Disney is the go-to for family-friendly entertainment and for good reason; it officially owns our childhoods.
However, its most recent offering is a huge departure from its usual fare of princesses and happy endings.
Disney’s new FX series, “Little Demon” is an adult animated horror-comedy series about Satan and the Antichrist, and it’s sparking a whole lotta controversy.
The basic premise, according to FX Networks, is that Satan has a teenage daughter named Chrissy who just wants to live a normal life with her mom:
“13 years after being impregnated by Satan, a reluctant mother, Laura, and her Antichrist daughter, Chrissy, attempt to live an ordinary life in Delaware, but are constantly thwarted by monstrous forces, including Satan, who yearns for custody of his daughter’s soul.
Created by Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner & Kieran Valla, #LittleDemon is essentially telling a really funny story about a kid who’s from a broken family who now has to deal with the weirdest co-parenting situation ever. Read @joelkeller‘s review on DECIDER: https://t.co/gUfD9h2G8o pic.twitter.com/tcb2iBu15u
— Decider (@decider) August 28, 2022
Danny Devito, who voices Satan, told Deadline:
“I have a quest as the devil. I met a beautiful woman and I have a gorgeous antichrist daughter who I love and want to be with. I get to play all the devilish things I’ve had in my career and this also gives me a family I care about.”
The series also features the voices of Aubrey Plaza and Danny Devito’s daughter IRL, Lucy DeVito with some familiar guest voices including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rhea Perlman, Mel Brooks, and Dave Bautista, among others.
The cartoon debuted on FXX on Aug. 25.
Episodes air at 10 pm ET/PT on Thursdays. It also streams on Hulu.
While it may be owned by Disney (thanks to the company’s purchase of FX Networks and Hulu back in 2017), the late-night series is obviously not for children. It has a TV-MA (for Mature Audiences only) rating for graphic violence, nudity, sex, and crude language.
The minute-long trailer alone features dark images of satanic imagery and people being skinned alive.
The fact that a series about Satan and the Antichrist is associated with Disney has got a lot of people all fired up.
You know what they say, hell hath no fury…
Christian conservative group, One Million Moms, is already on the warpath to have the “dark show” canceled immediately, asking people to sign a petition.
The group issued an urgent warning to parents, saying:
“Urgent warning for parents!
Disney has taken yet another dangerous step into the darkness with its new animated sitcom series, Little Demon.”
They believe that Disney is “introducing viewers, including children who might stumble across this series, to a world of demons, witches, and sorcery.”
And apparently, the group is not alone in telling Disney to go straight to hell and take its Little Demon with it. (Or something like that).
In a Facebook post that has gone insanely viral, Louisiana congressman Mike Johnson blasted the “evil” cartoon.
Johnson explained that he was watching a college football game when a trailer for the show came on during the second quarter.
He wrote:
“I couldn’t get to the remote fast enough to shield my 11-year-old from the preview, and I wonder how many other children were exposed to it—and how many millions more will tune in to the new series, owned and marketed by DISNEY.
The trailer included dark images of Hell, demons, and satanic imagery, and an explanation that the main character is… the Antichrist(!).”
He went on:
“The actress who voices Laura said in an interview, “I love that we are normalizing paganism. Laura is a pagan. She’s a witch. She’s jacked.”
Johnson also quoted a couple of online reviews that he found.
One described the moment Chrissy discovers she’s the Antichrist and turns “a gaggle of school bullies into piles of red goo.”
“Chrissy doesn’t seem overly concerned by the whole triple-murder thing, shrugging it off with an easy-breezy attitude that sets the tone for the rest of ‘Little Demon.’”
The other review read in part, “Most of the show’s best moments come when it leans into its hellish premise and plumbs the depths of its own depravity.”
Johnson ended the post with the following warning:
“I could write volumes this morning, and unpack pages of Bible verses here, but instead I’m just going to state the obvious: Please be careful.
Our job as parents is to guard the hearts and minds of our kids.
This culture has become alarmingly dark and desensitized and this is not a game. Disney and FX have decided to embrace and market what is clearly evil. STAY FAR FROM IT.”
The post has already received 40K likes, 37K comments, and 132K shares in just 1 day.
People have feelings.
Several commenters were all fired up and brimstone-y and readying their stakes against Disney (which, it should be noted, did not create or produce the show).
Others view it as a sign of just how far society has fallen:
But not everyone agreed. Some people pointed out that it is an adult show. On late at night. And not marketed for kids.
Which, let’s face it, probably describes nearly every show you’re watching these days.
If you have your parental controls set up at home, it won’t even appear on the browsing options for your kids.
It may not be airing on Disney Channel but it will likely be available on Disney+ under the Star banner.
Disney has announced that it will begin streaming on Disney+ in Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.
No word on a release date in the US, Canada, or the U.K.
When and if it does come out on Disney+, you’ll likely want to make sure you have your parental controls in place just in case.
You can check out the trailer here (warning: not suitable for children):