Kirk Cameron offers kids 'Adventures,' not brainwashing

If Disney were still Disney, projects like “Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk” might not be necessary.

The upcoming children’s show comes to us from actor/producer Kirk Cameron, a culture warrior offering alternatives to the new woke order.

Last year, Cameron traveled to libraries across the country to read from his book, “As You Grow” as well as Ashley St. Clair’s “Elephants Are Not Birds.” Far-Left protesters, some dressed in drag, greeted him at select stops to interrupt his readings.

“For the past four years, kids have been guinea pigs in politics, a bargaining chip. You can see that clearly in kids’ programming. To me, I was excited to do a project that would uphold the innocence of children.”

Now, he’s preparing a children’s show brimming with the values Disney and like-minded platforms either ignore or decry.

Cameron tells Align too many shows have “brainwashed children across the nation,” with classics like “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” replaced by tales featuring non-binary characters and other progressive themes.

The former “Growing Pains” star says the new show, which will lean on a crowdfunding campaign via WatchBrave.com, promises “world-class” talent like former “Sesame Street” puppet artist John Kennedy, who will bring Iggy the Iguana to life.

“We’re going to make the coolest kids’ show ever,” Cameron says of “Adventures,” which will fuse live action, animation, and puppetry.

The show’s life lessons may not be familiar to parents who grew up in simpler times. Cameron says “Adventures” will teach children about the dangers of socialism and DEI while arming them on how to “spot lies in the news.”

“These are not the lessons Mr. Rogers had to teach back in the day,” he says. “For the past four years, kids have been guinea pigs in politics, a bargaining chip. You can see that clearly in kids’ programming. To me, I was excited to do a project that would uphold the innocence of children.”

Cameron, 53, understands the role pop culture plays in society today.

“We see people like Taylor Swift or Beyonce or other celebrities and influencers create culture and tell people how to vote politically,” he says. “If you look back in history, we didn’t have TV and Hollywood creating the culture. It was family that created the culture or religion.”

Hollywood, by and large, doesn’t mirror Cameron’s values, but he has faith that the industry doesn’t reflect the country at large.

“There’s more of us than there are of them,” he says. “We’re seeing signs of it everywhere.”

Actress Leigh-Allyn Baker, best known for Disney’s “Good Luck Charlie” and recurring work on NBC’s “Will & Grace,” is teaming with Cameron for the project. She brings decades of acting experience and vocal work with shows like Nickelodeon’s “Back at the Barnyard.”

Baker points to “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” as one inspiration behind “Adventures,” admiring the simplicity of its approach. Like Cameron, she has experience reaching out to young viewers, and she’ll bring a similar mindset to “Adventures.”

“I never once dumbed down my performances [for children]. Kids are smart. They will get it,” Baker says of her Disney days. “I would do the same performance for a kid that I would do for an adult. The material is different, but you bring the same level of honesty, sincerity, commitment, and vulnerability.”

Like Cameron, Baker isn’t afraid to share her Christian faith in an industry that isn’t uniformly accepting of faith-based talent. She experienced plenty of professional blowback when she spoke out against mask and vaccine mandates during the pandemic, though.

“I couldn’t believe people consider my viewpoint radical,” she says.

Cameron doesn’t have much faith in Disney returning to the values that founder Walt Disney established and maintained for decades.

“There are forces that are very great and evil out there directing some of these companies. … That doesn’t mean everyone who works for Disney is evil,” Cameron says. “My money is not on giant corporations or super-famous people converting to the right set of values. It’s a grassroots thing ... everyday moms and dads and employees and small-business owners … average people who have hearts surrender to what is true and good and right. That’s the kind of movement that heaven gets behind.”

Cameron knows “Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk” is just one salvo in a larger culture war, but the importance of counterculture programming isn’t lost on him.

“Now is the time for people to wake up, stand up, and lean in,” he says. “It’s kind of a ‘now or never’ thing, and that’s not an exaggeration.”