Preschool and early-elementary school children of same-sex parents now have a television show of their very own. Dottie’s Magic Pockets, “the first children’s programming for kids in Gay and Lesbian households,” launched this week as a series of DVDs from Pink Pea, an independent production company “dedicated to creating programming that represents the fabulous diversity of non-traditional families.” Here’s the show description from the press release:
Dottie’s Magic Pockets invites children ages 3-8 to enter the fun-filled world of Dottie, a wacky stay-at-home mom whose house seems suddenly empty when her partner and their son leave for his first day of school. To cheer up his mom, her son gives her a gift: a hooded sweatshirt with huge, dotted pockets.
When Dottie discovers that the hoodie’s pockets are filled with magic glitter, she sprinkles it around and — voila! — her humdrum living room is transformed into a zany funhouse filled with a gaggle of whimsical characters, including: Randal the Beaver, James the Flower, Uncanny the Singing Can, Motilda the Mouse, and Wally the Wall. Kids join Dottie and the gang as they discover, dance, laugh, learn, and sing their way through new adventures.
I’ll be bringing you more on Dottie in the coming weeks. Based on early information about the show, it seems as if Dottie and her friends focus on the kinds of lessons relevant to kids from all types of families—self-confidence, friendship, sharing, health, and such. They visit Dottie’s partner May in one episode, however, and in another make friends with Princess, a caterpillar with two dads. Add “an aging, aristocratic daisy” named James, and it’s clear this is not the usual mass-media children’s fare.
The DVDs are available exclusively from the show’s Web site.
I bought it. If you haven’t already, we could have a screening together.
That looks really cute! :-) I don’t know if “lonely mum” has ever been done before as a tv show…
I got one at the San Diego Family Matters event. It’s great and my kids LOVE it!