Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode Allegedly Scrubbed Over Trans Storyline

One of the remaining episodes of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur acceptable to merchandise successful 2025 volition present allegedly nary longer marque it to air, according to since-deleted comments connected societal media from unit who worked connected the Marvel and Disney animated series, citing concerns implicit the processing governmental clime successful the U.S. successful the aftermath of the 2024 statesmanlike election.

The remaining episodes of Moon Girl‘s 2nd and last play were acceptable to aerial connected the Disney Channel sometime successful 2025, but present astatine slightest 1 occurrence produced for the Marvel series—adapting the titular young comics heroine, aka Luna Lafayette, and her adventures alongside the elephantine T-Rex-esque carnal Devil Dinosaur—may not marque it to air, supposedly owed to revolving astir a plotline involving the taxable of trans kids progressive successful schoolhouse sports.

“One of the projects (episode) I worked connected is getting shelved due to the fact that of which enactment that won the caller election,” Derrick Malik Johnson, a storyboard creator who worked on Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur said successful a recent, since-deleted post connected the societal media level Bluesky. “It breaks my bosom knowing this impactful and astonishing [episode] is present astir to beryllium see a mislaid media episode.”

In a thread on the Moon Girl subreddit astir Johnson’s post, idiosyncratic claiming to person worked connected the bid alleged that the occurrence revolved astir the quality Brooklyn, a teen volleyball subordinate who attends Luna’s schoolhouse successful the series. “If you enactment attraction [sic] to details astir the character, you tin fig retired astir what taxable [the occurrence was based on] and wherefore it was canned,” the idiosyncratic wrote successful a now-deleted remark thread.

io9 was not capable to independently verify the veracity of the supra posts connected Bluesky and Reddit, but has reached retired to Disney for remark and clarification implicit the presumption of the episode, titled “The Gatekeeper,” arsenic portion of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur play two’s remaining merchandise schedule. We’ll update this station erstwhile and if we perceive more.

“The Gatekeeper” leaked online this week successful assorted forms, with immoderate sources already pulled done copyright claims from Disney. Footage from the episode, archetypal reported connected by Polygon, sees Brooklyn and her volleyball teammates successful the Squirrels preparing for a determination championships lucifer against different school.

In footage from the occurrence seen by io9, Brooklyn discusses her past of formerly being forced to play connected the boys’ volleyball team, which is overheard by the manager for the rival team, Greer. The opposing manager past pushes to disqualify Brooklyn from play portion interrogating the teen for her Pride flag-themed kneepads and for having a h2o vessel that has a trans emblem sticker connected it.

After the Squirrels’ ain manager defends Brooklyn’s spot connected the team,, successful further footage from the occurrence seen by io9, Greer uses a magical cardinal to fastener Brooklyn, Luna (acting arsenic the team’s h2o girl), and the remainder of the Squirrels successful a facsimile of their locker country playing flight country trials successful an effort to unit a disqualification done non-participation. This leads to Luna’s champion person Casey seeking Devil Dinosaur’s assistance to bargain clip and prevention the day.

The occurrence is intelligibly not subtle astir either centering a trans teen quality successful Brooklyn, oregon the explicit prejudice she faces arsenic a trans teen who wants to enactment successful schoolhouse sports.  “It’s similar creepy hologram Greer said, ‘to get out, you indispensable travel my rules,'” Brooklyn says astatine 1 constituent successful the occurrence aft she, Luna, and the squad neglect to flight the locker room. “I’m trans. My precise beingness breaks Greer’s rules… however galore doors? How galore doors bash I person to interruption done earlier they halt locking maine out?”

Although blimpish politicians person spent respective years pushing backmost against the inclusion of trans athletes successful purported “women’s spaces,” particularly successful schoolhouse sports, anti-trans rhetoric was ramped up successful the closing months of the caller U.S. statesmanlike predetermination betwixt Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, with the Republican enactment spending an estimated $215 million connected run TV advertisements targeting trans issues crossed the election. For Disney to aerial an occurrence of a bid successful defence of trans younker athletes would enactment the institution straight successful the spotlight conscionable arsenic Trump prepares to instrumentality to the White House for a 2nd term, truthful its purported scrubbing would travel arsenic nary surprise, particularly given Disney’s history astir LGBTQ commentary successful its assorted studios’ projects.

In 2022, Disney was infamously astatine the bosom of discussions astir Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” bill, aft facing interior dissent for a lack of vocal support by the institution to basal up to the bill’s plans to power treatment of LGBTQ topics successful Florida schools. At the time, Disney was successful the process of moving respective of its operations into Florida, wherever it besides provides a large boost to the section system done the cognition of Walt Disney World.

Workers astatine Pixar further alleged that Disney had explicitly reduced LGBTQ characters and plotlines successful its worldly “down to crumbs” aft firm reappraisal successful an unfastened missive released successful March 2022.

After a series of ineligible disputes with DeSantis’ administration, and formally deciding to come retired against the legislation, Disney yet buried the hatchet earlier this year, negotiating up to $17 cardinal successful aboriginal investment into enlargement of Walt Disney World.

It would not beryllium the archetypal clip Disney has capitulated to right-wing systems of powerfulness by censoring its ain material, and apt won’t beryllium the last. AdWeek reported contiguous that Disney was 1 of respective large corporations who had begun returning to spending advertizing connected X, having paused precocious past twelvemonth implicit concerns with the platform’s then-new owner, Elon Musk. Musk has regularly utilized his prominence connected the level to uplift anti-trans commentary and express his own anti-trans beliefs. He volition play a large relation successful the incoming Trump administration; the President-Elect announced earlier this week that Musk volition co-chair a caller “Department of Government Efficiency” aimed astatine cutting discarded successful the national government.

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