The Owl House 4 is currently on hold as the petition to renew it nears 15,000 signatures.
Last week’s superb episode of The Owl House ‘Watching and Dreaming’ was bittersweet for fans of the popular animated fantasy series.
Whilst we did see a conclusion packed with emotion, reflection, and action; the season 3 finale was also tinged with an air of sadness because at the end of the day, this was a finale that shouldn’t have aired for several more years.
Unfortunately, The Owl House will not be returning for season 4 on Disney, with creator Dana Terrace confirming that season 3 episode 3 would be the series finale – here is everything that fans need to know.
Why The Owl House’s fourth season is not allowed?
The issues with The Owl House and a potential fourth season appear to have started, surprise surprise, with the coronavirus pandemic – which forced Disney Animation Studios to close down and staff to work from home on season 2 by March 2020.
Terrace will then switch to Reddit to offer heartbroken fans an explanation as to why The Owl House’s story was terminated much sooner than anyone would have anticipated.
The first topic that Terrace covered was the LGBTQ+ representation, which had become a topic of controversy online surrounding the series’ cancelation by Disney. Thankfully, Terrace confirmed that “While we have had issues airing in a few countries (and are just straight up banned in a few more) I’m not gonna assume bad faith against the people I work with in LA.”
The fan favorite creator would then share how the team “wasn’t even given the option of a season 4 when [the Disney] Parks open again”, adding that “They just wanted to be done with TOH and this was the perfect chance to do that.”
“Even getting the consolation s3 episodes was difficult, apparently. Hard to say, I wasn’t allowed to be a part of any conversations until I was just… Told. Wasn’t even allowed to present my case.”
The ratings of The Owl House and the response from fans should have also been sufficient to justify the production of season 4, but this wasn’t the case.
“That argument doesn’t hold water either. Our ratings were GOOD (for a Channel show during the streaming wars lmao) but they were also incomplete. To my knowledge, this decision was made before Agony of a Witch aired, and WAY before Disney +. Also, how are you gonna judge ratings when you don’t rerun the show you’re trying to measure? Get OUTTA here you silly billies.”
Unfortunately, the cancelation of The Owl House came down to those “business people who oversee what fits into the Disney brand and one day one of those guys decided TOH didn’t fit that “brand”.”
Terrace would end her AMA by giving fans a boost, stating that the support the global community provides “not only does it support the crew but it encourages studios to take bigger risks on shows coming down the pipeline” Adding, “And, who knows? Maybe there’s a future for the Owl House world if DTV has different people in charge.”
Good news! There’s already a fan The Owl House 4 season at Disney, or at any potential partner network. The current signature count is 13,159 out of 15,000 required.
The petition claims, “Season 3 only will contain 3 episodes, and it deserves more. Dana herself even wishes the show would continue on.”
“If we show this show enough support, we may be able to get another season to explore more with these amazing characters!”
The Owl House, which aired for three seasons, has won 14 awards and been nominated in other categories.
- Peabody Award for Children’s & Youth Programming (Won)
- BMI Cable Television Award (Won by TJ Hills)
- Autostraddle TV Award (Won for Outstanding Animated Series)
- Autostraddle TV Award for Outstanding LGBTQ+ Director/Writer/Showrunner (Nominated)
- Annie Award Nomination for Character Design Award
- GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding Kids and Family Programs (Nominated).
Fingers crossed that The Owl House does return in some format in the future; whether that be as a fully-fledged TV series, spin-off title, graphic novel, or audio book – we just need more TOH.
By Tom Llewellyn – [email protected]
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