Julie and the Phantoms – Picture: Netflix
Petitions to save the Netflix musical show Julie and the Phantoms have rocketed to over 200,000 in recent days with an equally noisy campaign continuing on social media.
For those unaware, Julie and the Phantoms was the Netflix Original series that first premiered back in September 2020. The nine-episode first season of the show was created by Dan Cross and David Hodge although Kenny Ortega was the big name attached to the project.
Throughout 2021, there was very little spoken about the show apart from occasional hints that things were happening behind the scenes. There are rumors that the cast had their options extended but those are mostly unsubstantiated. There were also talks early on for a world tour but it’s likely they’ve all been scrapped now too.
Although the show didn’t have much legs when it first dropped onto Netflix (it only survived in most Netflix region’s top 10s for around 10 days) where it truly found life was on YouTube.
Some of the videos on YouTube range from 13 million views to 44 million views.
Of course, the show went on to be canceled in December 2021.
What campaigns are there to save Julie and the Phantoms?
Most of the support for fan campaigns is on social media. It’s very hard not to see a bombardment of messages under any official Netflix posting on Twitter or Instagram. Most are using variations of “#savejatp”, “#JulieAndThePhantoms” or “#SAVEJULIEANDTHEPHANTOMS”.
Many of the campaigns actually began long before the eventual cancelation in December 2021. In fact, the main campaign on Change.org was actually started in December 2020 by Rebecca den Boer when fans began getting nervous about the future prospects of the show.
The campaign, which surpassed 150,000 signatures on January 19th has a simple message:
“We want season 2 of Julie and the Phantoms.
This show has brought so many people so much happiness and has inspired so many to follow their dreams. We all really want to see more of this amazing show, cast and crew.
Make sure to use the hashtag #wewantseason2jatp on Instagram”
There are other campaigns that range from a few thousand signatures to tens of thousands.
If you haven’t already signed the petition to save Julie and the Phantoms, do it now!
Se non hai già firmato la petizione per salvare Julie and the Phantoms, fallo subito!#JATP #JulieAndThePhantoms #SaveJATP #netflix
=======>https://t.co/27hk6HChf4 pic.twitter.com/f3ZPos0RBv— RamonaLoveThePhantoms (@Sabrina68521353) January 16, 2022
All of this pales in comparison to some of the other failed Netflix revival campaigns. Anne with an E remains the biggest fan campaign to date with its main petition surpassing 1.5 million signatures last year.
How likely will a fan campaign work for Julie and the Phantoms
This is where we have to be the bearer of bad news.
Although fan campaigns have seemingly worked in the past if we look at Sense8 (which eventually went on to get revived for a movie), Lucifer (which got revived twice), and more recently Manifest.
With that said, according to Netflix it always comes down to the numbers. In a post by The Hollywood Reporter, they spoke to Netflix’s Bela Bajaria about the Manifest campaign who stated “Fan enthusiasm is always great to see, but it really isn’t the emails or tweets — it was all about the viewing,” adding “To save a show in this way, it has to have that fan viewing. I appreciate their passion and being connected to the characters, but the viewing is the thing that saved the show.”
So realistically, the only way we’d ever see Julie and the Phantoms come back is with a surge of viewing or an opportunity arises where costs are cut. Seems unlikely.
Could Julie and the Phantoms go elsewhere?
Netflix shows being saved elsewhere isn’t wholly unusual. The major revival came when Pop bought up One Day at a Time (who subsequently canceled after a single season).
The natural home for Julie and the Phantoms would be Disney. After all, Kenny Ortega built his legacy there with the likes of High School Musical.
What’s next from Kenny Ortega at Netflix?
Only one other project is really known which has Kenny Ortega’s involvement. We’re referring to Aunti Clause which has been announced for a couple of years now. Where it is in development is unclear.
Do you want to see Netflix renew Julie and the Phantoms? Let us know in the comments.