Owl House has TV’s best parents, Disney or otherwise

It’s an age-old trope in stories for kids that the parental figures are just… not present. This means the protagonists of stories for kids can embark on frightening adventures without having to worry about their parents. They may even face down villainous enemies. Sometimes this means the parents are absent and just don’t pay attention. Other times, it means they’re dead. And sometimes, they’re just shitty parents and defying them is part of the whole journey. Even when the adults aren’t directly related to the young heroes, they often come across as wise and distant mentors or authoritarian obstacles.

But Disney Channel’s The Owl House subverts so many of these expectations about parental figures in children’s media. Particularly, the latest episode dives into the complicated relationship between Luz, a plucky girl, and Camila, her mother. Luz is now back in human life and has the chance to reconnect with Camila, her mother. And Camila’s unapologetic acceptance and support of all the strange things Luz has encountered is just incredibly wonderful and refreshing to see. Although it would seem surprising at first, The Owl House has focused on fleshing out adult characters and their relationships with the young protagonists — especially in the case of Luz and kooky witch Eda.

[Ed. note: This rest of this essay contains massive spoilers for the entirety of The Owl House thus far.]

Image: Disney

After Luz had stumbled upon the demon realm, Eda took Luz to her home. Luz is taught about magic and witchcraft by Eda. Although Eda is chaotic, irresponsible and a wanted criminal, she also becomes a parent figure to Luz (the young demon she adopted) and King. They turn into their own wacky makeshift family, which affects not just Luz’s character growth, but also Eda’s.

With someone to care about — and someone to protect — Eda becomes more responsible (while still maintaining her reckless attitude). In the last few episodes of the second season, the danger begins to escalate, as evil Emperor Belos’ plans to drain all the magic from the Boiling Isles start to come to fruition. Typically in media for kids, this means it’s time for the young heroes to step up and fight, even if that means defying adults to do so.

However, The Owl House, one of the big sources of tension in final episodes of season 2 comes from Eda’s desire to keep Luz safe and out of harm’s way. It’s not about underestimating Luz or being a hurdle for the young heroes to overcome; Eda’s point of view makes sense, and even though Luz protests when she finds out and they clash, ultimately they both realize the more important thing is that they protect each other — and lean on the rest of their allies.

Image: Disney

Eda and Luz’s relationship is the prime driving force of the first two seasons, but in season 3, Camila and Luz’s relationship finally gets a chance to shine. Though she rarely appeared, Camila was a central figure in Luz’s story for two seasons. Instead of being a domineering authority figure Luz tried to escape, Camila cares deeply about her daughter, even though she’s made some mistakes in the past. Luz spent the past two seasons trying to figure out a way to let her mom know she was OK — even after Camila sent her to a camp for troubled kids.

The opening of season 3 dove into Camila’s reasoning and just why she made that decision — and how she realized it was wrong. Camila proves to be one the most helpful and loving parents in animation. She takes Luz’s witch friends in without question and does her best to accommodate their strange quirks, researching different foods that they could eat and setting them up in her house. Camila is able to hug her daughter when Luz approaches her. She also wears pride badges with all her outfits. When she learns just how much her daughter’s been struggling with the guilt of everything that happened in the demon realm, she steps up to support her.

Image: Disney

These decisions can be difficult. It’s a hard job to be a parent — and a harder job to take in four teenage witches who are stranded in the human world. It’s also quite a daunting task. The Owl HouseIt demonstrates this. It doesn’t just paint the adults as simply “bad” or “good,” but shows the work that goes into being a supportive, positive parental figure. They’re given thoughtful backstories and personalities, which makes them well-rounded characters and shows a different side of being a parental figure than usually seen in all-ages animation. This, in turn, allows Luz and the other young heroes to grow and evolve — this especially resonates for the characters who are used to terrible parents, and who finally have a source of support and love.

There are many very, very poor parental figures. The Owl House. Amity’s mother, Odalia, is controlling and thinks of her children less as family and more like business investments; Emperor Belos is basically using his ward Hunter as a pawn in his grand scheme. They These are villainous — and that just makes the fact that there are good parental figures so important. So when Amity’s father finally defends her, and when Camila dives into a lake to save Hunter without any hesitation, it hits all the harder. There are so many adult characters who stick up for the children in their charge, even if they’re initially posited in the more traditional absent parent or oppressive teacher roles. Adults in The Owl House aren’t simply obstacles or one-note caregivers; they have nuance and depth, and even though the good ones struggle in figuring out just HowTo be an example for young people, they are still a great role model.

Two seasons in the initial two seasons The Owl House Disney Plus has them. Season 3’s premiere can be viewed on YouTube.