Doc McStuffins

**Doc McStuffins** is an American television series created by Chris Nee.

It focuses on a girl who can "fix" toys, with help from her toy friends.

The series premiered on Disney Junior on March 23, 2012 and aired for five seasons until April 18, 2020.

## Plot

The series chronicles freckled, seven-year-old (eight as of 2020 despite the cancellation) Dottie "Doc" McStuffins who decides she wants to become a doctor like her mother, a paediatrician. She practices for her dream job by fixing toys and dolls.

When she activates her magic stethoscope, she can create a variety of supernatural effects, including traveling through time. Her most regular use of it in the TV series is to cause toys, dolls, and stuffed animals to come to life. They are able to move, speak, sing songs, pick up things, hear, see, and smell odours, and she can interact with them. With help from her stuffed animals: Stuffy the Dragon; Hallie the Hippo; Lambie the Lamb; and Chilly the Snowman. Doc helps toys recover, or "feel better", by giving them check-ups and diagnosing their fictional illnesses with an encyclopaedia called "The Big Book of Boo Boos" and another encyclopaedia called "The Big Vet Book" for her toy pets when she's a veterinarian. In season four the Big Book of Boo Boos and The Big Vet Book go hi-tech in a tablet form.

Each 11-minute episode includes original songs. During ending credits in season 1, Doc gives advice to viewers about staying healthy. Seasons 1 and 2 have the original intro for the theme song, but in season 3, the spoken line by Doc at the end of the theme song was re-recorded with Doc's new voice. In season 3 Doc opens up a veterinary clinic for fixing toy pets in addition to the regular medical services that she provides for the other toys. In season 4, Doc's Grandma reveals her own magical stethoscope and teleports her and Doc to McStuffinsville, a magical city populated by living toys, and puts Doc in charge of the McStuffinsville Hospital. In season 5, Doc and her toys put together the McStuffinsville Pet Rescue Team, where they work together to rescue pets in need, led by her plush dragon Stuffy who is a great pet vet.

Each episode focuses on Doc and her crew helping another toy in need and after each check-up gives each toy advice from anything that has happened to her or other circumstances. In some episodes, a member of Doc’s crew ended up being the toy in need and even Doc herself has been the patient with the toys caring for her in the same way she had.

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* Dottie "Doc" McStuffins
	+ Kiara Muhammad (Season 1-2)
	+ Laya DeLeon Hayes (Season 3-5)
* Lara Jill Miller as Lambie
* Robbie Rist as Stuffy Philbert
* Jess Harnell as Chilly
* Loretta Devine as Hallie

### Recurring

* Jaden Betts and Andre Robinson as Donny McStuffins
* Kimberly Brooks as Dr. Maisha McStuffins
* Gary Anthony Williams as Mr. Marcus McStuffins
* Dawnn Lewis as April McStuffins
* Karen O'Brien as Maya Alana McStuffins
* Kylee Anderson as Emmie
* Amy Smith and Caitlin Carmichael as Alma
* Chris Nee as Emmie and Alma's Mom
* Buddy Handleson as Luca Stevens
* Jay Gragnani as Will Wright
* Elan Garfias and Teo Briones as Carlos Ortiz
* Curtis Harris as Henry Diloy
* China Anne McClain as Tisha McStuffins
* Tony Hale as Tobias
* Jeffrey Tambor as Santa Claus
* Mela Lee as Katherine
* Gunnar Sizemore as Jacob
* Alexandra Ryan as Dr. Peerless
* Matthew Wayne as Declan Smith
* Loretta Devine and Cree Summer as Hattie
* Angie Wu as Maddie
* Grace Kaufman as Ramona Marcus
* Rio Mangini as Ian Sheridan
* Kyla Kenedy as Tamara
* Raven Walker as Sabrina
* Cherami Leigh as Nia
* Joanne Froggatt as Florence Nightingale
* Trinitee Stokes as Audrey
* Julian Zane as Dev

## Episodes

See Also: List of Doc McStuffins Episodes

 2 | 37
 3 | 29
 4 | 28
 5 | 16

## Release

In the United States, Doc McStuffins first premiered on March 23, 2012, on Disney-ABC networks Disney Channel and Disney Junior. Starting March 26, the series had begun airing weekdays at 10:00 AM ET on Disney Channel and 4:00 PM ET on Disney Junior while on the weekends, it aired at 7:30 AM ET on Disney Channel and 10:00 AM ET on Disney Junior and has changed since then. On June 5, 2012, Disney Junior renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on September 6, 2013. On January 8, 2014, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on November 2, 2014, but when the voice of Doc was changed in 2015, the episodes formerly in the third season with the former voice of Doc were put in season 2 and new episodes were released in season 3 starting July 2, 2015. On April 14, 2015, the series was renewed for a fourth season by Disney Junior, which premiered on August 5, 2016. It is titled "Doc McStuffins: Toy Hospital". On November 16, 2016, the series was renewed for a fifth season by Disney Junior, which premiered on October 26, 2018 with its first episode titled "The Pet Rescue Team!".

In Canada, the show premiered on its Disney Junior variant channel on April 8, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET with an encore at 5:30 PM ET. The show also aired globally on Disney Junior in multiple languages.

## Reception

The series received positive reviews and criticisms after its release. Kia Morgan Smith of Cincomom.com said that "It truly warmed my heart and almost brought tears to my eyes when my 8-year-old, Mikaela, saw 'Doc McStuffins' for the first time and said, 'Wow, mommy, she's brown,'" Dr. Myiesha Taylor founding president of Artemis Medical Society said that "This program featuring a little African-American girl and her family is crucial to changing the future of this nation." Taylor also applauded the concept of its portrayal of a young black girl who wishes to follow in the footsteps of her mother as a doctor as the lead character, that inspired her to collect pictures of 131 doctors, all women of colour, and publish a collage online under the heading, 'We Are Doc McStuffins.'"

The program was also a ratings hit on Disney Junior, with its premiere attracting 1.08 million children ages 2 to 5 and an average of 918,000 viewers in the same demographic, leading AdWeek magazine to dub the show an "improbable ratings juggernaut".

In 2013, $500 million worth of Doc McStuffins merchandise was sold, something The New York Times writers claimed industry experts said "seems to be setting a record" for a "toy line based on an African-American character". They also said the character had broad appeal and the toys sold well to all demographics.

In 2016, news that Disney had yet to formally renew the program for a fifth season resulted in a number of celebrities, including W. Kamau Bell, Jamilah Lemieux and Audra McDonald to appeal Disney to continue the program. Chris Nee, the show's creator, tweeted that she would report immediately if she received any news of the show being picked up, commenting that the writing staff was eager to continue with new stories.