“Love Is Love in McStuffinsville”: Doc McStuffins Airs Episode Featuring a Two-Mom Household
Disney Channel’s Doc McStuffins aired “The Emergency Plan” last Saturday, an episode about earthquake preparation. After a toy dragon causes an “earthquake” by jumping up and down, Doc reunites them and teaches them about preparing emergency kits. In addition to being informative, it also happened to center around a two kids and their moms, voiced by Wanda Sykes and Portia de Rossi.
The gradual increase in LGBTQIA representation within animation and children’s shows has been heartening, with shows like Danger & Eggs and Steven Universe doing some amazing lifting. Disney Channel has shown same-sex couples before, with Good Luck Charlie similarly featuring a lesbian couple and Star vs. the Force of Evil on Disney XD including a kiss, much to the dismay of One Million Moms. It’s very exciting to see Doc Stuffins, which has been highly praised for its storyline around a young black girl who fixes toys as a doctor, join in that representation.
In the clip above, Sykes has a lot of praise for the show, saying, “the diversity of the show, and having an African-American little girl be the star of the show, and also be a doctor, it sends a great message.”
“I’m a fan of Doc McStuffins, my kids, they watch the show. In this episode, they see a family that looks like our family. We’re two moms and a boy and a girl, two kids. It’s going to be very exciting for them to see that, to see our family represented. Families stick together.”
While the steps Disney has been taking have been somewhat small in comparison to other networks, I suspect it’s been a lot time coming for creator and executive producer Chris Nee. Back in 2012, creator Nee was asked whether we might see a same-sex couple on the show, to which she replied, “It’s hard to know exactly where the boundaries are because they’re always changing in kids’ TV.” Nee, who is herself a lesbian and mother, says in a recent GLAAD post:
“I always envision Doc McStuffins as a show about what it means to accept everyone as part of our communities. As part of a two-mom family, I’m proud to have an episode that reflects my son’s world, and shows everyone that love is love in McStuffinsville.”
You can watch the episode here.
(via Mashable, image: screencap)
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