'Doc McStuffins' Sneak Peek: The Origin Story Episode!
Doc McStuffins fans, the wait is almost over. On Friday’s episode of the hit Disney Junior show, “Bringing Home Baby,” Mom and Dad get the call that the baby the family is adopting is on his or her way. We also get to meet a new recurring character, Grandma McStuffins (voiced by A Different World’s Dawnn Lewis).
As hinted at in the flashback seen above — when Grandma McStuffins first hands Doc both Lambie and a stethoscope — this episode is also an origin story for Doc’s toys and her gift for communicating with them. “We knew that Grandma would be a very special character for us. Let’s just say she has more in common with Doc than meets the eye, and she plays a very unique role in the origin stories,” creator Chris Nee tells Yahoo TV in an email. “Dawnn was the perfect person to bring this magical character to life.”
Related: ‘Doc McStuffins’ Creator Chris Nee: From ‘Deadliest Catch’ to Disney Junior
Why is now the right time to reveal those backstories? “I think origin stories are the most satisfying when they’re well earned. Sometimes shows get to those stories too early. We feel like people are really invested in these characters now. Doc, Lambie, Hallie, Stuffy, and Chilly are a part of the family, and finding out how they came to be in Doc’s world will feel like a true treat,” Nee says. “For us, the most exciting part was really asking the question of what those moments were. I knew Lambie had been around the longest, but writing, and then seeing the moment she was handed to Doc, was emotional to me. Thinking about Stuffy being a gift for Doc to reward her bravery just felt special. We loved finding out for ourselves what these moments were. And of course, part of the origin story for Doc, is the origin story of the toys coming to life. And getting to see that for the first time was the most exciting part of all.”
Nee hopes the addition of the baby to the show will breathe new life into the toys. “For us, the introduction of the new baby was, and is, a great chance to be reminded what the toys’ first and foremost function is… to play with, and comfort, little kids,” she says. “We knew the baby could create havoc for our toys, which is always a good thing in storytelling, and we knew that it would help us reset the internal lives of the toys, and allow them to be cuddly all over again.”
Doc McStuffins airs Fridays at 8 a.m. on Disney Channel.
