An episode of the Disney animated show “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” focusing on a transgender character will no longer air.
News came this week that the episode leaked on YouTube has been removed from airing on Disney Channel in 2025 due to its LGBTQ storyline.
according to polygonThe episode, titled “The Gatekeeper”, is about transgender character Brooklyn, voiced by the “Pose” star indya mooreBrooklyn is competing on the girls’ volleyball team and faces discrimination from the opposing team’s coach, Greer (voiced by amy sedaris,
Greer allegedly uses a magic key to lock Brooklyn and her teammates in the girl’s locker room. Brooklyn tells her colleagues, “I’m trans, my very existence breaks Greer’s rules.”
According to Polygon, Brooklyn also wears Pride-themed kneepads and has a “Trans is Beautiful” sticker on her water bottle in the episode.
Derrick Malik Johnson, a member of the show’s storyboard revisionist team, addressed the episode in a since-deleted post. New social media microblogging app BlueSky.
He wrote, “So looks like I finally got to face one of the projects (episodes) I worked on is getting shut down because of the party that recently won the elections.” “It breaks my heart to learn that this impressive and amazing story is now considered a lost media episode.”
Other animated artists spoke out on social media and similarly speculated that the episode was removed because Donald Trump won the presidential election.
Amy Sisirega, a storyboard artist on “Gravity Falls” written on x“Disney should be ashamed of themselves for trashing this episode. It is not possible for you to approve something and then destroy it at the last minute, shattering the hard work and hopes of employees.”
Matt Braley, who created “Amphibia” express reaction On Sisirega’s post and said, “If an episode has gone this far, was approved multiple times by multiple divisions, but was suddenly canceled at the last second? A complete breakdown of the process and spit on the careful/thoughtful work of your team. S&P approved this EP. It was good to go.”
“It makes it worse for me because the action is retroactive,” Braley said. second tweet“It is absolutely cowardly and second guessing this when exactly this is the time when this material is needed most.”
However, a Disney source told Polygon that the decision about the show was made a year ago and was not based on the outcome of the election.
The insider claimed, “In this case, the decision was based on this specific episode, not because of the character being trans.”
The source also said that Disney is “really proud” of the show and that the company “respects the role parents play in the discussions they have with their kids.”
The Post has contacted Disney for comment.
“Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur” is based on the Marvel Comics characters Lunella Lafayette and her dinosaur companions.
The show premiered in February 2023 and won five Children & Family Emmy Awards, but was canceled after two seasons.
However, Disney still has several more episodes expected to air in 2025.
