Why did Disney Plus ban the Bluey episode ‘Dad Baby’?

Let’s start out by establishing the facts, because this is important. One fact: BlueyThe Australian TV series for pre-schoolers, titled, about the playful dog family, is an astonishingly brilliant work. This is not a opinion, but a statement of fact. The seven-minute episodes of this show are more funny, deeper, richer, and even sometimes more emotional than the hour-long dramas. There’s one called “Flat Pack” that deals with Darwinian evolution, human progress, religion and the afterlife, marital relationships, the sweet pain of letting go, and assembling Ikea furniture — and it does all that in a way that’s sweet, hilarious, and accessible to people who haven’t learned how to talk yet. There are many ways that you can learn to talk. seven minutes. That’s how good it is.

Disney is the owner of worldwide streaming rights. Bluey, but it’s a co-production between Australia’s ABC and the U.K.’s BBC networks, and it airs in various places internationally. This fact is boring, but it’s relevant.

The show has 140 episodes. BlueyDisney Plus offers 141 episodes of the show. There are 141 episodes available on Disney Plus. Bluey There are several episodes. The episode is called BlueyDisney wants you not to see. The video has been edited, even suppressed. This episode is called “Dad Baby.”

OK, I’m being somewhat dramatic here. “Dad Baby” is not actually that hard to see. Bluey’s distributor, BBC Studios, has approved it for release, it’s been aired on broadcast channels in Australia and the U.K., it’s included as an extra in DVD box sets, and you can buy it on iTunes. You can even view a clip from “Dad Baby” on the official BlueyYou can find it on the YouTube channel. If you prefer, you may find segments of the video on TikTok.

Even though it is the main global home Bluey, Disney Plus’ attempt to scrub “Dad Baby” from the record is notable — and quite successful. It was so popular that it wasn’t discovered until recently in our household. What could possibly have prompted this conservative corporation to remove an episode from one of its most beloved shows?

We can only guess — Disney has never explained its decision, and is never likely to. It’s not difficult to guess. “Dad Baby” is about pregnancy and childbirth. As with many episodes BlueyThe subject is a game Bluey, a six-year old blue heeler puppy, plays with Bingo, her four-year-old sister, and their parents. In this instance, her dad Bandit, who’s cheeky.

Bingo is shown in an episode finding a used baby carrier. Bandit then puts the carrier on and Bingo climbs inside. Bluey thinks it’s time to play Dad Baby. Bandit jokes about pregnancy while attempting to pull another baby around in his belly. The situation gets heated up when Bingo sticks her head through the gap between their legs. They set up a birthing pool in the garden, next-door neighbor Lucky’s Dad is summoned for midwifery duties, and Bingo is eventually born — causing her birth parent as much discomfort as possible in the process.

Most people are familiar with the term “like most”. Bluey, “Dad Baby” is completely innocuous and played for laughs. It’s hard to see how anyone could object to it. It’s also, like many of Bluey, it’s very conscientious about being truthful with kids (and adults) about real life, and not in the didactic, life-lessons way a lot of TV for young kids gravitates to. You couldn’t call “Dad Baby” graphic, but you also couldn’t watch it and be under any illusion about what happens in childbirth, anatomically speaking. There are a couple of shots in particular that I reckon made Disney’s censors wince: the hilarious appearance of Bingo’s head, and a shot from Bandit’s point of view in the birthing pool, between his raised knees, as Bluey gets involved in the delivery.

Image: Ludo Studio/Australian Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Studios via YouTube

What if we didn’t know where our babies actually came from by 2023? Is “Dad Baby” considered sex education? I can believe it of Disney, although I wish I couldn’t. The company is also responsible for briefly suppressing the Bluey episode “Family Meeting” because it was about farts, although it was eventually shamed into uploading it. But I also wonder if the episode’s gender-swap premise has something to do with Disney’s censoriousness. The episode starts by poking gentle fun at gendered stereotypes, ends with depiction of a man (well, a dog, but you know) giving birth, and at one point uses the term “pregnant people.” It’s all just for fun, and it has no point to make. Disney may still be worried that some viewers will use it as a way to express their views.

The Hollywood Reporter: Talking with The Hollywood Reporter Bluey creator Joe Brumm shrugged Disney’s censorship off. He knew the episode wouldn’t fly in America, he explained, but to him it was just too funny not to make. “What are you going to do, not make ‘Dad Baby’? I love it.”

“Dad Baby” is lots of fun, but honestly, it’s a minor episode in the Bluey canon. Disney’s denial of canon is perhaps the biggest thing. Bluey heads is the first moment we learn Lucky’s Dad has an actual name (it’s Pat). This does not excuse the silly and pandering decision to exclude it from Disney Plus. It’s just robbing children of a fun way to learn how they came into the world, and everyone else of seven minutes of joy.