Parents' Guide to

Ridley Jones

By Ashley Moulton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 3+

Museum comes alive to teach preschoolers life lessons.

TV Netflix Educational 2021
Ridley Jones Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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age 5+

Based on 12 parent reviews

abert22
abert22 Adult
November 28, 2021
age 3+

Thank you

Thank you for showing kids that people other than heteronormative, "cookie cutter" families and people exist. Chris Nee also makes Doc McStuffins and these two cartoons are my kids favorite. How to explain non-binary people and two-dad families? Pretty easy... there are many types of people in the world and not every family looks like ours. Some families have one parent, two parents, two moms, two dads or guardians raising them. The less fear we have and the more education would make our world a better place.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
11 people found this helpful.
Rachel P.
Rachel P. Parent
July 18, 2021
age 4+

LGBTQ friendly show with endearing protagonist

The other reviews I found on this site and on IMDB have unfair ratings under the pretext that the show is inappropriate for children because there is a non-binary character and a character with two dads. All of the LGBTQ-friendly themes are introduced in an age appropriate and kid-friendly way. Ridley Jones is a fun show that inspires adventure and problem solving. Its made by the same creator as Doc McStuffens, another family favorite, and feels perfectly suited for my 4yr old daughter. It is exciting without getting too scary. I do find it a bit fast paced for a preschool show, but in that vein it’s in line with most animated shows in the 2020s.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
10 people found this helpful.
See all 12 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Ridley Jones is the story of Ridley (Iara Nemirovsky), an adventurous six-year-old girl who lives in a children's museum. Ridley's mom (Sutton Foster) and grandmother (Blythe Danner) work at the museum and take care of the exhibits. One night, Ridley learns that Mama and Grandma Jones have been keeping a big secret from her: the exhibits come alive at night. Confident Ridley is eager to explore and go on adventures, but she learns she'll need help from her museum exhibit friends. She forms the "Eyes," a team that will keep their eyes on the museum. The Eyes are clumsy surfer-dude dinosaur Dante, perpetual worrywart Ralph, a dodo bird, young Egyptian queen Ismet, monkey space explorer Peaches, and baby bison Fred who is overconfident in their strength. Ridley and the Eyes travel across time and space to protect the museum's priceless exhibits, teaching preschoolers about different places and cultures along the way.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (12):
Kids say (2):

This lovely series borrows a premise from the 2006 movie Night at the Museum, but it uses the museum-coming-alive storyline to help preschoolers learn positive lessons. Kids will live vicariously through Ridley who gets to play with dinosaurs other talking animals once the museum patrons leave. Ridley herself is a real treat: she's adventurous, curious, and funny just like her cinematic namesake Indiana Jones (and she wears a matching fedora, to boot). Little girls will especially love seeing a smart and brave lead female character, but all preschoolers will enjoy her endearing personality. Grown-ups will appreciate that Ridley is an extremely good role model who admits when she makes mistakes and takes responsibility for her actions. The series also features another character with positive representation, preschool TV's first nonbinary character Fred the bison. While Fred's presence is groundbreaking, what's notable about Fred is that their gender is simply explained ("not a boy or a girl, just a Fred") and not dwelled on. Ridley Jones is a fun preschool series that will teach kids a little about the world, and a lot about how to treat others.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • If you lived in Ridley's museum, what would you most want to come alive so you could play with them? Dinosaurs? Mummies? Something else?

  • Ridley is so curious and wants to learn all about the exhibits in the museum. Is there anything you saw in the episode today that you're curious about? How can you learn more about it?

  • Ridley has a lot of courage and wants to go on adventures even though she's just a kid. When do you feel brave? Can you remember a time you were afraid to try something, but you did it anyway?

TV Details

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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