As of a father of three NOCs in training, we’ve had the experience in cycling through kids TV shows. Everyone goes through Dora and Diego phases before moving on to Backyardigans and graduating to Yo Gabba Gabba! and so on.
But in our NOC household the one TV show that all three of the kids have enjoyed thoroughly — and at times the older siblings still make ahem excuses to watch with their little brother — is Disney’s Little Einsteins.
Little Einsteins is a show where four friends — Annie, Leo, June, Quincy and a very special rocketship named Rocket (yea I know, original but bare with me) — launch into missions that are filled with classical music and historically well known artwork to engage young kids with art and music.
I’ve personally sat down for hours and hours with each of my children to the point that I’m able to deduct certain character traits that each member of Team Rocket displays. Leo is the leader of the crew. He is the one that finds and befriends Rocket. He is also the conductor because his favorite hobby is conducting (say what!?). Annie, well she sings about everything, which can get a bit annoying, but most of the time it’s bearable. Plus, she is Leo’s little sister and the youngest one of all the members of Team Rocket. June is awesome at ballet and is voiced by Erica Huang. Even though her ethnicity is never revealed (believe me, I’ve researched this to a dead end), I still claim her as one of the POC characters on the series.
This leaves us with Quincy, a 5-year-old POC kid who loves instruments. His favorites are the violin and the trumpet, but in reality he is the Macgyver of instruments. There is no instrument he cannot play! I mean, if you were to give him a cajón, spoon, and a harmonica, I am sure he would turn that into a one-person band in no time.
If I were to give you a comparison that would perhaps explain this better, it would be that Quincy is like a mini version of Questlove from The Roots.
Let’s not also forget that Quincy is named after none other than Quincy Jones, and his colorful garment attire reminds me of the Cross Colours days of high school. And while Quincy is afraid of the dark, I’ll admit — from time to time — I still am as well. In the show, he is more famous for his phrase “I cannot believe it!” which he says when he is surprised by something.
But one of the reasons I love Quincy is for giving me and the kids a bonding experience over one of the silliest songs you will ever hear!
We have used the “Flubba Dubba” song in our household whenever there is a need to be silly or a need to release some stress. As a matter of fact, I recommend you use it when you and your NOC-in-training encounter frustrating 4th grade math word problems. It works to perfection!
The song is from one of my favorite episodes, “The Northern Night Light,” which you can check out in its entirety below.
It’s our household favorite because Quincy rises above his fear of the dark in order to save a baby reindeer.
Enjoy! And when in doubt “flubba dubba dubba dubba” it out!
I like the fact that Quincy is a genius kid. However, I’m so close to banning this program from our household. First of all, even though he’s a genius musician, he still plays a supportive role behind the white male leader. He’s always blurting his trademark one liner, “I cannot believe it”. That’s so stereotypical of white hollywood. Producer/actor Robert Townsend addressed this in his piece Hollywood Shuffle. Marlin Wayans also played a character on the show The Wayans Brothers where he was a struggling actor that had to play demeaning stereotypical black Hollywood roles that included blurting out catchy one liners. I’m surprised they didn’t give Quincy a basketball to help solve problems.
Of course children won’t pick up on this type of coding bit it’s precisely the type of subliminal messages that become the seeds of racism and prejudice outside of the black race and low self esteem and self hate within it.