Rubble & Crew, a spin-off of Nickelodeon’s smash-hit preschool series Paw Patrol, has dropped an episode featuring the franchise’s first nonbinary character (and first confirmed LGBTQ+ character overall), written by Lindz Amer of Queer Kid Stuff!
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| Rubble, the builder pups, and River on Nickelodeon/Paramount's "Rubble & Crew" |
In the episode Rubble & Crew episode “The Crew Builds an Observatory,” which premiered August 21, bulldog Rubble and his construction crew of builder pups meet human skateboarder River (voiced by nonbinary actor Cihang Ma), who’s new in town. River (who reads as Asian) loves taking photos and wants to photograph a shooting star that’s whizzing by that night. River asks for Rubble’s help in building an observatory. The crew encounters obstacles along the way, but (spoiler!) perseveres and completes the job just in time for River to grab the shot.
The episode’s writer, Lindz Amer, is the creator of Queer Kid Stuff, which launched in 2016 as an LGBTQ+ and social justice webseries, and now offers a variety of LGBTQ-inclusive resources, storytimes, and more for kids and their adults. They’re also the author of the terrific Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kids and Their Allies,
Amer explained on Instagram:
"If you’re in the mood for a Saturday Morning Cartoon then YOU SHOULD WATCH MY EPISODE OF RUBBLE & CREW!!It’s officially out in the world and that means I can talk about it!! I got to write an episode of Rubble & Crew (the construction spin off series from the Paw Patrol franchise) 👷🚧🔨They brought me on to consult on the first nonbinary character—meet River!!—for the PP universe and write their episode, talk about a bucket list item.I wanted to write a nonbinary character that was aspirational and incredibly cool, someone for the pups (and kids at home) to look up to. They found an awesome non-binary actor to voice River and I’m so so happy about how it turned out. Swipe to peep River’s 🏳️⚧️ kicks! 👟Gotta get that pic! 😉🛹📸💫Big shout outs to @kaybeezeey & to @miaresella for the referral!!#saturdaymorningcartoons #rubbleandcrew #gottagetthatpic #lgbtrepresentation"“I wanted to write a nonbinary character that was aspirational and incredibly cool, someone for the pups (and kids at home) to look up to. They found an awesome non-binary actor to voice River and I’m so so happy about how it turned out.”
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| Rubble, the builder pups, and River on Nickelodeon/Paramount's "Rubble & Crew" |
The motivation for creating the character came from the show’s permanent team, who then asked Amer to help. Amer told Mombian:
"I was brought on as a consultant initially because they wanted to develop a nonbinary character and I let them know I’m a writer as well so I could script the character. So I did a little bit more than a typical freelance writer. Talking about what the character will be like, naming the character, looking at character design, all of that in addition to outlining, scripting, and going through notes and revisions."
River is delightful, full of zest for skateboarding and always eager to “Get that pic!” Whilst we don’t specifically learn River’s pronouns or that they are nonbinary, River’s shirt, pants, and skateboard evoke the yellow, white, purple, and black of the nonbinary flag, and they are wearing pink, white, and light blue socks—the colors of the trans flag. Subtle, yes—but I’m guessing nonbinary and trans kids will pick up on it immediately, and that’s important. Even if they don’t know the flags per se, the presence of both pink and blue is a message in itself about blurring the gender binary.
Representation matters. It's great to see a mainstream outlet tapping into the knowledge of someone who is not only LGBTQ+ themself, but has been explaining and affirming LGBTQ+ identities with kids and their adults for years.
While River doesn’t appear in any other episodes in this first season, hopefully we see them again in a future one, and maybe then learn their pronouns.
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| River’s socks, on Nickelodeon/Paramount’s “Rubble & Crew” |
Watch Rubble & Crew anywhere you get Nick Jr.!
Catch PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, bounding into theaters September 29!
PAW Patrol fans can stream full episodes of PAW Patrol, PAW Patrol: The Movie and PAW Patrol Live! At Home featuring "Race to the Rescue" on Paramount+. Try it FREE today at ParamountPlus.com.
Originally published: September 05, 2023.
Additional source: LGBTQ Nation.
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