Disney just announced that Doc McStuffins, an animated show starring an African-American girl who fixes broken toys and wants to be a doctor, is renewed for its fifth season. Described as "Cheers for preschoolers," its fans took to Twitter this summer wanting to know the show's fate. The social media campaign was led by W. Kamau Bell, a self-described socio-political comedian and dad who hosts CNN's United Shades of America. Bell tweeted today, "Doc McStuffins is one of the most important shows in the history of television." Reports Variety:
Since the series debuted in 2012, it has won much admiration, particularly because it is difficult to find a female African-American protagonist who aspires to be a doctor in many mainstream cartoons. A group of African-American female physicians, inspired by the program, formed the Artemis Medical Society, an organization which has a membership of over 4700 women physicians of color from around the world. First Lady Michelle Obama guest-starred as herself in an episode.
"Doc McStuffins" won a Peabody Award in 2015 and NAACP Image Awards in 2015 and 2016 in the "Outstanding Children's Program" category. Disney says the series averages 16 million views on the Disney Junior app, VOD and Hulu, and reaches 150 million viewers worldwide each quarter, and in the past year was ordered over 20 million times via set-top-box VOD.
