Credit: LudoThanks to Disney+ and Disney Junior, Bluey has found a massive audience here in the States, but the House of Mouse is keeping something from one of its most profitable fanbases, and the studio might soon have to deal with the consequences.
Disney might have done wonders for the Australian hit, but its fans in the US aren’t met with the same episodes seen overseas. The Walt Disney Company has cracked down hard on some of the show’s content due to certain themes or even just regional slang (such as “Dingleberries”) and has also outright banned certain episodes from being seen by American audiences.
For being the show arguably doing the most for Disney+, it seems like a poor decision to keep the full content of the show away from an ever-growing fanbase. So what’s so scandalous and horrible in a show about a family of cartoon dogs?
Bluey Ban Triggers Viewers
Disney has been notoriously heavy with their censorship lately, and Bluey is just the one that’s suffered the most in recent reports. Not only are innocent jokes and lines being altered, removed, and then strangely put back in, but the company is still keeping specific episodes away from American subscribers due to content.
The episode in question sees Bandit and Bluey lampooning the subject of pregnancy and birth with Bingo in a baby carrier strapped to the patriarch’s chest. It’s cute and rife with physical comedy (all at Bandit’s expense), but what’s really so terrible about it?
Several Bluey episodes have been sent under the knife, but episodes like “Dad Baby” still have a ban slapped on them, leading to a debate amongst the fanbase. A recent post on r/Bluey asked what was so inappropriate about this notorious piece of Heeler media.
u/JeffBoyarDeesNuts states the obvious but shares an interesting comment when they write,
“Not inappropriate at all… But given Disney’s aversion to anything remotely smelling of potential controversy, it’s not surprising.”
The user is quick to point out how Disney’s aversion to anything remotely controversial is what’s genuinely hurting the show, and they aren’t the only ones to see how this innocent game of pretend can be interpreted as something that it’s not.
u/InvaderDepresso adds,
“I watched it and honestly it was so cute and sweet. I’m American, and I had no problems with it. They depict a bit of open-leg action when pulling Bingo out of the carrier, which may concern some people, but that’s where babies are from, as far as kids know. It’s just a nice episode, and it’s funny! Poor Lucky’s dad. I feel like the Early Baby episode was just as “graphic” which means not graphic at all but still deals with birth.”
To which u/medievalfaerie replies,
“Same with Onesie. The show discusses birth and pregnancy multiple times. I don’t understand why this time they felt the need to censor it.”
While it can be so incredibly easy to simply blame Disney’s trigger-happy unnecessary censorship, there might actually be a more logical reason that the platform is keeping this Bluey episode in the Disney vault.
Related: ‘Bluey’ Creator Spills Secrets to Most Emotional Episodes
An article from Fatherly takes a more practical approach to figuring out the method behind the madness, and the issue is more than just a studio frightened of offending even one of its viewers.
“The assumption most pundits and fans have made is simple: “Dad Baby” is simply too straightforward in terms of being a sex education episode, and Disney — for whatever reason — has deemed it inappropriate for your children. Most fans have accused Disney of strange censorship, which is either sexist, prudish, or both.”
If we’re being 100 percent honest here, even Disney’s best intentions still come off as incredibly silly. After all, it’s not like the episode is showing any lewd and explicit content in such a wholesome show.
Related: ‘Bluey’ Skirts Disney’s Censors
At the time of writing, Disney has made no official statement regarding the episode, but it still remains absent from the platform. As Disney reintroduces some of Bluey’s more “controversial material,” it doesn’t seem like “Dad Baby” will make the cut.
Is Disney too heavy-handed with this episode of Bluey? Tell Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!