This is Awkward

Something about mentors learning from their students just as much as they teach them.

What I want from adult animation is shows like The Owl House, but taken further, without the limitations that networks put these shows through to make them "suitable for younger audiences". I don't even think they need to necessarily be completely inappropriate for younger viewers, they just need to prioritize their adult audience more and not get bogged down by "think of the children!!" rhetoric.

Animation targetted at older audiences doesn't all have to be like Family Guy. Even the more well-liked adult shows such as Harley Quinn don't stray nearly far enough off the established model to really meet the potential of the medium. Sometimes I want a sincere story without bathroom humour or gratuitous gore or hypersexualization. Sometimes I want to watch something that doesn't even really have "adult" content, but that's still designed for older audiences first and foremost, instead of held in a creative chokehold by brands like Disney to make sure it's colourful and light-hearted enough for little Timmy.

Maybe what I want would more accurately be called "Young Adult" or "Teen" animation, but I feel like those labels would undervalue these shows to the average viewer, similalry to how "YA" vs. "Adult" novels are treated. Just look at what Infinity Train was able to do when it was allowed to go places "kids'" shows usually aren't allowed to! Look at the beta concepts and imagine what The Owl House could have been if it wasn't on Disney Channel!

Of course, I love what we got with toh and how far they've taken this story, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But there are admittedly a lot of weird moments and character/lore inconsistencies in the show, especially in season 1, where you can really feel Disney's enforced quota of "haha silly cartoon hijinks" messing with things. And I try to ignore them, but I often look at that one Bat Queen concept art and I get this sense of longing for a world where these shows can exist without having to toe the line of conforming to being "kids" shows.

Really my main point is that no one is hitting this specific niche like serialized non-"adult" cartoons are. But these types of shows have no stable space carved out for them in western media. The only place where they can even exist is on kids television networks, where their content is heavily policed and limited. And being trapped on these networks causes the general public to often lump them in with every other cartoon, dismissing them all as "for kids", no matter how different the story-telling style and intended audiences are. And if any of these networks one day decide that serialized cartoons no longer fit their brand, then we lose like half of the shows we have, out of an already measly selection.

these parents are so angry 😭

The film tackles the transition from childhood to womanhood, challenges of mother-daughter relationships and generational trauma all in under two hours. While many praised the project for its normalization of these topics, some parents who watched the film felt that its themes were “too mature” for their children…

Plus Ariel telling King Triton "I'm 16 years old! I'm not a child anymore!" and then disobeying, running away from home, changing her body, and then getting married at the end. That's fine, I guess?

When I was watching Turning Red with my 11 year old, there were some cringey moments, sure, but she told me mid way through that it was "the most relevant Disney movie ever."

So...

Starting a new order for @tegannouveau We're going to make two Stan's with the Mr. Mystery body and the Sea Stan's head. Also going to make two little fez hats that you can take on and off!

Like, this is me speculating but tell me it doesn’t sound like exactly where TOH could go with this:

You have Philip (and brother) Wittebane, two 17th century men from colonial Connecticut with a distinct interest in witchcraft, which obviously has lead to them being ostracized from their community for their unusual, dangerous interests – and to the Demon Realm becoming something of a haven for them.

Fast forward to the present and it’s clear that Belos’ plans involve some kind of a fusion of the two realms – the Day of “Unity,” the vision he showed the Coven heads of the Titan’s head superimposed over a Human Realm city, etc. Glyph magic, the type of magic accessible to humans, doesn’t work in the Human Realm because it relies on the presence of the Titan. If Belos is Philip, this is the ultimate “I told you so” to the people who persecuted him for wanting to be a witch – bringing Boiling Isles-style magic to the Human Realm for good, and as a person in power this time, no less.

And then you have Luz, the 21st century teenager whose witch fantasies also got her ostracized – for being weird, not dangerous, but still. Who is having a crisis about her future because she feels torn between two worlds, and promised her mother she would stay in the Human Realm even if it meant never doing magic again.

I can already see and hear the “We’re not so different, you and I” villain monologue brewing, as the Emperor tries to convince her not to stop him because, really, they want the same thing don’t they? To be able to be witches “back home,” and stick it to all the people tho told them they were wrong?

It’s just….. so extremely satisfying thematically, and one of the biggest reasons I’m convinced Belos is one of the brothers, honestly. I could be wrong, but there’s just so much there to explore that feels in line with the shows themes and I Am Looking for sure

(And a side note – I am almost positive that there was a falling-out between the brothers over wanting to do exactly this that is the reason only one of them is around. Which. If Hunter really is a clone or descendant of the other brother, and if for the final confrontation over this he’s on Luz’s side, not the Emperor’s….