The Australian children’s show “Bluey” has become popular with American children and adults.
In Australia, “Bluey” airs on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Kids, while in the United States, it airs on Disney Junior. The show has become so popular in the U.S. that the New York Times has said that it “could rival the Wiggles as Australia’s most popular children’s cultural export.”
When exporting the show to America, Disney has been altering the original Australian version.
According to The Guardian, the show created by Joe Brumm follows a six-year-old puppy named Bluey and her family. It is enjoyed by both children and adults for its clever writing that appeals to people of all ages.
Some of the jokes in the show are seen as harmless in Australia, but do not meet Disney’s Standards and Practices. Inga Parkel from The Independent wrote, “Disney has said it will ‘reevaluate’ its Standard and Practices guidelines after it received complaints about censorship of the children’s show Bluey.”
Jokes that were censored included jokes about the cartoon dog characters farting. This is certainly not too raunchy for American children. There is no good reason why jokes like that should be censored, even if someone does not find them to be funny.
The censorship can make logical sense at times. Bluey is absolutely adored by adults as much as children. With an adult audience, some innuendos make it into the show. One removed joke involves Bandit, the fatherly character, getting hit in the groin. While this may be a little lowbrow, it is subtle enough that children would not notice.
A joke that was altered was involved in a scene that implies Bandit is considering a vasectomy. This might seem too far of a reach for a children’s show, but the joke is so subtle that virtually no child would ever notice. The Disney version of the scene involves Bandit considering removing his “dog teeth.”
Mark C. Scott from The Conversation wrote, “Episodes in previous seasons have also been edited or unavailable to stream on Disney+.”
Even the raunchiest of the jokes censored by Disney are too subtle for children to notice. Disney deserves the criticism it received because it is treating American children as though they can not handle the same types of jokes that Australian children can. The censorship of the show also lessens the quality for the adults who enjoy it as well.
American children are not more prudish than Australian children. American parents love Bluey as much as Australian parents. The criticism of Disney is coming from American adults who do not want them or their children to be held to a different standard than Australians.
Americans can handle the jokes made in a children’s show about cartoon dogs. Americans are not as prudish as they were in the past. I hope that Disney can update its Standards and Practices to reflect on the changing culture of the U.S. that puts its uptight past behind.
Nico Brazill can be contacted at
nbrazill@kscequinox.com
