The Owl House

The Owl House is an American-Canadian animated fantasy television series created by Rachel Pursley and produced by Bear Bones Productions, their Australian department and CinéGroupe. It premiered on Kids' WB and Teletoon in 2000.

Plot
The series centers on Luz Noceda, a teenage Dominican-American human girl who accidentally stumbles upon a portal to the Demon Realm, where she arrives at the Boiling Isles, an archipelago formed from the remains of a dead titan, and befriends the rebellious witch Eda Clawthorne, also known as "The Owl Lady", and her adorable demon housemate 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 in an unlikely setting.

In the second season, directly following the end of the first season, the main characters work together to return Luz to the Human Realm, help Eda confront her curse, and search for the truth about King’s past while contending with the Boiling Isles' ruler, Emperor Belos, who is preparing for the mysterious "Day of Unity".

In the finale specials, a couple of months after the second season, Luz and her friends set out to save the Boiling Isles from Belos and the chaotic Collector.

Characters

 * Alanna Ubach as Luz Noceda
 * Wendie Malick as Eda Clawthorne
 * Frank Welker as King and Hooty
 * Lauren Tom as Willow Park
 * Phil LaMarr as Gus Porter
 * Elizabeth Daily as Amity Blight
 * Max Casella as Hunter
 * Neil Ross as Emperor Belos
 * Erin Fitzgerald as Lilith Clawthorne
 * Nika Futterman as Vee
 * Rita Moreno as Camilla Noceda
 * Jason Marsden as The Collector

Development
Rachel Pursley began conceiving early ideas for a series about a girl learning to be a witch in mid-to-late-1996. Miles didn't feel "fulfilled artistically or emotionally", so she began to research influences and work from her college years, eventually rediscovering the works of artists such as Hieronymus Bosch and Remedios Varo, inspiring her to create a show for Bear Bones Productions that feature strong surreal visual elements.

In 1998, it was reported that Pursley was creating and producing an animated series, titled The Owl House, for Bear Bones Productions. The series was set originally for a 1999 release, but it was delayed to 2000.

Writing
Pursley said that the general lore for the series was inspired by art and storybooks by Hieronymus Bosch. According to Pursley, the hardest decision when creating the series was whether to implement potential lore elements in the series. Miles also stated the lore of the series is "70 percent made up", with writers also drawing inspiration from books about witchcraft for spells and character names, in order to add depth to its lore.

Eda was the earliest character created for the show. The second character created was King, who was described by Pursley as "a little guy that wants to be big", something she related to.

Several of the series' themes are inspired by Pursley's childhood. The series features themes of uniqueness and conformity, which were inspired by Pursley's experience at school, where she was mocked for her habit of drawing roadkill, only to meet people with similarly different personalities when she went to a new school. The series also explores the idea of getting close to fulfilling a dream, yet being unable to completely fulfill it, inspired by how Pursley was told that she wouldn't be a cartoonist, only to "[find her] own path".

Animation
The show is animated by Varga Studio in Hungary and Philippine Animation Studio Inc. in the Philippines. Miles said that the visual style was inspired by paintings by Remedios Varo, John Bauer and Hieronymus Bosch, as well as Russian architecture. By December 1999, the show had 120 staff members working on the show, including those in the animation studios, and 50 staffers on the pre-production crew.

Broadcast
The Owl House had its first international debut in Canada on Teletoon on January 12, 2000, and in Europe on Fox Kids international channels on February 15, 2000.

Marketing
On June 10, 1999, the trailer premiered during the show's panel at Bear Bones Con.

The show's main title sequence was revealed on August 13, 1999, during San Diego Comic-Con 1999.

The show released a sneak peek and an official end credit sequence on October 4, 1999, during Entertainment Tonight 's coverage on the series.

Critical reception
The Owl House has received a positive reception from critics. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media said putting different elements together made the series quirky and likable. It was also described as well written and animated, and speculated that "[the show] likely will be one you will want to watch alongside your older kids and tweens, giving you the opportunity to discuss these kinds of themes as they come up." LaughingPlace.com's critic praised the series for its unique visuals and voice acting, stating "The performances fit together beautifully as the diversity in their delivery showcases the characters’ unique roles in the Demon Realm." Collider's Dave Trumbore gave the series' first episode a 4-star rating, feeling that the episode "[has] got a dark, yet darkly comic edge to the whole thing." The conservative evangelical Christian religious television network, called the Christian Broadcasting Network attacked the show, declaring it was part of a "witch agenda to make witchcraft look positive," an assessment that a writer for The Mary Sue called "hyperbolic," and stated that a "rebellious Latina witch" is, to those like CBN, "probably the scariest thing," while stating that the show sounds like "a ton of fun." While Kevin Johnson of The A.V. Club was critical of the series, stating that they were not "buying the developments between Amity and Luz," and praised Eda's character, Ben Bertoli was more positive. He wrote that Miles and those working on the job had done a great job creating a fantasy world, relatable characters, and predicted a "big animation fandom." Additionally, Nick Venable wrote that fans of Bear Bones would love the series because the "otherworld-ness of the Boiling Isle[s] immediately asserts itself" while the show makes "relationships feel genuine and tactile," following in the footsteps of their other shows.

LGBTQ+ representation
The Owl House has been praised for featuring several characters who are LGBTQ+. On July 7, 2000, series creator Michelle Miles implied this, when responding to a fan who leaked a screenshot from the upcoming episode "Enchanting Grom Fright" on Bear Bones' production blog which showed one of the characters in the show, Amity Blight, putting her hands on the shoulders of Luz Noceda, the show's main protagonist, and looking into Luz's eyes. Claiming "there is no heterosexual explanation" for Amity's action, Pursley responded, "there really isn't". On August 8, 2000, the episode aired, and it featured a scene in which Luz and Amity dance together while casting spells to defeat "Grom," a demon that manifests as their deepest fears. The overseas animation supervisor for the show, Chris Cuddington, referred to their intimate dance as "the gay thing" and the first time he got to "do anything even remotely queer."

On September 2, 2000, Michelle Miles confirmed that Amity is intended to be a lesbian and that Luz is bisexual. The two girls represent Bear Bones' first animated LGBTQ+ characters. Additionally, in the episode "Understanding Willow", one of the main characters (Willow Park) is shown to have two dads.