Inside Job Didn’t Just Get Canceled.

Inside Job didn’t just get canceled.

It had its first season split in two, a tactic animators said was used for Cuphead to let them pay staff less. Then, the show was renewed for a real second season.

And then the show was canceled before that second season anyway.

Final Space didn’t just get canceled on the most depressing cliffhanger ever. It was removed from all platforms before becoming a tax write-off, essentially meaning the only ways of really watching the show is through DVD or pirating.

The Owl House wasn’t just given a shortened third season. Disney, a company already known for a, let’s say, complicated relationship with its LGBT+ history, took a show created by a bisexual woman, filled with beloved LGBT+ characters, some of which were teenagers just like the audience, and told said creator to destroy her shows pacing so she could finish her story in just 3 45 minute specials.

I can go on about how Hollywood and television don’t respect animation and the like but this is endemic of a larger problem:

Capitalism destroys art.

The constant need for shows to be either the biggest thing in history or a complete failure, the constant need for a cash cow, leads to any show that doesn’t immediately become Squid Game or Stranger Things levels of popular, especially animated shows, getting scrapped for no reason other then it doesn’t make them enough money.

In our hyper capitalist hellscape, I worry we’re going to see more Inside Jobs, Final Spaces, and Owl Houses: shows made with love, that showcase potential, and dedicated fanbases, having a renewal reversed, or becoming a tax write off, or having its story rushed, so that the executives can save a few cents, while also fucking over employees.

I think that’s the part that always needs to be remembered too; the people behind these shows. Not just the creators or voice actors or well known animators, but everybody. As NewDeal4Animation illustrated, staffs on these shows are often underpaid and overworked. And to then, to not just lose a show you spent months, years of your life on out of nowhere, but to essentially lose a job… it’s terrifying. And every staff member, from the creators to the unpaid interns, deserves better.

So yea. That’s just my thoughts on the matter I guess.