The Owl House NYCC panel eulogized a brilliant show cut short: ‘We did our best’

The Owl House panel was bittersweet from the moment it started; this is the show’s first panel since it premiered in early 2020, but also the show’s last. With the shortened, three episode final season premiered on Oct. 15, The Owl House is gearing up for an epic finale.

In its two-season run on Disney Channel, The Owl House has amassed a passionate fanbase. It follows a plucky human named Luz who finds herself in a world full of witches and demons. And while the show has also garnered critical acclaim, it did not get renewed for a full third season. So this is the first and last time that the show’s cast and crew can revel in that NYCC panel experience.

Creator Dana Terrace took to the stage with some of the show’s cast, including Sarah Nicole Robles (Luz), Mae Whitman (Amity), Zeno Robinson (Hunter), Cissy Jones (Lilith), and Alex Hirsch (King and Hooty).

Image: Disney

“I had the very rare privilege of watching the show form its inception form when Dana put together the series bible to now,” Hirsch said while on stage. “It’s rare and rewarding to be part of something so loved.”

Hirsch, who personally made a Hooty puppet for the occasion, also shared how The Owl House helped him develop a key voice acting skill.

“I never had to cry on Gravity Falls,” Hirsch laughs. “King goes through some rough stuff. The Owl House taught me to cry on command.”

The cast also shared some insights into their characters. Whitman, in particular, gushed about Amity’s journey from aloof mean girl to a blushing love interest.

“Something I thought is so magical about [Amity] is that she is complex, she’s complicated. She has issues. She is dealing with some stuff! You didn’t really get to know her vulnerable side for a while,” Whitman describes. “When she met Luz she realized she didn’t have to be that way, she could tap into her softer side, her more vulnerable side.”

The Owl House made Disney animation history by featuring a queer romance at the center of the show, along featuring a nonbinary person as its main character.

“For me, coming out as pan, I felt even more strongly and passionately about this,” Whitman explains. “Having a show like this when growing up would’ve been really cool. I think it’s great for everyone to have that visibility, that connection.”

Image: Disney

In addition to a new clip, Terrace also revealed some concept art of the upcoming season, which includes some new outfits for the characters, Luz’s hometown in Connecticut (all decked out for Halloween), and giraffes! (It’s a long-running series joke.) Some new footage was also revealed, including a revamped theme song for the final season. Terrace spoke about the moments she was most proud of the show throughout the entirety of production.

“The times that I hold dearest to my heart are the crew screenings we’ve tried to do over Zoom, or the few times we’ve tried to watch the finished show… totally legally on the channel,” Terrace describes. “To be able to sit there with the crew and be like damn we pulled it off!”

As for the fact that the third season is shortened, Terrace sounded disappointed that she didn’t get to dive into Hooty’s true origin, or give some more backstory to Raine and Eda — who she calls her favorite characters to write. But she says that the crew went all out when it came to making sure that the animation and story were the absolute best for this last hurrah.

“What can you do at this point?” she says. “We did our best.”

The first of the three Owl House finale specials premieres on Oct. 15 on Disney Channel at 9 p.m. EST. The first two seasons are available on Disney Plus.