Disney is taking PRIDE to new heights.
The animation giant has recently confirmed that it has a bisexual lead character on its animated fantasy television series “The Owl House”.
Although the series first premiered on January 10 this year, they have been adding episodes each month with the latest releasing on August 15.
Disney’s first bisexual character
Disney’s first-ever bisexual character is portrayed by a 14-year-old Dominican-American girl, Luz Noceda.
As per the storyline, Luz is a teenage human girl who accidentally stumbles upon a portal to another world instead of going to Reality Check Camp, a juvenile detention summer camp located in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Through the portal, she reaches Boiling Isles which is made from the remains of a dead Titan. There she befriends the rebellious witch Eda the Owl Lady and her adorable demon roommate named King. Despite not having magical abilities, Luz pursues her dream of becoming a witch by serving as Eda’s apprentice at the Owl House and ultimately finds a new family.
Luz is not Disney’s first LGBTQ+ character. Earlier Pixar featured a gay main character in a short film on Disney Plus, yet Luz is the first bisexual character to make a Disney debut on a television series.
The Owl House creator is a bisexual
The Owl House creator, Dana Terrace, is a powerful house of talent. She serves as an animator, director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and voice actress all by herself. Dana is most known for creating Disney’s The Owl House, as well as being a writer, storyboard artist, and doing additional voices in The Owl House. She was also a director of Disney’s DuckTales. Besides this, she’s also been a storyboard artist on Gravity Falls, Camp Halohead, Tangled: The Series, and a storyboard revisionist on the TV movie, Tangled: Before Ever After.
But what makes The Owl House special for her is that she is a bisexual herself.
Over a tweet, Dana explains that initially, certain leaders of Disney were not too fond of the idea of having an LGBTQ+ character. Yet she was insistent about writing about a bisexual character, so she really pushed Disney to allow the character.
“I was very open about my intention to put queer kids in the main cast. I’m a horrible liar so sneaking it in would’ve been hard. I was told by certain Disney leadership that I could not represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the channel. Luckily my stubbornness paid off, and now I am very supported by current Disney leadership,” she tweets.
Viewers shower love on Dana
Terrace has received tons of positive feedback from viewers. People are showering love for representing the LGBTQ+ community, and wishing they had a show like “The Owl House” when they were children.
“Apparently ‘happiest place on earth’ meant ‘straightest. Thanks to Dana Terrace and team, there are explicitly queer animated main character on Disney TV. This time, Disney- you did good. Representation matters,” Alex Hirsch tweeted.
Alex Hirsch, the creator of Disney’s “Gravity Falls” joined the twitter parade saying that Disney forbade from any kind of LGBTQ+ representation. He thanked Dana for breaking the barriers and also praised Disney. The Gravity Falls creator also encouraged to fight for what they want to see represented in the media and society.