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sepublic · 8 months ago

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The Owl House Ending Anniversary Livestream

These are the notes I’ve taken from The Owl House anniversary stream, just the stuff related to the show (though there was a hilarious anecdote from Sarah about having a theater light shine on her bald spot while attending an acting school);

For the finale, the VAs (and Dana and Eden) got to record voice work together for the first time since the covid lockdown. Sarah scream-cried and sobbed right after finishing the final lines for Luz. The recording occurred a few months before the finale aired.

Zeno revealed that anime dub voice directors usually want a different direction for voice acting than with western animation, but when Zeno did a take for Hunter that he thought might’ve sounded too anime, everyone else was in full approval. From there, Zeno approached Hunter as the “anime emo boy” or “Sasuke” of the show, going for an “eastern anime edgy feel.” Sarah thought this fit given how much Hunter is trying; Zeno feels Hunter wears his emotions on his sleeves no matter how cool he tries to be.

Hunter would 100% be an anime fan and be obsessed with anime conventions in the human realm. Eden mentioned that Dana took a lot of anime inspiration when doing segments such as fight scenes or character power-ups, with Luz’s Titan form being based on Pokemon evolution.

When voicing Lilith, Cissy would pull from her memories of her aunt Kim in translating the “fun, goofy” energy, and she normally does this for other fun aunt/maternal roles. Elizabeth Grullon brought in parts of her culture and ancestry when doing Camila, as per the advice of her late mentor Ken Washington.

If the VAs could hang out with their characters for one day: Eden would take Boscha to therapy, and all of the VAs agreed, with Zeno ready to pay for Hunter’s (“The credit card will NOT decline”). Cissy would have a ride on Mike Socks. Elizabeth would visit the Demon Realm with Camila, get some drinks in her, make some arroz con pollo and tostones, put on some salsa music, and just vibe out. Sarah would also visit the Demon Realm with Luz, and wherever Luz likes to hang out; Maybe a beach day.

Cissy thinks Lilith would go full-nerd when visiting the human realm, having a notebook and pen and going mad as she’s scribbling everything down. She’d stop people on the street to ask if they’ve had apple blood, and be an absolute menace, people would be freaking out.

Pulling from themselves, Avi thinks Raine would meet things with a little bit of caution, having lots of disinfectant wipes, and eventually get comfortable, freely exploring without inhibition.

Eden imagines Boscha would thrive in the human world, since there’s so many gullible people she could trick into being her followers. She’d either use the third eye for attention, or grow bangs/wear a beanie to hide it. Cissy joked that Boscha would run for president and win in a landslide, which is a bad idea because she’d have too much power at her fingertips.

When it comes to Camila exploring the demon realm once everything’s cooled down, Elizabeth thinks she’d be a bit skeptical, but eventually relax, have some apple blood, kick back and make some friends… And then be ready to go back. Not an overnight stay, just a brief visit.

Cissy was proudest of her performance as Lilith was “Why were you so easy to curse?!” in Agony of a Witch. For Zeno it was Thanks to Them, he felt it was a closed circle for Hunter; He enjoyed balancing various Hunter elements like the Golden Guard role, and the catharsis with Luz right afterwards. He’s glad it was vulnerable and open, wanting his performance to be honest and realistic. For Elizabeth it was Camila reacting to various Demon Realm segments such as Belos, or preparing to fight Kikimora.

Eden liked Boscha’s arc in For the Future, how it came full-circle when she helped the resistance because she didn’t mean real harm and just wanted things to go back to normal. For Sarah it was the ending of Yesterday’s Lie where Luz promises to stay in the human realm, she found it heartbreaking how it was Luz’s two worlds colliding; Sarah couldn’t wait to see the episode in its entirety. Raine was Avi’s first voice-acting role for animation, and they summoned the ‘guttural response’ to free themselves when doing the possession scene with Belos in the finale.

Luz’s favorite human realm drink is coffee or matcha due to her ADHD, the caffeine can help her focus, “turn Demon Realm,” but is also helpful for a nap. Sarah often brings large drinks into the studio, and described her performance as Luz as a cold brew, plus a giant gallon of water, plus some tea with honey after she’s done screaming.

Hunter would like Red Bulls and go crazy with the energy. He’d apply Demon Realm mentality by believing Red Bull’s “gives you wings” advertisements, and write a letter to management demanding a refund when this doesn’t literally happen.

Camila would love café bustelo, it’s a big Latina drink and was introduced to Elizabeth by her mom. The 4pm kind brings you to life and it’s the time for tias to gossip.

