With a series of hosts over the years, and now a more updated platform to match the social media craze, Blue's Clues has been on-air for 23 years and continues to run new episodes, and for good reason.
Kids still love the show.
Just two weeks ago, Blue's Clues surprised the internet with a new, catchy, and fun rendition of the Alphabet Song.
It included some adorable letter options, like:
"A is Amazing, and B is so Brave. C is so Comforting, and D likes to Dance all day."
"E is Everyone, and F is full of Fun."
But one segment really stood out in the new rendition.
"O is Outstanding, and P is full of Pride!"
At the very end, the song says:
"The alphabet helps me be me!"
You can listen to the song here (but get ready for an epic earworm!):
Nickelodeon animator for Blue's Clues, Sammi WS Chan, was so excited when he first saw the script for the latest episode.
He explained when the video dropped:
"The first thing that came to my mind was 'P is for Pride' when i got the script."
"I am so excited that all of y'all are as happy as I am!"
"I also did all the letters and graphics for this episode to be as inclusive as possible for Black History Month."
And Chan was right to say viewers were "as happy" about the new song as he was, because some people really were.
But, as much as we're loving the inclusion of pride in a very familiar song—not to mention the opportunity to teach children about it from a younger age—some people were not feeling it.
In fact, the infamous Monica Cole, the director of the misnomered "One Million Moms," learned of the video and launched a petition about two weeks after its initial airing.
The petition, which is available on the group's website, aims to cancel Nickelodeon for as long as it demonstrates any appreciation or support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Cole launched it, stating in the petition:
"[This is an effort against Nickelodeon as they are] forcing the LGBTQ agenda on families and children."
"It is apparent that this network continues to indoctrinate children by exposing them to the LGBTQ lifestyle and presenting it as normal."
"With such a liberal push in children's educational entertainment, it is obvious where Nickelodeon stands. This pride-laced ABC song makes it clear that Nickelodeon has an LGBTQ agenda that it is forcing on really young audiences."
"We do not agree with the LGBTQ agenda, [and we will not] support Nickelodeon as long as the network veers away from family-friendly entertainment."
Cole urged as many people to share and sign the petition as possible.
OMM also told people to stop supporting Nickelodeon in any way—in the viewing of their content or purchasing of their merchandise—until they've proven to be properly aligned with what "One Million Moms" deems "family-friendly content." Fortunately, the petition is a far cry from the 1-million signatures the culture-canceling website aims for with only 17-thousand signatures.
Twitter also appears to be pretty against the petition.
It's unclear what will happen in the future with Nickelodeon and Blue's Clues, but it's heartening to see them standing up for marginalized communities. We hope people who are against equality won't stand in the way of that.
In the meantime, we're going to go enjoy this earworm for a while longer.
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