Vampirina: Teenage Vampire - The Disney Channel Response to Wednesday Addams
If I could describe the new Disney sitcom: Vampirina: Teenage Vampire in just ten words, it would be: "A five year old friendly Disney response to Wednesday Addams". But with that being said; I am totally down with Disney making an adorably creative low budget sitcom clearly inspired by the Wednesday TV series for little kids. Also, despite being very young kid friendly, I was very surprised to see some LGBTQ themes hidden in the subtext of this kids show.
Another way I could describe Vampirina: Teenage Vampire is: old school Disney Channel mixed with the Wednesday TV series. While the show is a corny sitcom designed to be appropriate for kids (and I mean, little kids), it still borrows ideas heavily from the Wednesday TV series. The basic story is about teens living at an old boarding school in the New England area where chaos erupts between "normies" and "outcasts"; with the lead character being a girl who dresses in dark gothic clothing most of the time, and comes from a creepy and kooky family.
There's even a sword fight scene in one episode, a love triangle (that's very young kid friendly), an entire episode revolved around drama happening during "parents weekend", a secret society that hangs out in the school basement, and multiple school dances featuring the characters doing dance moves they're obviously hoping people will eventually copy on Tik Tok.
Although the main difference with this Disney show is: it's about a teenage vampire who actually wants to fit into normal society and become a teen pop star, but she's also afraid of "coming out" to the world as a vampire; as she's constantly hiding the fact that she is a vampire from everyone she knows. So despite being little kid friendly, the show also has this lesbian allegory story to it; as it explores what it's like for girls to hide their identity and things they like from the world. I mean, the allegory is sort of subtle; except for the fact that they say "coming out" several times in the show, and multiple times in the extended version of the series' theme song.
Also, I'm not gonna lie... this show is freaking adorable. I mean, the lead actress on this show is a very likable lead. She's got a little bit of Wednesday's dark bite to her, but also that very positive Enid Sinclair energy. Plus, even though I just said the main character's story works as a lesbian allegory tale; I still like her adorable little romance story in the series with this boy who is a descendant of Van Helsing. Society and traditions say they can't be together, and yet they want to; and I am totally down for a story like that in a kids shows. It may still be a boy likes girls story on screen; but two infatuated teens defying a society that says they're not supposed to like the other due to how they were born, still has themes the LGBTQ community should be proud of.
Now to be clear, this is not the show you wanna watch if you want to see something super dark, gothic, or adult. But if you've got a young family member who's been watching Bluey too much; I think Vampirina: Teenage Vampire is a fun first step into getting kids to appreciate something a little more creepy and kooky, and even get kids' little minds thinking about accepting their identity. This show may not be Wednesday, but I'm more than happy to see Wednesday has inspired Disney to try to do something similar for little kids.
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