Disney gets its first bisexual lead character in ‘The Owl House’

Team Udayavani, Aug 16, 2020, 11:42 AM IST

Los Angeles: ‘The Owl House’ has made history by becoming the first animated series at Disney Channel to feature the studio”s first bisexual lead character.

Series creator Dana Terrace confirmed on Twitter after viewers started sharing theories on the social media platform, reported Variety.

The show”s protagonist, Luz Noceda is a 14-year-old who goes on a journey to another world to become a witch. Luz has shown she is attracted to male characters in the show, and in the two most recent episodes, “Enchanting Grom Fright” and “Wing It Like Witches”, a relationship between Luz and the recurring female character Amity is explored.

It is further revealed Amity had intentions to ask Luz to Grom, their world”s version of Prom, and the duo share a dance together.

Terrace substantiated fan theories, saying she was keen on featuring “queer kids” in the lead cast, an idea rejected by some Disney executives right at the outset.

“In (development) 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. When we were greenlit I was told by certain Disney leadership that I could not represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the channel,” she said.

Terrace, however, revealed the studio top brass was now on board.

“I”m bi! I want to write a bi character, dammit! Luckily my stubbornness paid off and now I am very supported by current Disney leadership,” she added.

Former animation supervisor for “The Owl House” Spencer Wan shared the original storyboard for the dance scene between Lux and Amity, writing that it was his “first time getting to do anything even remotely queer”.

This is not Disney”s first time including an openly LGBTQ character in a cast; however, they have been represented in minor or non-recurring parts up until this point.

This year”s film “Onward”, the character Officer Spector, voiced by Lena Waithe, was revealed to identify as a lesbian.

“Andi Mack” became the first show on Disney Channel to have a character discover they are gay, and “Out”, the Pixar short film, featured a gay main character in its Disney Plus launch.