RJ Writing Ink

A Fan’s Reaction to iTunes Screw Up With The Owl House

Never again; that is what I hoped would be the case after the “True Colors” incident with Amphibia in 2021. I hoped that I wouldn’t have to deal with that again. Then, iTunes makes the same mistake not once, but twice, this time with The Owl House. The worst part, though, is that this time, iTunes doesn’t have the excuse of Disney postponing the premiere of an episode at the last minute. This time, someone at iTunes or Disney either did this on purpose, or was just plain incompetent.

Disney and iTunes, not. Cool.

Remember the “True Colors” Incident?

Two years ago this May, Disney was set to air the season finale to Amphibia, and the hype was real. The fans were excited, and the staff was excited, with everyone sharing fanart and appreciation. Then Disney postponed it at the last minute due to concerns about violence. Nobody, not even the show’s staff, got wind of this.

The worst part, though, was that iTunes didn’t get the memo. The next morning, the episode went up on iTunes. Then people started spreading it around across the Internet. It was a complete debacle for Disney and iTunes, angered fans and people in the industry, and left everyone unhappy.

To my shame, I was one who, in my anger at Disney, chose to watch the leaks on YouTube. However, I honored the wishes of Matt Braly and the show’s staff and kept quiet. While the penultimate episode “All In” got leaked by Xfinity, this time, fans were having none of it and ignored or kept quiet. Thus, Amphibia ended on the high note it deserved.

It seems like Disney and iTunes didn’t learn a thing, though.

Leave The Owl House Alone Already, Disney!

January 21st, 2023 marks the date that the penultimate episode of The Owl House “For the Future,” airs on Disney. Once again, fans were hyped, especially after series creator Dana Terrace released this poster for the special. 

Then, just a few hours later, iTunes Canada drops the ball and posts the whole thing online. It was “True Colors” all over again. And once again, the leaks start spreading across social media. 

Dana Terrace already voiced her displeasure with Disney in a now-deleted Twitter thread that saw her venting about everything. However, many of the fans felt just as bad. This was the third time in recent memory that Disney had messed up in such a big way. Thus, fans and the people who work on the show are rightfully mad.

What makes the whole thing worse is that Disney decided not to give The Owl House a full third season despite its growing popularity. Some higher-ups thought it didn’t fit the Disney brand, and fans weren’t happy about this, either. 

Don’t Go Over to the Spoilers Side

Personally, I usually don’t mind spoilers. I’m one of those people who looks up the plot of movies & games on Wikipedia beforehand; I want to get my money’s worth. However, I understand and respect people’s desire to avoid spoilers. Moreover, I don’t want to be spoiled this time around.

I have seen a few images and clips of “For the Future” already, but thankfully, not enough to ruin everything. I intend to keep it that way for the next two weeks, too, and I hope any fans reading this will do the same. So, if you’ve already seen the whole episode, please keep quiet about it. 

Better yet, if you see others posting about it on Twitter or YouTube, either ignore it or report it. Don’t let the spoilers ruin what could be a meaningful experience for everyone.

I’m serious. If I see clips out before the episode premieres, I will report them.

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A Fan’s Reaction to the Cancellation of Inside Job

This past Sunday, the world of animation got rocked with the latest in a year-long series of bad news. Inside Job, one of the most popular shows on Netflix in recent memory, got canceled. Series creator Shion Takeuchi took to Twitter to confirm the sad truth.

Fans are…understandably upset about this.

Inside Job Could’ve Been an Adult Gravity Falls

Inside Job was an adult animated series that premiered on Netflix in late 2021. Set in a world where almost every conspiracy theory’s true, the show centered around anti-social super genius Reagan Ridley. With her (incredibly) dysfunctional team, she works for one of the companies that help to manage and cover up all those conspiracies. In other words, think of a funnier version of the SCP Foundation. 

Inside Job had a lot of upper-level talent behind it. Firstly, its creator, showrunner, and one of the executive producers, Shion Takeuchi, was a writer on Gravity Falls. Secondly, two other executive producers were the director for Bojack Horseman and Alex Hirsch, the creator of Gravity Falls himself. The presence of the guy who created one of the cartoons that defined animation in the 2010s was enough to give Inside Job clout before its premiere. 

Once it came out, Inside Job lived up to the hype. It was hilarious, combining the tropes of the office sitcom with a level of weirdness that would make Dipper Pines squeal in delight. From shape-shifting reptiles living amongst humans to a colony of rogue astronauts living on the Moon, Inside Job knew how to get the most mileage out of the paranoid. It became one of the best shows on Netflix; when the new episodes got released, it was one of the top ten most-watched shows on the platform. 

Which only makes its sudden cancellation all the more infuriating.

Three Reasons Why Netflix’s Made a Mistake

Maybe there were issues regarding production behind the scenes, or some executives decided it was less popular than they thought. However, from an outside perspective, nothing about canceling Inside Job makes sense.

Firstly, the show was good. It was popular and had an active and growing fanbase on social media. It trended on Twitter when the second half of Season 1 came out in November. Why would Netflix can it when it was doing so well? It doesn’t make sense, and everyone knows it.

Secondly, Netflix had already renewed the show for a second season in June 2022. To backtrack and cancel the show like this would discourage people in the animation industry from wanting to work at Netflix. Instead, they could take their experience and ideas for potentially popular shows to the competition. 

This has led to an extreme backlash from the show’s sizable fanbase. I’ve checked on Twitter several times in the last 24 hours, and fans have been calling Netflix out, demanding an explanation or for the show to be renewed.

#RenewInsideJob

As a fan of Inside Job and animation, I find this entire thing extremely frustrating and disappointing. I hate seeing works of fiction end without any resolution. In addition, the last year has seen me grow more and more frustrated at how animation’s treated in the entertainment industry. Compounding this fact is that we can’t do anything beyond spreading the word online. It might not be enough to make Netflix renew Inside Job or let it migrate to another service, but it’s all we can do. 

My thoughts go out to Shion Takeuchi and her team. I hope they can finish Inside Job one day, but I still wish them the best in their work. As for me, I’m considering walking out on Netflix or for a good while.