Oli Welsh
is senior editor, U.K., providing news, analysis, and criticism of film, TV, and games. He has been covering the business & culture of video games for two decades.
If you’ve never seen the episode of Bluey, the beloved Australian kids’ cartoon, that Disney refuses to screen for American audiences, now’s your chance. “Dad Baby” has been uploaded in full to the official Bluey YouTube channel.
In the episode, Bluey and Bingo, the irrepressible Blue Heeler pups, play a game with their dad Bandit in which he pretends to be pregnant with Bingo and to give birth to her in a pool in their backyard. Like all episodes of Bluey, it’s very funny and lovingly grounded in the realities of family life.
Although the episode has been screened on TV in Bluey’s native Australia, in the U.K., and elsewhere, Disney — which holds the American TV rights and the global streaming rights for the show — has never broadcast “Dad Baby” or uploaded it to the Disney Plus streaming service.
Disney has not commented on its decision to censor “Dad Baby.” It’s likely due to sensitivity about one of two things: a depiction of the realities of childbirth that, in some conservative quarters, might be considered too honest for preschoolers — it’s not exactly graphic, but there’s no doubt about where Bingo is being pushed out from — or the gender-bending depiction of a man (well, male dog) giving birth.
It seems Bluey’s rights holders, a small Australian animation outfit called Ludo Studio, have tired of the suppression of the episode and have decided to make it free to watch on YouTube. It remains unavailable on Disney Plus.
Bluey recently completed its third season with special episode “The Sign.” Though its creators have said Bluey and her family will be back, the show’s future remains uncertain, with a fourth season yet to be confirmed.
Source: Polygon
