We’re thrilled to bring a guest blog from
the producers of Buddy G, My Two Moms and Me – a cartoon
starring a kid with 2 moms. A special thanks to Margaux
Town-Colley, Executive Producers of Us2 LLC, for putting this post
together.
Things have been moving fast and furiously
with Buddy G, My Two Moms and Me. It feels
good to take a breath and reflect on how and why we made Buddy G
and what we see for the series’ future. Thanks, Family Equality Council for
this opportunity to write about the cartoon series.
How did we make Buddy G? We closed our eyes
and ears to those who said we couldn’t do it, and we threw our
caution and money to the wind. [The
Animation Business Handbook is a good source if you’re
curious about the cost/process of producing animated cartoons.]
The why? We made Buddy G for our son, Grayson.
We were watching him watch cartoons one Saturday morning when he
was only 2. (Yeah, like none of you have ever done
it).
“My world is turning, Changing each day,
With Mommy and Daddy, Finding my way!”
Wait… Stop… Watch…
Listen.
Caillou is telling our son that
Mommy and Daddy help you find your way.
We started talking about other cartoons that
he watched: Stanley,
Dora,
Little Bill… no two mom or two dad families there.
“Wouldn’t it be better if he had at least 1 cartoon with 2 moms
or 2 dads?”
There was no such a cartoon so we visited
Two
Lives Publishing again and bought a few more books. Yet, the
issue kept nagging at us and so we’d talk about it.
“Check the Internet maybe a company is
making one.” …There are
millions of kids like Grayson.….Surely a company
is making one. …What if there was a cartoon with a
little buddy like ours? …Hey, we could call him
Buddy G.… Wonder how much it would cost? …Maybe we
could get investors and really make a cartoon?”
Feeling as if time was running out for our
family (Grayson turned 6 in October), we invoked the time-tested
generational superpower of Moms and made it ourselves. And, we’re
so happy we did. The feedback has been more then we’d hoped for.
We’ve heard stories of kids jumping for joy, yelling “he’s
got 2 mommies like me,” and wanting to call grandma or their
friends or show their classmates.… Yes, all well
worth it.
The bigger question to us is “How do we keep
it going, making it bigger and better?” The answer to that lies
with wonderful organizations like Family Equality Council who
support all of our families and help spread the word about Buddy G.
However, individuals like you who are buying the first DVD have
brought the true success to Buddy G.
We’re also encouraged by another mom-powered
entertainment option for our kids, Dottie’s Magic Pockets.
We’ve never met Tammy Stoner over at Pink Pea productions but we’ve
read her story and we know first hand the time, money and effort
that it takes to bring these products to our kids.
So, spread the news and buy the DVDS. In
return we hope to offer more diversity, longer episodes, and a
theme song that doesn’t mention the word “normal.”
(There is a funny story here but we’ll save it for another
day.)
Our short-term plan – sell enough of the first
DVD to produce more episodes and another DVD. Our long-term plans –
dolls, parade balloons, and a 3 day Buddy G’s tree house/pumpkin
patch event in the Heartland.
Bottom line – buying the DVD not only helps
grow
Buddy G and
Dottie’s Magic Pockets into the mainstream of entertainment,
you also send a message to the entertainment industry… Our Kids
Have Been Ignored for Too Long… Get Busy!