Boscha is either a giant slurpee girl, or popping boba, because her third eye gives Boscha an inclination towards eye aesthetics. Plus Boscha could spit boba at people through her straw, which led to Sarah joking about Luz and Hunter walking in bespeckled with boba (“No Hunter, they do not give you wings”).

Lilith would like pina colada, she’d think it’s the cool thing that everyone drinks, what with there being a whole song about it. Then she’d drink it and go on a tangent about how her mom never loved her, and Luz would ask her in concern how many she’s had. Lilith would collect several of the parachutes in her hair.

Raine has a sensitive stomach, so they’re into kombucha and brew their own.

(Fun fact; The group realized the eclipse was happening during the livestream and had a discussion over how to protect your eyes when watching it!)

Rebecca Rose herself sent a question, asking what they think a palisman would taste like. They joked that Matthew Rhys was NOT here, and Dana apparently headcanons that palismen essence tastes like gushers. Zeno and Sarah joked that Belos has a sweet tooth and he’s obsessed because he left the human realm before they invented gushers. It never even occurred to Eden that palisman essence would have a flavor, it’d just be an energy boost, like pipe tobacco (and Sarah added this was appropriate because palismen are made of wood). Yesterday was Rebecca’s birthday and the VAs wished her a happy one.

Zeno’s favorite quality about Hunter is his loyalty and dedication; When he sets his sights on something, he’s pretty relentless. He has a really deep well of complexity in him, half is angst but the other half is real heart.

Elizabeth loves how Camila loves her kid so much that she’s willing to step past herself and her own limitations, her own fears and comfort zone, to connect with and support Luz. Sarah noted it’s like Camila is learning to be a kid again with her arc.

Boscha doesn’t have a ton of great character traits, but she’s a strong athlete, doesn’t give up, and is powerful; Eden admires that about her, she’s badass. Everything else about her though…

Sarah likes how Luz doesn’t have an ego; Yes she’s unapologetically herself and doesn’t know any other way, but when she messes up, she has no problem taking the blame and apologizing. She’ll own up to things and fix them. Though it was misguided, Luz was even willing to let go of everything she loved to make up for letting down the Demon Realm and protect everyone. It’s not easy to put aside your own wants and needs sometimes and apologize, accepting that you’re wrong.

Lilith had a lot of faults, but her willingness to admit her own wrongdoing and go into the depths of her soul to figure out how to be better; Such as being a better auntie/sister, forgiving her parents, etc. She had a lot of growing up to do, and Cissy felt Dana gave Lilith such a beautiful way to go about that.

Avi was glad to see Raine have stage fright and awkwardness/shyness in public and with social settings, but they can transform by stepping into this fierce protector/hero role, and find that confidence. It’s a multi-faceted character, a full human experience, and felt genuine to Avi.

When asked if Boscha ever said sorry to Willow and Luz, Eden joked that love means never having to say sorry; Boscha probably skipped over that. Assumed she already said it at some point, the others just have bad memory. I’m sure they know, I helped them. I didn’t kill them and they’re still alive, so clearly…!

The hardest episode to record was Thanks to Them for Zeno, the VAs had to take a break. It was already cathartic and then Hunter didn’t even get a break afterwards, plus Zeno had the knowledge of the show ending. For Elizabeth it was the finale due to the sadness of the show being over, but otherwise there was nothing hard for her because the experience was a dream come true; She was in pure joy when in the booth. Even when Camila was crying or saying goodbye, it was still fun for Elizabeth. But when she herself is saying goodbye, that’s when it’s hard for her.

Eden also agreed on the finale due to how long it was (and she accounted for her role as voice director as well), mentioning how the episode was the culmination of so much, there was a lot of ground to cover, etc. It was so emotional how everyone brought so much, saying goodbye together as a cast. Not to mention the catharsis/closure of stamping Belos to death together.

Sarah concurred, it was meta saying goodbye to the show and each other. But she also found Reaching Out hard, due to Luz’s complex emotions, her coming in and out a lot. She’s dealing with a great loss, and Sarah wanted to honor that grief, but also had Luz masking it, popping up, acting out, and needed to choose how/when to let that emotion come out. The grief wasn’t super-fresh, it comes in waves, and it was in that state where some are in shock or others cry; You never know when it’ll strike, when it’ll put you on edge. So Reaching Out was hard to map out for Sarah, especially with Luz just popping up to do one weird thing and then going away. It was a lot of fun, and workwise it was a lot of pressure to get it right.

