Disney+ Cancels Woke ‘Willow’ Series After One Season
Disney+ Cancels Woke ‘Willow’ Series After One Season
I can’t say I’m surprised.
The Disney+ series Willow, adapted from the 1988 Ron Howard film, has been canceled after just one season.
I can’t say I’m surprised.
I was intrigued upon discovering that Disney was developing a sequel series to Willow for its Disney+ streaming service. Although I had never fully watched the 1988 film, only catching glimpses of a few scenes more than thirty years ago, I felt compelled to view it in preparation for the upcoming series, which premiered on November 30.
The original Willow film suffered from the limitations of its era with special effects and storytelling that haven’t aged well. But the new series was visually stunning. And that’s the only way it improved on the original. The series prominently highlighted social justice issues, featured a same-sex romance between two lead characters, portrayed male characters as weak and inept, and even cast a male actor to portray a woman.
Series writer Jonathan Kasdan even admitted that “queerness” was at the core of the story of the new Willow series. In some ways, that wasn’t even the worst part of the series. The storytelling was so blatantly derivative of other material it felt like a watered-down hodgepodge of repackaged stories from other fantasy tales—like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. As such, Disney’s attempts to create an “inclusive” show at the expense of quality storytelling meant that not enough people wanted to be included as fans.