Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
Dee Davis wants to be just like the heroes she reads about in all her stories.
Adventurous. Brave. Fearless.
But she’s just a kid. Just a normal, 7-year-old kid from New Jersey spending the summer with her grandmother.
How could she ever be heroic? To be honest, she doesn’t have a clue.
Until one day, she finds a magical key that leads her to a land called Oz. In Oz, Dee is tasked by the kind Miss Emerald to save everyone from Miss Emerald’s villainous sister, Miss Ruby.
Turns out, Miss Ruby is plotting to take all of the magic and color out of Oz and store it away for herself. A treacherous act indeed.
And the only person who can stop her is plain ol’ ordinary Dee.
She’ll have some help from few others, like Tin, Lion and Scarecrow. Friends who are adventurous, brave and able to think outside the box. Friends who work together.
Friends who believe that magic is for everyone and that you can be the hero of your own story. One chapter at a time.
The Wizard of Oz scared me as a child.
Really. It did.
The creepy witch. The weird, dreamlike scene where characters are falling asleep in a field filled with flowers. The Munchkins.
Need I say more?
It’s not something that I’d show my kids at a young age. Perhaps I’d instead read them the original book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, and move on to the rest of Baum’s 14-book series. Who knows.
Netflix must have known that the original was not necessarily streamable for all ages. So they’ve released a twist on the series in its honor called Dee & Friend in Oz.
Aimed at preschoolers and early-elementary-aged kiddos, this show focuses on Dee, who comes to realize that she’s not as “normal’ as she first believes, and that she and her friends have the ability to be the heroes in their own stories.
Each episode, as the kids attend the School of Oz, shows that being extraordinary comes through teamwork, cooperation, problem solving and kindness.
Oh, and it comes through magic,too. Because, well, it’s Oz. And everything in Oz is magical and colorful and sing-songy.
Did I mention this is basically a musical where each 25-minute episode consists of kids helping save Oz while singing about it? Because it is.
And so far, other than the general use of some magic, a few bad attitudes from the antagonists and the strong belief that following your heart reigns supreme, that’s all there is to worry about. (Of course, the series does come from Angela Santomero who is known for Blue’s Clues & You and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, both of which contain LGBT elements.)
While spending the summer with her grandmother, Dee Davis finds a magical key that transports her to the land of Oz. There she saves the land’s magic and learns to be the hero of her own story.
There’s a lot of positive content here, albeit the story does encourage you to “follow your heart” above all else.
Kids are told to be the heroes of their own stories, something that protagonist Dee says a lot. She also tells her friends that they can do anything and be anything that they want to be.
Dee’s grandmother places Dee in front of a mirror and speaks positive affirmations over her. Kids learn the value of respect, hard work, cooperation, problem solving and bravery.
The villainous, snarky Miss Ruby tries to steal all of the magic in the land of Oz. Miss Ruby tells her sister, Miss Emerald, that she doesn’t want to share her magic. She also sends her stuffed bear sidekick, Stuffly, to stop Dee and her friends from helping Miss Emerald.
A flying bear lies to Dee and her friends and tries to deter them from helping Miss Emerald.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
An elf mage contemplates on connection and regret as she watches her human friends grow old and pass away.
