Coming to streaming service Max in 2024, and from the creators of the much loved Arthur series, comes “Hop." Targeted at preschoolers, it will center around characters with disabilities, including its title character, a 6-year-old frog with one leg shorter than the other.“Hop” joins a growing number of animated shows for young children that present positive depictions of disabled characters and normalize inclusion. The show’s characters also include a fiercely intelligent squirrel named Filipa, who is neurodivergent. And, per the show's description, the young animal pals live in a fictional town called “Fair Village,” where everyone is equal and valued for their unique qualities.

Coming to streaming service Max in 2024, and from the creators of the much loved Arthur series, comes “Hop." Targeted at preschoolers, it will center around characters with disabilities, including its title character, a 6-year-old frog with one leg shorter than the other.“Hop” joins a growing number of animated shows for young children that present positive depictions of disabled characters and normalize inclusion. The show’s characters also include a fiercely intelligent squirrel named Filipa, who is neurodivergent. And, per the show's description, the young animal pals live in a fictional town called “Fair Village,” where everyone is equal and valued for their unique qualities.

Over in the UK, Mixmups is a new series about three friends – Pockets the bear who is partially sighted, wheelchair user Giggle the cat, and Spin the rabbit – who transport themselves on playful adventures along with their guardian, the comical trunk-beaked Lucky Loover Bird. Within each episode, they place toys and objects into a blue mixing box, add some sparkles, and, using their magical wooden spoon, “Mix up the magic.” The show – is a celebration of children’s love of play, mixing things up, and the power of imaginative transformation, but beneath the surface lie many considerations about how disability should be represented in children’s industries.

Over in the UK, Mixmups is a new series about three friends – Pockets the bear who is partially sighted, wheelchair user Giggle the cat, and Spin the rabbit – who transport themselves on playful adventures along with their guardian, the comical trunk-beaked Lucky Loover Bird. Within each episode, they place toys and objects into a blue mixing box, add some sparkles, and, using their magical wooden spoon, “Mix up the magic.” The show – is a celebration of children’s love of play, mixing things up, and the power of imaginative transformation, but beneath the surface lie many considerations about how disability should be represented in children’s industries.

In recent episodes, Disney Junior's animated "Firebuds" series about first responders and their talking vehicles introduced a new vehicle character with a cleft hood, and in another episode focused on a young girl, Jazzy, played by actor Lauren Lolo Spencer, who was diagnosed with ALS at 14., with spina bifida and her wheelchair car named Piper, has said, “Playing a character like ‘Jazzy’ and having characters like ‘Castor’ who reflect the differences of real people and show the importance of embracing others regardless of those differences, is truly an honor.”

In recent episodes, Disney Junior's animated "Firebuds" series about first responders and their talking vehicles introduced a new vehicle character with a cleft hood, and in another episode focused on a young girl, Jazzy, played by actor Lauren Lolo Spencer, who was diagnosed with ALS at 14., with spina bifida and her wheelchair car named Piper, has said, “Playing a character like ‘Jazzy’ and having characters like ‘Castor’ who reflect the differences of real people and show the importance of embracing others regardless of those differences, is truly an honor.”