The new FXX series, "Little Demon," brought to viewers courtesy of The Walt Disney Company, is about a 13-year-old girl whose father, Satan, yearns for custody of her soul.
"13 years after being impregnated by Satan, a reluctant mother and her Antichrist daughter attempt to live an ordinary life," Disney details about the storyline.
According to an AFA Action Alert, "The trailer is filled with satanic imagery, animated gore, and graphic violence, such as beheading chickens, pentagrams, dismembered bodies, and melting human flesh."
The show bills itself as a comedy that makes light of the demonic but "Today's Issues" host Ed Vitagliano says souls really are at stake.
"Magic in an occult sense is connecting with the demonic realm, knowingly or unknowingly, as you seek to accumulate powers to influence the world around you," he poses. "A show like this could increase children's curiosity about how do I get that kind of power for myself?"
'Violence is frequent and bloody'
The show, which is marketed to adults, premiered August 25. It features the voices of Danny DeVito, who voices Satan, and his daughter, Lucy DeVito, who voices main character Chrissy Feinberg.
According to a review by Common Sense Media, the show has both a "spooky premise" but a "light and comic tone," though there is lots of "mature content."
And what are some examples of that? The review goes on to describe them:
Violence is frequent and bloody: characters shoot off their own genitals, arms and heads shoot off bloodily when Chrissy wills it, we frequently see demons with visible entrails and bones. Demon hunters are in search of Chrissy too, promising to "gut this child and wear her entrails as scarves."
In other words, it's pretty sick and twisted.
In a review by The Hollywood Reporter, writer Angie Han says the show's creators want the audience to sympathize with a 13-year-old trying to figure out life. But the review admits the gags "do get very dark," such as a scene in which a father - taunted by Satan - is strangling his son to death. That scene is not done lightly, either, since Han writes "there’s no doubt the incident has left them with the sort of trauma that’ll take a lifetime of therapy to unpack."
Vitagliano admits he has become a bit jaded with the number of today's television shows featuring objectionable content but this one, he says, takes objectionable to a whole new level.
"I'm sorry, this is just evil," he asserts. "It's evil when you make fun of evil."
After seeing the show's trailer, Congressman Mike Johnson (R-LA) took to Facebook to urge viewers to "please be careful."
"Our job as parents is to guard the hearts and minds of our kids," he wrote. "Disney and FXX have decided to embrace and market what is clearly evil. STAY FAR FROM IT."
Though it is rated TV-MA, the fact that "Little Demon" is animated will no doubt appeal to children and teens. So, the American Family Association is encouraging parents to "make your voice heard" and join them in petitioning Disney to drop the show.
Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
