A new episode of Netflix animated kids’ show Ridley Jones centers nonbinary bison Fred, who comes out about their name and pronouns to their grandma (voiced by Cyndi Lauper). But Netflix has also just cancelled the series and not given its fifth and final season any promotion, says creator Chris Nee.
Two-time Kidscreen Award winner and Emmy nominee Ridley Jones, which premiered on Netflix in 2021, has been cancelled after the network quietly released its fifth and final season last week. Creator Chris Nee (Doc McStuffins; Vampirina), tweeted last Wednesday, “Doesn’t surprise me that Netflix has quietly dumped the first preschool show that has a non-binary character coming out,” adding, “I realize in this day and age dumped means many things. Just zero promotion of the episode.” She then explained, “Oh and yes, this is the end of the series. They cancelled us after what they just put out. They threw all the specials, the xmas special (now?), the feature length special, the CYNDI LAUPER episode and just quietly slipped it onto the service. So this is it.”
[Updated 3/17/2023 to add: Nee confirmed in a direct message to me (that she said was on the record) that it was the lack of promotion, not the cancellation, that was the issue: “The cancellation was normal. We did about as long a run as anyone does. They have nothing to do with each other, and I had no expectation we would do more episodes than this. I did expect them to promote the episodes we made.”]
Ridley Jones is about an adventure-loving girl named Ridley (Iara Nemirovsky) who lives in a magical museum with her mother and grandmother—and whose friends include nonbinary bison Fred (iris menas) and mummy girl Ismat (Ashlyn Madden), who has two dad mummies (Andrew Rannells and Chris Colfer).
In Episode 8 of Season 5, “Herd Day,” Fred is excited about proving themself a full member of the herd by leading the stampede. They’re especially excited to show off for their tough Grandma Dottie, voiced by Cyndi Lauper with a New York accent (and possibly intended to be Jewish, as she endearingly calls Fred her “potato kugel” and “baby babka,” which warms my carb-loving Ashkenazi heart).
The problem is, although they have long used the name “Fred” and they/them pronouns among their friends (as we have seen since the show’s very first episode), they used different ones when they last saw Grandma Dottie, “before I realized that ‘Fred’ feels more like me.” Dottie unintentionally deadnames them, and Fred is upset, but doesn’t say anything. Ridley later asks if they feel ready to tell their grandma. “I do want to, but maybe not today,” Fred says—a nice way of reminding viewers that coming out has to be in one’s own time.
Fred can’t focus when Dottie uses their deadname, though, and decides they have to talk with her. Their friends say they’re there for them no matter what, but note that Grandma Dottie seems cool. Fred agrees she has “an open mind and a big heart.”
“If you’re ready, we support you,” Ridley tells them. The whole scene is such a nice modeling of how to both find and give support.
Fred tries, but the busyness of Herd Day gets in the way, until they finally summon their courage and insist on talking. Grandma has always said to lead with one’s heart, they remind her, explaining:
My heart says that the way I feel most myself is to go by the name Fred. That’s because I’m nonbinary and Fred is the name that fits me best. And I also use “they” and “them,” because calling me a she or a he doesn’t feel right to me.
Grandma Dottie is immediately understanding of why Fred has been struggling. She apologizes, thanks them for telling her, and says she knows they’ll be a tough stampede leader.
Fred then leads the herd across the landscape, bursting into the stirring anthem, “The Truest You.” Grandma Dottie joins in. Put it in your ears now:
This isn’t the first episode to center Fred’s identity. In Season 2, Episode 2, “Bison Ball,” fashionista Ismat offers to help dress them for the museum’s ball, but doesn’t listen to what Fred wants. Fred has to insist that the gown and hairdo that Ismat chose for them just isn’t right. Ismat finally gets it and helps them find a suit that makes them feel more like themself.
Nevertheless, “Herd Day” goes even further in explaining Fred’s nonbinary identity—giving nonbinary viewers a role model for coming out about themselves and offering other viewers a better sense of how and why to support nonbinary friends and family members. It’s quietly groundbreaking. While there have been nonbinary characters on other kids’ shows, none have, to my knowledge, explored the topic with such clarity and thoughtfulness, much less for a preschool audience. Dreamwork Animation’s Madagascar: A Little Wild, for example, aimed at slightly older viewers, in 2021 introduced Odee, a nonbinary okapi—but while Odee uses they/them pronouns, the plot is about the nonbinariness of being an okapi, neither zebra nor giraffe. Odee’s nonbinary identity is never associated with gender. The analogy is there—but it’s an analogy. Fred, however, is clearly gender nonbinary.
But despite the show offering vital, ongoing queer representation, a girl action hero, fun songs, and sharp writing, this season is the last time we’ll see new adventures of the fedora-wearing, rope-swinging Ridley, Fred, Ismat and her dads, and the rest of their friends.
“Go watch it. Show your kids. It’s on Netflix. It’s important. It’s a roadmap for coming out but also for having someone else tell you they’ve changed their pronouns and/or name.”
Chris Nee
Netflix did recently launch Princess Power, a new animated show for young children that includes a character with two dads (one of whom is voiced, as with the dads on Ridley Jones, by Andrew Rannells). And despite the cancellation, Ridley Jones is still available for streaming, including all 15 episodes of the new season. Nee urged on Twitter, “Go watch it. Show your kids. It’s on Netflix. It’s important. It’s a roadmap for coming out but also for having someone else tell you they’ve changed their pronouns and/or name.”
If enough people watch it, might Netflix change its mind? I have no idea—but we can try. (And urging Netflix on social media can’t hurt.) In the meantime, tell anyone you know who might benefit that “Herd Day” is available and a great—one might even say vital—resource.
Nee, who is also a lesbian mom, tweeted about Ridley Jones when it first launched, “I am here to change the world. Or retire trying. I know what it is to be ‘othered’. My job is to show the world as I want it to be.” May she continue being her truest self, too—I look forward to whatever she creates next.
