This Is The Best Reaction We've Ever Seen To A Show Getting Canceled – And It'll Break Your Heart

It's simultaneously a terrific and horrible time for animation. As usual, animated movies save the box office when all else fails, whether it was "Inside Out 2" in 2024 or "Ne Zha 2" pulling a phenomenal run at the box office and becoming (still) the highest-grossing movie of 2025. Meanwhile, adult animation has reached unprecedented levels of success and popularity, and anime continues to reach higher and higher levels of viewership across the globe.

And yet, animation is under a bigger existential threat than it's been in decades, whether from AI companies delighting in the possibility of artists losing their jobs, studios cutting corners at every turn, or even Warner Bros. Discovery and David Zaslav trying to execute his apparent goal of annihilating the house that Bugs Bunny built. Having just covered the 2025 edition of the Annecy Animation Festival just a couple of weeks ago, there was a sense of community and celebration for the medium at the festival, but it was always accompanied by a sense of "this could be taken away at any moment."

Well, for the creators of "The Tiny Chef Show," an Emmy Award-winning Nickelodeon series that blends stop-motion with live-action, that moment came earlier this week when the show got canceled. While many a TV show cancellation has been met with polite messages on social media thanking fans, or simple pleas for viewers to rally behind and support the show as they attempt to find a new home in the age of streaming, that wasn't the case with Tiny Chef. Instead, we got a heartbreaking reaction from the creators, which is maybe the most emotionally raw response to a cancelation that we've ever seen.

In a video uploaded to the official "The Tiny Chef Show" YouTube channel, Tiny Chef (voiced by Matt Hutchinson) gets a call from his bosses at "Mickelflodeon," who deliver the devastating news that, rather than commission new episodes, Tiny Chef's show is getting canceled. It doesn't matter that Chef and his friends behaved on set. It doesn't matter that Chef won an Emmy for the network. It doesn't matter that the news will put all of Tiny Chef's friends out of work. The corporate overlords have delivered the news, and that is final.

Watching this adorable Gumbi-like character slowly break down, his voice cracking, and then tears flow down his face, is absolutely heart-wrenching. Rather than get angry, or demand answers, Tiny Chef just lets out a big sigh, says, "I understand," and tries to go back to cleaning before sitting down on his bed with his head in his hands, breaking down sobbing. It's a visceral and relatable reaction to the idea of a work of art you've been making for years suddenly getting ripped from your hands for no discernible reason.

It's not like the show wasn't popular, or that it was too niche. Created by animator Rachel Larsen, Adam Reid, and Ozlem Akturk, "The Tiny Chef Show" followed its titular chef creating tiny dishes every episode, from granola bars to apple pie. A celebrity guest would lend their voice to each episode, including RuPaul, Alan Cumming, Kristen Bell, and even RZA. And the show was not just popular with kids, but with Emmy voters. "The Tiny Chef Show" received six nominations for the Children's and Family Emmys since its debut in 2022, winning two, in 2023 and earlier this year. It's also won two Annie Awards.

At a time when animators are under constant threat of their medium fading away and of corporations cutting jobs, replacing artists, or outright erasing completed work for a tax break, seeing Tiny Chef being openly emotional is a moment of catharsis and heartbreak for both animators and just fans everywhere. Goodbye, Tiny Chef. We hardly knew ye.