The Doctor Is Real In

TV Shows We Love: Doc McStuffins
There’s a new gal in town you should meet. She’s an adorable little girl who “operates” a clinic for stuffed animals and toys. She’s Doc McStuffins. (Everyone, including her parents, calls her “Doc.”) Her clinic is her backyard playhouse. Her medical staff consists of toys—stuffed lamb, snowman, hippo and a plastic dragon—who come to life when they’re “alone” with Doc.

Series creator Chris Nee told The Wall Street Journal that her motivation for creating the series was to ease the fears of her own son—diagnosed with asthma—in his new experiences with doctors and hospitals. She added, “It was me as a mom, more than as a writer first, saying ‘What can I do to make this better for him?’”

The show does a wonderful job opening up the world of medicine and medical care, as in the pilot episode, where a Jack in the Box (voiced by Ty Burrell of Modern Family) is right there, supporting his son Little Jack as Doc McStuffins gives him an examination to determine why he can’t “pop” like he used to. Little Jack even gets a sticker from the staff for being such a good little Jack in the Box.

I like the family unit depicted in this series. Doc is very kind to her little brother Donny. The tone is very sweet and very gentle, not dissimilar to the “big sister/little brother” dynamic in Peppa Pig or Max and Ruby. And mom appears to be the breadwinner here, a doctor herself, while dad keeps the home.

It’ll be interesting to see how the series manages to sustain itself. I hope they don’t run out of story ideas when they reach the bottom of the toy box. You can see Doc McStuffins on Disney Junior on the Disney Channel.