Animation Monday: She Zow

By Nathan Young on June 11, 2013 • ( 2 Comments )

No question about it, the gay marriage debate is super hot in America right now. Many people in conservative states like Alabama don’t support homosexuals and they really don’t support gay marriage. So when a new animated show premieres on The Hub that raises the awareness of transgerderism, it gets some people up in arms.

She Zow is a Australian-Canadian animated television series created by Obie Scott Wade. The show is aimed at kids 6-11 years-old, the series is produced by Moody Street Kids and Kickstart Productions. It is distributed by DHX Media, funded in part by Film Victoria and was designed by Australian artist Kyla May. The show first premiered on Network Ten in Australia and it premiered on The Hub on June 1st.

Yes, the show features a 12 year old boy named Guy Hamdon who discovers the superheroine Shezow’s power ring (originally worn and used by his late Aunt Agnes) and puts it on. While the power ring does grant him super powers, it was only meant to be worn by a woman, so Guy must wear a female super hero costume while fighting crime. With the help of his sister, Kelly, and best friend, Maz, the new Shezow protects the city of Megadale from supervillains and criminals. Yes you heard right, the cartoon is about a cross-dressing superhero.

Several conservative groups like One Million Moms and the blog Breit Bart have already criticized this show. The Breit Bart blog criticized Hub Chief Executive Margaret Loesch, who may or may not have been high (and leftist) when she greenlit this project. Several commenters on the Breit Bart blog have said She Zow is about the left who are determined to pollute the minds of our children or pushing to indoctrinate the people in terms of the LGBT lifestyle being normal and therefore should be accepted. Some people really needs to do some research about the LGBT community. It’s not all bad as you think!

The creator of She Zow, Obie Scott Wade, went to Zap 2 It to talk about She Zow and the controversy over homosexuality. Obie Scott Wade said “I grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons and loving superheroes in general,” says Wade. “I just thought it would be a funny twist on a classic mythology … When I was a kid I watched a show on Saturday mornings called ‘Shazam!’ … it was Shazam and Isis and I just thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if he accidentally said ‘SHE-zam,’ would he get a different costume or become a different hero? It’s just taking something classic and turning it a couple notches to the right.”

Wade finds the show as kid appropriate and the boy is not transgendered and his gender never changes, he’s just trapped in a silly costume. Wade hopes SheZow ends up appealing to a diverse audience and he would be happy if people get something out of it personally. There’s no word on a second season yet but I hope a second season comes! Read more from Zap 2 It at: http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2013/06/shezow-creator-talks-transsexual-criticism-a-coming-out-episode-and-more.html

After watching four episodes of She Zow that includes Guy putting on the She Zow ring, A She Zow convention with an ice villain, She Zow shrinking because he stole money, and getting over She Zow’s sidekick, I found the show pretty good. The animation is computer based and it was very good! I liked the storyline and the plot is very interesting. Guy and his sister Kelly, and best friend, Maz works together to save Megadale. And they are a great team together! This cartoon DOES NOT promote homosexuality! It’s a fun and cute cartoon which I like watching! I encourage all of you to give She Zow a chance. You will like it! She Zow airs on Saturday at 12:30 pm 11:30 am central on The Hub.