Trump’s America: Revenge of the Sith hasn’t arrived yet, but Disney has already started backtracking on any LGBTQ strides they made — or were forced to make at the behest of their many queer employees who protested in 2022. Their latest offense appears to be shelving an upcoming, completed episode of their Marvel animated series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur due to its themes on trans rights. This is proof that the Mouse House is still full of hypocrites.
On Thursday November 14th, several staff members on Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur shared on Twitter that an upcoming season 2B episode, which centered around a trans volleyball player, was shelved by Disney ahead of its broadcast air date due to, according to one crew member in a deleted Bluesky post, “because of which party that won the recent election.” For a brief moment it seemed that the episode was considered lost media, that was until one brave twitter user @owlphibia shared a link to the leaked episode the following morning with the words “finger slipped,” like a boss. (For journalistic reasons, again, the link to the episode is right here.)
The episode, called “The Gatekeeper,” is about Brooklyn (Indya Moore), a trans volleyball player who is about to play a game with her team, the Squirrels. The coach of the opposing team (Amy Sedaris), becomes aware of Brooklyn’s transgender identity and expresses her transphobia towards Brooklyn and her coach, Coach Hrbek. When Hrbek injures himself, Greer attempts to get the team to forfeit, so much so that she traps the Squirrels in the locker room with an interdimensional key. There, a hologram of Greer forces the team to play her game, involving finding keys so they can break free. But no matter how many times the Squirrels accomplish it, the game resets.
Distressed and in tears Brooklyn breaks down defeated. “I’m trans. My very existence breaks Greer’s rules,” she laments. But her teammates console her, reinforcing how much they want to fight for her. One in particular is her close, nonbinary friend Tai (voiced by Ian Alexander). They ask if it was a burden when they asked others to use different pronouns for them.
“Of course not,” Brooklyn responds.
“Exactly. Most people were happy to step up,” Tay says. “Let us step up for you.”
However, still, angry Brooklyn smashes the ground, which causes the room to glitch. The team all see the interdimensional door and realize that the game is rigged so they would fail no matter what. “Instead of playing the game, we have to break through this whole system,” states Brooklyn.
The episode is great, as its visual language wears its openly pro-trans message on its sleeves. Specifically during the episode’s third act, where the team breaks through Greer’s game in a stylish fight sequence that’s filled with hues representing trans flag colors, as well as a volleyball Brooklyn uses to defeat a monstrous hologram of Greer. Also elevating it is that the scene is set to the Charli XCX and Kim Petras song “Unlock the Key.”
In this crucial time, when the winning Republican Party is spreading harmful misinformation about trans youth in America, “The Gatekeeper” would have provided comfort to children similar to Brooklyn — and education to their peers. It’s infuriating that once again Disney decides to play tight-lipped in cowardice and shelf something that would make much of today’s youth in all of its existing diversity feel seen.
It took its own employees to protest to the higher authorities when Owl House was canceled, Nimona‘s version from Blue Sky Studios was shuttered, and Lightyear’s on-screen lesbian kiss was cut. And this is the same company that would actively on day one of pride month try to sell you their merch saying they’re hip with the kids and the gays. I remember walking around Epcot for the first time a few years back and being disgusted by the amount of Disney pride merchandise they were selling, unearned. And while yes, the next Trump presidency is shifting the political climate, need I remind you Disney artists were able to make strides in LGBTQ representation when he was first in office. For example, the pivotal episode from The Owl House, “Enchanting Grom Fright,” which revealed Amity’s crush on Luz Noceda was aired in August 2020.
The move by Disney also stirred some backlash from former Disney animators. Emmy Cicierega, a storyboard artist on Gravity Falls and The Owl House, wrote on Twitter, “Disney should be ashamed of themselves for canning this episode. You don’t get to approve approve approve something and then destroy it at the last minute, shattering the crew’s hard work and hopes.” Amphibia creator Matt Braly commented on her post, “If an episode got this far, it was approved multiple times by multiple divisions, only to suddenly be struck down at the last second? S&P approved this ep. It was good to go.” With Cicierega replying, “Exactly. They love rainbow coins until republican coins look shinier.”
The Owl House creator Dana Terrace also tweeted, “Disney stop acting like the villains in your own cartoons challenge.”
According to Polygon, a source at Disney stated, “the decision to hold the episode of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur was made more than a year ago and was not based on the result of recent U.S. elections. In this case, this decision was based on this specific episode, not because of the character being trans.”
If the studio had a better history regarding LGBTQ representation, then I might not have marked “Sure, Jan” on my forehead. But it’s so difficult to believe anything the studio says given how often they backstep from queer representation.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur was quietly canceled by Disney earlier this year after two seasons and only ten episodes are left in its season. Though the Disney source says “The Gatekeeper” was only “held,” time will tell if Disney will ever air the episode on Disney Channel where it’s needed most. But for now, thank goodness the episode has escaped its own interdimensional locker room.
And @ Disney, the north* will remember this come next June.
*LGBTQ community
The episodes of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur that weren’t cut are available on Disney+.
