When it comes to Disney, one may think of popular animated shows from their childhood like Phineas and Ferb, Gravity Falls, or Kim Possible. In recent years, most of Disney’s shows have been overlooked by older generations as they grew out of their childhood but one more recent show caught the eye of kids, teens, and young adults alike: The Owl House. 

If you have not watched the full series, it is available on Disney+. The first, second, and last episodes along with a full 2-hour compilation of the entire third season were uploaded onto YouTube by Disney’s official YouTube channel.

The show was created by Dana Terrace and first aired in January 2020. It first rose to popularity during the COVID years because of the social media platform Tik Tok and more people staying at home, bored, looking to watch something new. The three-season series follows the adventures of Luz Noceda, a fourteen-year-old human that accidentally stumbles into the magical Demon Realm known as the Boiling Isles after being enrolled into a “Reality Check Summer Camp.” She meets a magical outlaw named Eda Clawthorne and the demon child, King, who take her in and teach her about the world that she is in. Although she cannot use magic the way the residents of the Isles can, she finds a way through “glyphs,” an ancient language lost to time due to the fear of it being associated with illegal wild magic. While in the demon realm, she also befriends other misfit teens her age at the magic school Hexide and goes on crazy adventures with said friends or her mentor Eda. She also runs into trouble with the dictatorial leader of the Boiling Isles, Emperor Belos, because of her association with Eda and her use of wild magic. She then discovers the Emperor’s identity as a human witch-hunter while trying to find a way back to the human realm. She puts aside returning home to stop the Emperor, who wants to destroy everything by irradicating all magic through his coven system and manipulating a powerful child deity known as The Collector.

Although demons, witches, and witch hunters sound crazy, the show is an overall friendly TV show. It contains overlying themes of friendship, overcoming adversity, and finding a place where you belong. According to the Los Angeles Times, “It’s a fun, funny and heartfelt series that celebrates individuality, family, kindness and creativity set in a creepy, vibrant world As noted by the LA Times, “From the very first episode of ‘The Owl House’, its central message has been clear: Embrace your inner weirdo.” Along with all of that, it is now known as an LGBTQ+ inclusive show, featuring a romantic relationship between protagonist Luz and her former frenemy, Amity Blight. Out of all of the things Luz and her friends are targeted and excluded for, their relationship is not one of them. Among the forms of representation within the show, Luz is also a Domincan-American girl who experienced bullying, struggled in school because of her interests, and is familiar with the experience of losing her father at such a young age. Her mother, Camila Noceda, is a single mother that, as a child, was also a victim of bullying. The overall storyline follows the Hero’s Journey plot but due to the world-building in the show, personalities of characters, and unique struggles. The show, as of April 14 2023, has a 100% Tomatometer and 91-92% audience score rating for its first two seasons, Google reported that 92% of Google Users liked it, and IMDb rates the show an 8.4/10.

On April 8, 2023, the animated television show, aired the final episode of its three-year-long adventure. The fifty-four-minute and forty-nine-second cartoon’s finale was packed with action and ended on a satisfactory, heartwarming note that featured a time skip to show the results of saving the world. Wayne Hills Senior, Bethany Gonzales agrees with that sentiment and said, “I feel like the ending gave us enough closure about the characters and storyline.” Gonzales also said that she “loved The Owl House for its representation, incredible animation, and compelling storytelling.” Now that series has ended, there are fewer shows with LGBTQ+ representation and one less children’s cartoon that teenagers and adults alike can fall in love with.