Disney gets help from Nasa, Google to inspire girls into sciences

Washington

THERE are certain television tropes about computer scientists that just drive programmers nuts. They include the portrayal of coders as sun-starved and soft-bellied nerds who spend long hours alone in front of their computers. And, almost always, those TV characters are male.

So when Disney Junior approached Google and Nasa last year for a new series about a space adventure-seeking boy, his smart sister who codes and mother who drives the family spaceship, everyone involved in the project was determined to bury those stereotypes.