‘Doc McStuffins’ Tackled Big Issues Like Adoption, Cancer and Same-Sex Parents

variety.com:

Karen Idelson “Doc McStuffins” featured many famous voices over the years. Creator Chris Nee was especially delighted when then-first lady Michelle Obama agreed to lend her voice to the episode “Doc McStuffins Goes to Washington.” The episode appeared in 2015.

In the episode, Obama invites Doc and other children who have made a difference in their communities to the White House to honor them in a special ceremony.The show explored adoption in a five-part series in 2016 that included the episodes “Baby Mc­Stuffins,” “Runaway Love,” “Hootie’s Duty,” “Bringing Home Baby” and “Baby Names/Night Night, LaLa.” Each episode explored the emotions a family goes through as they bring a child into their family and focused on normal­izing adoption.

In “The Emergency Plan,” Wanda Sykes and Portia de Rossi voice interracial same-sex parents. Doc helps this doll family because they were separated during an earthquake as they did not have an emergency plan in place.

The episode first aired in 2017 and faced backlash for its inclusion of same-sex parents from the conservative group, One Million Moms.Doc also explored long-term illnesses such as cancer in “Hannah the Brave.” Real-life cancer survivor Robin Roberts appeared in the episode that discussed the impact of chemotherapy on Audrey and her doll, Hannah.