‘Bluey’ cartoon edited after outrage over ‘fat-shaming’ episode

A children’s cartoon about a family of dogs had to edit one of its episodes about fitness after audiences objected to the father character being self-critical of his weight.

“Bluey” is a cartoon about a family of Australian Cattle Dogs that has become wildly popular in recent years.

It has ranked among the top 10 most streamed series in the US according to recent Nielsen ratings and even got a balloon in New York City’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

A recent episode of the show was reportedly edited by its creators at Brisbane, Australia-based Ludo Studios after some accused one episode of ‘fat-shaming.’

“The latest instalment [sic] of Bluey, which was broadcast on ABC in Australia, showed the title character’s parents complaining about their weight,” BBC’s Nichola Rutherford wrote. “Critics said the show could lead to young viewers developing worries about their own bodies. An ABC spokesperson said the episode had been edited, and the new version would be distributed globally.”

The episode, “Exercise,” begins with Bluey’s father, Bandit, weighing himself while Bluey is in the bath, noting that he needs to do some exercise.

His wife, Chilli, agrees.

“That section of the show has now been cut after some parents and health experts raised concerns on social media about body-shaming,” Rutherford wrote. “Some said they did not want their children to see adults being dissatisfied with the shape of their bodies, and only using exercise to lose weight.”

A spokesperson for Australia Broadcasting Corporation told the BBC that it supports the choice to change the episode.

“The recent episode of Bluey, Exercise, has been republished by the ABC following a decision by the makers of the programme,” the spokesperson said. “The new version provides families with the opportunity to manage important conversations in their own way. As the home of Bluey, the ABC supports the decision to re-edit the program, and we have updated the episode on our platforms.”

A few hosts on GBN joked about the outrage.

“I’m worried about this sort of stuff that you get a lot of social justice messaging within cartoons,” host Andrew Doyle said. “You, we even had the Pink News do a report on Bluey on this very thing last year, where they criticized it saying there weren’t enough gender-diverse or dogs color, in Bluey, and Bluey is actually blue.”

Another member on the panel replied that his family loves the show, and joked about what he heard of this episode so far, “The dad’s worried about his weight and says ‘Maybe I should do some exercise’ and the mom says ‘Here maybe you should,’ ooh! Now, I’m surprised the dad doesn’t call the mom the b-word because they are dogs. You’d get away with it.”