Cissy also had the finale, with the switch from Lilith making amends to being terrible again in the dream sequence being jarring. There was also Agony of a Witch, as the landing needed to be stuck to make the episode work; But Eden and Dana were there for the recording session to help.

Avi had Follies at the Coven Day Parade, when Eda and Raine had their duel. Avi really had to tap into being angry and mad at someone they care so much about.

If Elizabeth could give advice to any character, it’s for Boscha to go to therapy. Sarah tells Lilith to stand still and feel her feelings, you poor beautiful witch. Avi tells everyone to not be so hard on yourself. Cissy, to all (especially teenagers): It gets better, you think you know everything and you think you have the weight of your world on your hands (and tbf that was the case), but it gets better. Eden would tell Hunter to take a day off, take a nap. Zeno would tell everyone to do the same, it’s okay to let go. Eden would also advise Eda to lay off the law-breaking, Sarah said not to start her day with apple blood (save it for happy hour).

Sarah’s favorite Hooty moment was the tea party, and how he would be haunted by his actions forever in Adventures in the Elements. Cissy loved Hooty and Lilith’s friendship, “No witch is an island!” Eden loves the first appearance of Port-a-Hooty, it had her in stitches the first time she saw it; There was sheer terror knowing he could travel. Sarah loved Hooty’s off-screen attack by Amity. For Zeno, it was two guards struggling to describe Hooty. Elizabeth concurred with everyone, and Avi liked it when Hooty just ate things and sometimes ruined a situation because of it. Cissy brought up Hooty’s skeleton bathing.

#the owl house #luz noceda #lilith clawthorne #the owl house hunter #camila noceda #the owl house boscha #raine whispers #sarah nicole robles #cissy jones #avi roque #zeno robinson #eden riegel #elizabeth grullon

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historyhermann · 2 years ago

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“The Owl House” Showcases Diverse Stories and LGBTQ Representation

Luz hugs King

What if a girl stumbled into another world filled with witches, wizards, and magic? The Owl House answers that question, as Luz explores a new world with new friends, enemies, and learns more about herself along the way.

Reprinted from The Geekiary, my History Hermann WordPress blog (it will be published on there on Jan. 1) and Wayback Machine. This was the forty-fourth article I wrote for The Geekiary. This post was originally published on July 8, 2022.

The Owl House is an animated fantasy series by Dana Terrace, a bisexual animator and writer. She is known for storyboarding episodes of Gravity Falls and the recent reboot of DuckTales.

As a warning, this recommendation discusses spoilers for episodes of The Owl House.

King, Eda, Luz, and Mr. Tibbles

The Owl House centers around Luz Noceda (voiced by Sarah-Nicole Robles), a Dominican-American teenage girl who enters an alternate world. She arrives in a set of islands known as Boiling Isles. Luz soon befriends an older witch named Eda Clawthorne (voiced by Wendie Malick), also known as The Owl Lady.

She also meets a small demon named King (voiced by Alex Hirsch), and a witty door knocker of the Owl House, Hooty (voiced by Hirsch). Although Luz doesn't have innate magical abilities, she serves as a witches' apprentice to Eda, and lives at the Owl House.

To hone her magical skills, Luz goes to Hexside Academy, where each student has a magical track. She meets other classmates like Willow Park (voiced by Tati Gabrielle) and Gus Parker (voiced by Issac Ryan Brown). Willow and Gus are skilled in plant and illusion magic.

Luz becomes fast friends with them. As someone obsessed with human culture, Gus tries to learn what he can from her. Over the course of the first season, Luz slowly improves her relationship with the school's top student, Amity Blight (voiced by Mae Whitman).

The series features characters such as the school's principal, Hieronymus Bump (voiced by Bumper Robinson) and Eda's sister, Lilith Clawthorne (voiced by Cissy Jones). There's also the ruler of the Boiling Isles and series villain, Emperor Belos, a witch student named Boscha (voiced by Eden Reigel), and Amity's siblings Emira "Em" and Edric "Ed" Blight (voiced by Erica Lindbeck and Ryan O'Flanagan). Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin, Fred Tatasciore, Eric Bauza, Kari Wahlgren, Jorge Diaz, and Kimberly Brooks voice other characters.

The Owl House begins differently than any other series I've watched. Even though Futurama and Samurai Jack feature time travel. And Final Space, Elliot from Earth, Otherside Picnic, and Helluva Boss have dimensional travel. None of them are like this series. Although The Owl House has some similarities with Steven Universe and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, it is unique in and of itself.

