’t help but stand out, and she won’t apologize for it. Her bold example inspires others to live their truths and thereby find their true talents, joys, and selves.
Debuting on the Disney Channel in 2020, The Owl House is chiefly intended for kids ages seven and up. Yet, there’s plenty for kids of all ages to enjoy. What first drew me in was Eda, whose mane of untamed grey locks and snaggle-toothed smirk suggests she is a wild woman after my own heart. Aboard her magic staff, she flies in the face of the suffocating societal norms for women (and witches). She’s old, but no crone. She’s single, but not lonely. She’s no damsel in distress, but an outlaw who gleefully uses “wild magic” and a wicked wit when faced by fearsome foes, like stalking shapeshifters, towering beasts, and her rival Lilith (Cissy Jones), a powerful witch who is second-in-command of the tyrannical Emperor Belos (Matthew Rhys).
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It’s easy to see why Luz is enchanted by this rebellious role model, but this spirited girl is a thrilling hero in her own right. Luz is fearless, not only in her willingness to jump into strange realms, but also to face down obstacles big or small. Sometimes that means confronting the intimidating Bat Queen (slinkily voiced by Isabella Rossellini). Sometimes it means confessing her feelings to her crush, a recovering Mean Girl and fellow bookworm Amity Blight (Mae Whitman).
Their blossoming relationship is part of why The Owl House won praise — including a Peabody Award. After years of Disney urging creators away from LGBTQ representation (just ask Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch), this animation giant finally allowed a cartoon series to be centered on an unquestionably and unapologetically queer hero, and actually lets her kiss her girlfriend onscreen! But that’s not all. Season 2 introduces Disney’s first non-binary character. Voiced by trans non-binary actor Avi Roque, Raine Whispers is a brave bard who is an old flame of Eda’s. Best of all, Terrace’s team paints these romantic relationships with an effusive tenderness and joy that makes their excitement contagious.
While this is a series about misfits, the LGBTQ characters are never othered because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Thus The Owl House smartly dodges the damaging trope that too often ties stories of queerness and transness to trauma. Luz doesn’t suffer because she’s queer. Her struggles deal chiefly with learning how to do magic, questing for a path back to the human realm, and battling against the suffocating fascism of the patriarchal Emperor. Such magical misadventures bring her in contact with a marvelously rich array of mythical creatures, like griffins, basilisks, and centaurs (for starters).
To create fresh spins on such fantasy elements, Terrace found influence in the works of 15th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, who famously created worlds disturbing yet beautiful. Sure, the hell panel from The Garden of Earthly Delights seems an unlikely inspiration for a kids’ show design. Yet with a thoughtfully twee coating, Terrace has created a reverential yet unique medley of creepy and cute that is so endlessly intriguing. Just when you think you might want to saunter into the Boiling Isles for a cuddle with a demon dog, here comes a massive-headed bat beast, a tremendous centipede with a human face, or a hyper-emotional demon that looks like an owl crossed with an endless rubbery worm!
Okay, so now you might be wondering how a show this weird was made by Disney. Well, here’s the bad news - that’s actually why The Owl House has been canceled. Earlier this week in a Reddit AMA, Terrace explained that some Disney big wig “decided TOH didn't fit that ‘brand.’” Yet, The Owl House isn’t done putting out episodes. The first half of Season 2 recently arrived on Disney+; the release date of the second half hasn't yet been announced. However, Terrace and her team have those episodes and a truncated third season coming. It’s far from ideal, but Season 3's three 44-minute episodes will be a conclusion to Luz’s saga. So, now is the perfect time to get on board, because Terrace has said that this may not need to be the end of this unique and thrilling world of the Boiling Isles. In a Twitch stream last summer, she told fans, “Spinoffs, shorts, comics, all that stuff can still happen. If you like the show, watch it on Disney+. That’s the best way you can support the show.”
The Owl House is dead. Long live The Owl House.
Kristy Puchko is the Entertainment Editor at Mashable. Based in New York City, she's an established film critic and entertainment reporter who has traveled the world on assignment, covered a variety of film festivals, co-hosted movie-focused podcasts, and interviewed a wide array of performers and filmmakers.
