 |
"Even miracles take a little time."
Thank you and have a magical day! |
"The Gatekeeper" is an unaired episode of the Disney Channel and Marvel Animation series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
Synopsis[]
The episode is about Brooklyn, a trans classmate competing in a girl's volleyball game and a “a narrow-minded coach” who tries to have Brooklyn barred from playing.
Plot[]
Lunella has joined her school's volleyball team as a water girl and cheerleader. The team consists of her friends Brooklyn, Fawzia, Tai, and Geri with Coach Hrbek leading them. As they prepare to go against the rival team, they meet rival member Bella Greer and her domineering mother, Coach Greer. When she overhears that Brooklyn was once a boy, she pulls Hrbek aside to tell him of this. Hrbek says that he doesn't care and that neither should she because what matters is that she is a girl now and that is how she identifies. Hrbek ends up in an accident shortly afterwards and is hospitalized while Greer plots revenge against the team.
Greer locks Lunella's team in the locker room using a strange key, that the Beyonder reveals was from the same yard sale that prior super people went to. The girls find themselves trapped in a nightmarish escape room and are greeted by a holographic Greer who challenges them to complete several escape room puzzles to earn their freedom. The escape room games are life threatening, but they manage to sweep through each challenge successfully. Meanwhile, Casey realizes that something is up when Lunella and the team fail to show and stalls for time with an impromptu cheer. She later calls Devil Dinosaur for help, but both quickly tire themselves and the audience out.
Just as the team manages to complete the last challenge, they suddenly find the whole thing rigged to reset. A defeated Brooklyn realizes that Greer wants her to willingly quit due to her gender, but Lunella and the team coerce her to fight the system, which they do by literally breaking the room. They escape and make it back to the game before the timer runs out and Greer is exposed for intentionally trying to get them to quit the game. Bella is disgusted with her mother's behavior and has her kicked out of the game. She apologizes for the events and wants an honest and fair match. Brooklyn is proud to have allies on her side.
Cast[]
- Diamond White as Lunella Lafayette/Moon Girl
- Fred Tatasciore as Devil Dinosaur, Coach Hrbek
- Laurence Fishburne as The Beyonder
- Libe Barer as Casey Calderon
- Indya Moore as Brooklyn
- Amy Sedaris as Coach Greer
- May Calamawy as Fawzia
- Ian Alexander as Tai
- Tajinae Turner as Geri
- Sky Katz as Bella Greer
Songs[]
- "Luminary" by Raphael Saadiq, Samantha J. Powell, and Pilar Flynn
- "Unlock It" by Charli xcx (feat. Kim Petras and Jay Park)
Trivia[]
- The episode was supposed to air during the first half of season two, but was held off. Reports claimed that it was due to Disney wanting to see how the political climate was and the strong trans themes. Disney later responded saying that the decision to hold it off was made over a year ago and had nothing to do with politics or its trans themes. They further added that it was simply on hold and is not banned.[1] The episode ended up leaking online in November 2024 via the Discord server Owlphibia.
- Despite not having aired yet, the episode was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming or Film – Animated.[2]
- Alfre Woodard is credited as Mimi Lafayette, despite not appearing in this episode.
References[]
- ↑ "Disney Toon Post". X (November 15, 2024).
- ↑ "Disney TVA News Post". Tumblr (January 22, 2025).