Even so, there are season two episodes focusing on time travel and its implications. Viewers learn a frightening truth about Belos (voiced by Matthew Rhys). This scares his loyal servant, Hunter (voiced by Zeno Robinson) out of his mind. It makes Luz worried about her safety.

The series has received nominations for youth and family programming, character design, and voice-over work awards since its premiere. Most recently, it received a GLAAD Media Award award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming, competing with Amphibia and other live-action productions. The Owl House previously received a nomination for the same award last year.

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The Owl House has some cast diversity. Robles, who voices one of the series protagonists, is Afro-Latine. Elizabeth Grullon, who voiced Luz's mother, Camila, is of Dominican descent. She described her character's relationship with Luz as a "refreshing representation" of a real Latine family. Robinson, Brown, and Brooks are Black actors. Gabrielle is Afro-Korean. Luz is significant as an animated character because 12% of Latine people, and 2% of the U.S. adult population, identify as Afro-Latine.

In 2021, series creator Dana Terrace confirmed that Luz is neurodivergent. Previously, some fans argued that she was ADHD-coded because of her hyperfixations and actions. The latter is still a possibility since she is neurodivergent.

T.J. Hill composed the first season's music. Brad Breek composed the second season's music. Hill also composed the theme music. It is fitting for this young adult fantasy series. The music often helps set the mood, connecting with the show's story. On Twitter, Hill noted that the show's score had "interesting and experimental sounds" which he enjoyed putting together. He also composed music for Amphibia.

The animation style of The Owl House is amazing. Terrace has said that Russian architecture and paintings of John Bauer, Remedios Varo, and Hieronymus Bosch inspired her. To make sure the show is visually effective, there were over 100 people as part of the crew, and 50 people on the pre-production crew alone, by December 2019.

Spencer Wan supervised the show's crew in the first season. Kofi Fiagome did the same in the second season. Ricky Cometa worked as the series art director. Demons in the show are not scary but represent actual people. Comeda noted that they designed Luz as a "nod to all...fellow nerds out there". Furthermore, the Boiling Isles has a purple ocean to distinguish it from Earth.

Luz realizes she is in the Boiling Isles

The Owl House, unlike some other series, has deep lore which pulls you into the series. This includes worldbuilding, like when Luz, Hooty, and King travel to Titan Trapper Island hoping to learn about King's past. What they find is something they don't expect, while King discovers his new powers and who he really is.

There are compelling stories, like those focused on the family backstories of Edith and Luz. Terrace has said that while much of the series lore is made up, the Pokemon franchise strongly influenced her. The show's main characters were even inspired by people in Terrace's life, with Luz even named after Terrace's roommate, Luz Batiste, who is a story artist on the show and is also Dominican-American.

The series, based on Terrace's childhood experiences, has the twin themes of conformity and uniqueness. This interconnects with the horror elements of the series, which Disney executives were concerned about. The heartfelt and comedic elements balance out the more scary ones.

Even so, Terrace compromised between her ideas and the wishes of Disney executives. This resulted in the show's intended "darker tone" being minimized in the show's first season. In the second season, the intended tone came to the fore and The Owl House truly became a young adult animation on par with Dead End: Paranormal Park and The Legend of Korra.

Critics from Common Sense Media, Collider, The Mary Sue, The A.V. Club, CBR, and TheGamer acclaimed the series during its first 19-episode season run. It received a second season renewal prior to the first season debut. However, while the series was renewed for a third and final season, only three 44-minute special episodes will air (despite the positive reception). It is shorter than the 10-20 episodes the production team had anticipated.

In a Reddit AMA, Terrace wrote that The Owl House got cut short because Disney executives claimed the show did not fit into the "Disney brand." She surmised that the show's serialized nature and older audience than other Disney productions, rather than the show's LGBTQ representation, was the reason. Terrace further revealed that the executives did not allow her to argue for a fourth season. She believed the show could have a future if different executives were in charge.

The Owl House is not dead and gone. Terrace has said she would like to continue it in the future either through a limited series or comics. She encouraged fans to ask Disney for more content connected to the show. There was a series of shorts released on the official Disney Channel YouTube Channel entitled "Look Hooo's Talking" and comedic shorts entitled "Owl Pellets" released throughout 2020.

Amity and Luz both blush after they agree to be girlfriends with one another.

