“BuddyG: My Two Moms and Me”: A New Animated Show for Children of LGBT Families

A few weeks ago, I wrote of the new DVD series Dottie’s Magic Pockets, the first show targeting children of LGBT families. Now comes news of the second such show, and the first fully animated one, BuddyG: My Two Moms and Me.

As with Dottie, BuddyG is a labor of love, time, and money by two lesbian moms searching for images of families like theirs. The two are no newcomers to championing LGBT causes. USA Today featured their family in an article on same-sex couples and family law back in 2003, as did the Detroit News, and they were quoted in a Lambda Legal press release in 2005. As for their latest endeavor, Margaux and Donna say that they wanted to create a cartoon, “like a Caillou with two moms or dads”:

The more we talked about it the more important it became. It was almost like, if we didn’t do something about it after we had this fantastic idea, then we were somehow being irresponsible parents. So out of that, “Buddy G” was born. It took longer, cost more and was way harder then we thought it would be, but we couldn’t be happier or more proud of the cartoon and the potential it represents. “Buddy G” has added incredible joy to our family and we hope he adds a little happiness to yours.

The show focuses on the everyday adventures of five-year-old BuddyG, his two moms, and his seven-year-old friend Owen, aided by BuddyG’s armband computer, Socrates, an electronic device with a personality of its own. I had the honor of seeing a sneak preview of the first episode, The Lost Rings, in which “the boys learn the value of being truthful while picking up some facts from Socrates about the science of metal detectors.” I was impressed by the 3D animation, catchy music, and sense of fun. There are a few signs that this was a family effort, without the resources of Pixar or Disney: Margaux and Donna’s son Grayson is the voice of BuddyG, and does a fine job but lacks some of the polish of a trained actor; the Web site is still getting some finishing touches.

Still, if my own four-year-old son is any indication, both BuddyG and Dottie have lots of kid appeal, and would make great holiday presents. (Dottie is available now; you can order BuddyG now, and it will be delivered in time for Christmas. Margaux and Donna assure me they’re working as hard as they can to get the DVD out the door, but will unfortunately miss this year’s early Hanukkah.)

For those of us longing to give our children images of families like our own, it seems an embarrassment of riches to have these two shows launch within such a short time. Despite the rough edges of both, they are impressive efforts and full of potential we should support. I look forward to their next episodes and hope this is a sign we’ll soon see more children’s shows depicting other parts of the LGBT spectrum and other age ranges.