<
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/may/02/the-one-where-bandit-gives-birth-is-america-ready-for-the-banned-bluey-episode>
"In some parts of the world, the
Bluey episode
Dad Baby has gained almost
mythological status. This 2020 episode, in which Bluey’s dad, Bandit, pretends
to give birth to his daughter Bingo, has never been allowed to be shown in the
US. No official reason has been given for the censorship, something that has
only allowed speculation to spurt off in numerous weird directions.
Why did Disney decide to ban it? Was it because the birth sequence was too
graphic for the sensibilities of its young viewers? Or was it that the central
conceit, of a man growing and giving birth to a baby, risked getting embroiled
in the red-hot culture war screaming match about gender and biology? Just how
wildly subversive was this episode anyway?
Most non-American viewers know the answer is not at all. The episode has aired
in Australia and intermittently pops up on BBC iPlayer in the UK; it has caused
precisely nothing in the way of an outcry. It is, in truth, a normal episode of
Bluey. It’s very funny and targets your emotions with ruthless precision.
Nothing about it suggests that anyone watching will be mortally offended. There
is a moment where Bandit experiences extreme pain but it’s nothing that isn’t
also shown in the episode
Sleepytime, in which Bandit is kicked in the
genitals by his daughter in her sleep.
Nevertheless, the US can finally rejoice, for it has caught up with the rest of
the world at last. This week,
Dad Baby got an almost-official US release.
While the episode still won’t be shown on any Disney channels, it has been
uploaded to the
Bluey YouTube channel, where, at time of writing, it has been
viewed more than 800,000 times in 23 hours. This isn’t colossal by
Bluey
numbers – the episode
Magic Asparagus has been viewed 76m times – but it does
suggest that Disney might want to rethink the censorship."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