One of the most important aspects of the show is its LGBTQ+ representation. This is most outwardly manifested by Luz, who is bisexual. She is the first bisexual protagonist in a Disney series, although not the first bisexual character. Some read Li Shong (voiced by BD Wong) in Mulan and Nerissa in W.I.T.C.H. as bisexual. Jackie Lynn Thomas in Star Vs. The Forces of Evil is bisexual, as are Jess and Sasha Waybright in Amphibia.

A major subplot in the series is the feelings Luz, and her original rival-of-sorts, Amity, have for one another. This begins with Amity blushing and acting bashful toward Luz. This culminates with both dancing together to defeat a monster in "Enchanting Grom Fright".

Luz remains oblivious to the fact that Amity has a crush on her. She finally realizes this when Amity kisses Luz on the cheek in a Season 2 episode after going through dangerous trials to get her library job back.

Luz and Amity finally become a couple in the episode "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door". Later episodes focused on the ups and downs of their relationship. They learn to not keep secrets from one another, even if those secrets are painful, and help each other as girlfriends.

This overjoyed fans who ship both characters as "Lumity", along with queer fans and other supporters of expanded representation. There are over 19,000 followers on the Lumity subreddit alone, as of writing this piece. In the episode titled 'Clouds on the Horizon', both characters shared a romantic kiss together.

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This open presentation of a queer romance contrasts with Adventure Time, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Gravity Falls, and The Legend of Korra. In those series, the romantic feelings between characters were not canonized until the last episode.

While those series have their merits, having a relationship between two characters in the show proper, rather than at the end, is more impressive. Doing the latter cheapens the representation, in my opinion. Hopefully future series and films will avoid almost blink-and-you-miss-it moments, like the one in The Mitchells vs. the Machines (related to the protagonist's girlfriend).

Beyond Luz and Amity, there's Luz's guardian, Eda. She is revealed to be queer. She had a previous relationship with Raine Whispers (voiced by Avi Roque), leader of a coven fighting against the malevolent emperor, Belos. Raine has the distinction of being non-binary and transmasculine. They are, perhaps, the first Disney character to be non-binary.

The Collector, a being who collaborates with Belos on opening a portal to the human realm, was recently hinted at as being non-binary by the show's creator. Raine is the leader of anti-Belos group named Covens Against the Throne (CATS) which Eda, King, and Luz later join.

There's also Eda's older sister, Lilith. She may be aromantic and asexual, again breaking barriers. Also, like Bow's two dads, George and Lance, in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Willow has two fathers, Gilbert and Harvey.

These aspects make some reactionary individuals, whether in halls of Congress or elsewhere in society, sneer. They declare that the series is "corrupting" their children or some other nonsense about how such media is "turning" kids queer.

Luz worried about Hunter and being utterly terrified after coming out of the mind of Emperor Belos

Putting aside the ramblings of reactionary people, it is easy to see why The Owl House is popular. It has diverse stories, focuses on friendship, and has the classic conflict between good and evil. It skews to an older, young adult crowd. This is clear through a changed tone from the show's first season to the second. It becomes dark at times, making it evident why Disney wants the series to end.

The finale of Season 2 has the Collector and Belos work on a portal to the human realm, and on the Day of Unity, with a plan to wipe out wild magic forever. The draining spell succeeds. In the midst of it, Luz is saved by her friends and King talks to the Collector.

The episode ends with Luz, Amity, Hunter, Gus, and Willow fleeing through the portal door to the human realm, while King stays behind. This is more horrifying than when Anne and her frog family traveled to Earth in Amphibia.

There is no knowing what happened to the Boiling Isles or King. While they all go to Luz's family home at the episode's end, their fate or whether they can return to the other world remains unknown. This will undoubtedly be the subject of the third and final season.

The series emphasizes the importance of one's chosen family and exploring your identity. It brings trauma to the forefront, as Steven Universe Future did with a focus on Steven's trauma. The Owl House has the potential to inspire others to follow in its footsteps.

It is not known how this young adult animation will influence any future indie animations, webcomics, mainstream series, or other media. Some crew members may move forward and create their own series. After all, the former Steven Universe crew had a part in OK K.O.: Let's Be Heroes, Summer Camp Island, Craig of the Creek, RWBY, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, and Amphibia, some of which are YA animations and have queer content.

I highly recommend The Owl House. After watching the recent episodes, I came to realize why I love the series all over again.

The series is currently airing on the Disney Channel, streaming on Disney+, and is also available on Amazon Prime, and other platforms.

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