A new animated short about two boys falling in love is going viral—but it’s not the only new cartoon about LGBTQ characters. Take a look.
If you haven’t yet seen “In a Heartbeat,” take four minutes to do so. It’s both fanciful and relatable and just downright charming.
The protagonists seem like young teens, however, which means the audience will likely be teens (maybe some tweens) and adults, not the younger kids whom we usually associate with animated media. (Most pre-teens I know would say “Ewww” about any storyline involving falling in love, whether with same- or different-sex characters.) Nothing wrong with aiming it at teens and adults, though. I’m over 50 and still a fan of animation. And if younger kids happen to see it, it’s certainly not inappropriate. They may just not relate yet.
For younger kids, however, comes the new Amazon cartoon series, Danger & Eggs, for kids six to eleven. It’s about “a fearless, teal-haired girl named D.D. Danger (voiced by SNL’s Aidy Bryant) and her ever cautious best friend, a giant talking egg named Phillip,” as the show description reads. The series includes “trans youth, gay dads—even a lesbian folk duo,” as Trish Bendix reports at NewNowNext. One episode is set at a Pride celebration, with real trans teen Jazz Jennings voicing a trans character.
Danger & Eggs is refreshing and wonderful. Amazon is to be commended for going where Sesame Street still fears to tread, as I explained in a piece last April. I worry, though, that such inclusive programming now only comes to those who can afford to pay for Amazon Prime. A few other networks are trying (Disney XD, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon), as my article indicated, but I’d love to see some of the broadcast networks (especially PBS Kids) pick up the baton here, too. In the meantime, let’s praise those who are leading the way.
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