Disney’s ‘Doc McStuffins’ is writer-mom’s prescription for helping ease kids’ doctor fears
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Winnipeg Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.00 a X percent off the regular rate.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/03/2012 (4930 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Many TV shows have dispassionate origins, recycling a well-worn format or piggybacking on a trend. But the roots of “Doc McStuffins,” an animated program for children ages 2 to 7, are downright maternal.
Chris Nee, creator of the series, wanted to ease her toddler son’s experience with doctors and hospitals after he was diagnosed with asthma.
“It was me as a mom, more than as a writer first, saying, ‘What can I do to make this better for him?'” Nee recalled.
The result is a fanciful, music-filled show (“Wash Your Hands” is among the original songs) about Doc (voiced by Kiara Muhammad), a girl who converses with her stuffed animals and toys and treats their scratches, sniffles and whatever ails them.
Doc and her pals share tips about staying healthy and offering care and compassion to others. The show also attempts to demystify what happens in a doctor’s office to make visits less scary for its audience.
Among those in the cast: Loretta Devine as a reliably competent plush hippo named Hallie. Ty Burrell (“Modern Family”) is a guest actor in the debut episode, voicing a jack-in-the-box dad who takes his son for a checkup.
Nee, who received a prestigious Humanitas Award for an episode of Bill Cosby’s Daytime Emmy Award-winning “Little Bill,” intends “Doc McStuffins” to be spirited as well as heartfelt.
“It’s got a different flavour than usual in the (TV) preschool world,” she said, offering kid-friendly humour with a touch of sophistication and bold characters that Nee said harken back to those that she enjoyed on “Sesame Street” as a child.
There is, for instance, a snowman who’s a hypochondriac on the series (produced by Dublin-based Brown Bag Films and the Disney Channel).
“Kids love that character. They don’t understand the full implications but they find it really funny,” said Nee, who sees value in aiming a bit over a young viewer’s head.
“We know kids are watching shows over and over again. Trying to create shows so that a kid gets every moment on the first viewing is shortchanging them,” she said.
What does her muse, son Theodore, now 5, think of “Doc McStuffins”?
“He calls it his show. I’m at least trying to get him to use ‘ours,'” Nee said.
“Doc McStuffins” will premiere on Disney Junior in Canada on Sunday, April 8th at 10 a.m. ET.
___