Bentkey: The Daily Wire's Kids Streamer

Bentkey was more interesting to cover than I expected. The shows themselves are pretty shallow, but the platform and what it might mean for the Daily Wire in the future could be very consequential. Its failure could seriously damage the company, and its success would be a major boon. So far it seems like it's trending towards failure. So if the Daily Wire crashes and burns, it'll be the children who didn't watch it that made the world a better place.

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[JoseBird]

For all the angry Canadians upset that I called Mr. Dressup a "knock of Mr. Rogers", please know that I was just joking. As a Canadian, I also grew up watching Mr. Dressup.

[RealLukeWilson]

It’s worth mentioning too that conservative media has traditionally HATED Mr. Rogers, and upon his death, Fox News threw a fit about how he was terrible because he taught that every child was special and important. You know, really bad things to tell kids… I guess? I think it’s inevitable that any attempt the Daily Wire would make to try and copy Mr. Rogers would fall flat, because the very soul of the show was something they don’t like. If you take the celebration of individuality, creativity, free-thinking, and self-expression out of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, all you’re left with is an empty house without even a coat rack next to the door.

[vitalspark]

FYI, Bluey isn't made by Disney. Disney just licensed the rights for online distribution. Bluey is made by an Australian production company and commissioned jointly by the ABC and the BBC.

[Okuajub]

There being a conservative version of Bluey because "Disney is too woke" is extremely funny to me, because Disney actually *censored* Bluey. A whole episode, "Dad Baby", was entirely cut from the Disney releases. the original Bluey is even MORE "woke" than they think!

[GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

Creating a problem and selling the solution, they truly have the spirit of capitalism.

[fionafox]

It’s really sad to think that in today’s climate, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood would probably be considered woke liberal indoctrination.
It was genuinely one of my favorite shows as a kid, and bonus points for it being created in my hometown. He’s a Pittsburgh icon!

[mojotheaverage]

'It's not brainwashing when we do it'

-The Daily Wire, probably

[llucero]

I’m guessing the Chinchilla Dad is the kind of dad who uses weaponized incompetence to get out of helping to raise his kids.

[soulslvr]

The funny thing is that Bluey ISNT conservative. Its highly inclusive accepting and very cleverly written.

Its the same thing that made mlp popular. Good characters good design and clever writing.

The thing is with Chipchilla is that is IS actually conservative and you can see that if you compare the parenting between Bluey and Chip's dads. While Chip plays a bit too much his dad sees no problem in breaking his sons toys and ruining his bedroom and later making Chip clean it up himself, Bluey's dad is confronted with the same problem, he plays along with his daughters while slowly encouraging them to do what needs to be done with no harm done to property.

While chip's dad treats his kids like lessers bluey's dad sees his kids as equals and treats them roughly as such while using patient parenting styles while only snapping rarely and accidentally

[__Andrew]

Every now and then a clip of Bluey crosses my path and its such a sweet and informative show. Most clips seem to be about letting children know their emotions and feelings are valid, even when they are angry or confused, and if they just talk about their feelings with others we can all find a way to work things out together. Its a wonderful show.

[BandFairy]

"People need to invest in this. If they don't, it could take the entire company down with it." Well, don't threaten me with a good time!

[briannewins]

It’s a dumb gripe, but I think one of the most egregious things wrong with Bentkey is how absolutely atrocious the logo looks. I get what they were going for, but it’s screaming ‘graphic design is my passion’ with the logo being lopsided, the keyhole in the b isn’t centered, the weird lighting bit of the dark brass/bronze where it bends down, how weirdly small the k is … it’s such a mess and I hate it so much.

[livelongandtroll]

Carrying around a key from a theater he used to work in and naming his company over it.
Another case of the failed theater kid to angry fascist pipeline.

[GraphiteShores]

A reason for the Chip Chilla redesign is a pretty common issue with most animations when they move to series production: It's just a lot easier to animate. The original designs are much more conceptual and could work for a bumper or too, but not for cranking out however many 11-min episodes were ordered by Bentkey.
A key reason why Bluey managed to avoid that issue was Joe Brumm, creator of Bluey, had worked on multiple kids programs as an animator and probably knew how to design both an appealing and easy to animate characters. Eric Bransum, however, has only worked as a screenwriter for various animated (and comedic rightwing media) projects, so the project probably had to bring in people to work on it...and checking them out on IMDB, these people are pretty seasoned in the field, but were probably told 'We need these many episodes in 'X' amount of time!' and focused more on making it quick rather than pretty and engaging.

[bluenowait]

One thing that has to be addressed is that animation is a labor-intensive medium and a lot of animated productions rely on artists who are members of The Animation Guild (IATSE 839). If Bentkey wants to expand on their animation efforts, they may have to rely on union workers they harp against, or go non-union and rely on younger, inexperienced artists that may not have the rights to a reasonable work schedule.

[selahanany]

This man unironically said 'the incredibly talented and funny rob schneider'. Irony is dead.

[awoodenbrain]

They’re removing kids show episodes that don’t agree with their views. Yet they cry about being censored.

[mnmnnm]

There's something so fitting about a company that loves draining the fun and uniqueness out of all their entertainment being run by a man named Boreing. It's basically cosmic that he would be an old-fashioned conservative.

[videogamenostalgia]

The real sinister vibe comes from the fact that creatives who work in children's media tend to be very empathetic towards children, and I suppose in touch with their own 'inner child'. The creatives tend not to be deeply cynical people. Ben Shapiro has without a hint of irony talked about how he doesn't generally speak with his kids because children are "mediocre", and some of their personalities like Matt Walsh frankly shouldn't be left alone around children. What great people to decide how your children learn and are entertained!

[alanfike]

Shouting at women who seek an abortion = "upholding values".

Two female characters kissing in a cartoon = "identify politics".