Dana Terrace facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dana Terrace
Terrace accepting a Peabody Award in 2021
Born	(1990-12-08) December 8, 1990 (age 34) Hamden, Connecticut, U.S.
Education	School of Visual Arts (BFA)
Occupation	Animator writer director voice actress
Years active	2011–present
Employer	Disney Television Animation (2013–2023) Glitch Productions (2024–present)
Notable work	The Owl House Gravity Falls DuckTales

Dana Terrace (born December 8, 1990) is an American animator, writer, director, and voice actress. She is most famous for creating the popular Disney Channel animated series The Owl House. She also co-created the upcoming web series Knights of Guinevere for Glitch Productions.

Before creating her own show, Dana worked as a storyboard artist on Gravity Falls. She also directed episodes of the 2017 reboot of DuckTales.

Dana's Early Life and Education

Dana Terrace grew up in Hamden, Connecticut. She went to a local Catholic school for eight years. During this time, she became interested in art and painters like John Bauer.

As a child, Dana loved watching cartoons such as The Powerpuff Girls, Pokémon, and The Simpsons. These shows, along with Studio Ghibli films like Princess Mononoke, inspired her future work. When she was about 10 years old, she made her very first flip-book animation. It showed "Pikachu thundershocking a Charmander!" Dana also spent 10 years as a dancer.

She attended Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School in New Haven, Connecticut. While in high school, she worked at a natural history museum for three years.

Studying Animation in College

Dana studied animation at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York. She spent many hours drawing every day and shared her artwork on her blog.

In 2012, during her third year at SVA, she created an animated short film called "Kickball." This film was praised for its cool design and lively animation. It even won an award! The next year, she worked with Iker Maidagan on another short animated film called "Mirage." Dana designed the characters and animated the film. "Mirage" was also highly praised and won an award.

Dana loved animating and knew she wanted to become a filmmaker. She learned a lot from her classmates and online tutorials.

Starting Her Career at Disney

After finishing college in 2013, Dana got an internship at JibJab. There, someone from Gravity Falls saw her student film "Mirage." They offered her a job at Disney Television Animation as a storyboard revisionist for Gravity Falls.

Dana said that people at Gravity Falls liked her art from her blog. She was hired because she was ready to animate anything for a scene. This was her first professional animation job. She learned how to create storyboards and work with a team. She also animated special scenes for the show that were done in-house. Dana really enjoyed her time working on Gravity Falls.

In 2017, Dana directed several episodes of the 2017 DuckTales reboot. She helped make the character Webby Vanderquack more exciting. Even though she hadn't seen the original DuckTales show, she was a fan of the comic books that inspired it.

Creating The Owl House

Dana felt she needed to create her own series to feel more artistic and happy. So, in late 2016, she started developing ideas for a new show. A few months later, in 2017, she pitched her idea to Disney.

Her pitch was about "a young girl who goes to another world and learns magic from an older witch." This idea grew into The Owl House. The first character she created was the Owl Lady, who was inspired by the women in Dana's family. The main character, Luz Noceda, is named after Dana's college roommate. The show was also influenced by the video game Pokémon Red, which her father gave her when she was young.

Dana wanted to create The Owl House to tell a good story. She chose the name because of the "mystery surrounding owls." She also made sure the show had fun details and secrets for fans who like to "dig deeper," similar to Gravity Falls. However, you can still enjoy the show without looking for hidden meanings.

The Owl House officially began development in February 2018. It first aired on January 10, 2020, on Disney Channel. The show was so popular that it was approved for a second season in 2019.

In 2021, it was revealed that Dana had also been a storyboard artist for the movie The Mitchells vs. the Machines. She also did some animation for The Owl House season 2 episodes.

In March 2023, Dana announced that she had left Disney. In 2025, her new series, Knights of Guinevere, which she co-created with other writers from The Owl House, will be released by Glitch Productions.

The Owl House and Important Messages

The Owl House has received a lot of praise for showing a loving relationship between the characters Luz Noceda and Amity Blight. Dana Terrace was responsible for including this. In its second season, the show also introduced a non-binary transgender character named Raine Whispers. Dana often uses Twitter to confirm the identities of her characters.

At first, Disney was not sure about showing a queer relationship on the show. But Dana was very determined and eventually got their support. She said her "stubbornness" helped change their minds.

Dana shared that she was open about her plans for Luz to be bisexual and to include other LGBT+ characters from the very beginning of the show's development. She was told that she couldn't have a gay storyline for the main characters. Dana explained that she got very upset and was ready to leave if needed. However, a week or two later, she got the "all-clear" and said the studio has been supportive since then.

Many news outlets have supported these portrayals.

Dana's Personal Life

Dana Terrace shared that she is bisexual in 2017. She used her own experiences to help create The Owl House and the bisexual character Luz Noceda. Dana has often said that Luz Noceda is inspired by herself.

In 2018, Dana signed a petition that supported equal pay for people working in the animation industry. In 2022, she joined other animators at Disney who spoke out about important issues.

Awards and Recognition

Dana Terrace and her work have been recognized with several awards and nominations.