This article is about the television show and its history.
You may be looking for the character.
Bluey is an Australian preschool animated television series. The program was created by Joe Brumm and is produced by Queensland-based company Ludo Studio. It was commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the British Broadcasting Corporation, with BBC Studios holding global distribution and merchandising rights. The show first premiered on ABC Kids on 1 October 2018. It airs on numerous channels, though most nations can access the show through Disney Channel, Disney Jr. and Disney+.
The show follows Bluey, an anthropomorphic six-year-old Blue Heeler puppy who is characterised by her abundance of energy, imagination and curiosity of the world. The young dog lives with her father, Bandit; mother, Chilli; and younger sister, Bingo, who regularly joins Bluey on adventures as the pair embark on imaginative play together. Other characters featured each represent a different dog breed. Overarching themes include the focus on family, growing up and wider Australian culture. The program was created and is produced in Queensland; its capital city Brisbane inspires the show's setting.
Bluey has received consistently high viewership in Australia and worldwide on both broadcast television and video on demand services. It has influenced the development of merchandise and a stage show featuring its characters. The program has won two Logie Awards for Most Outstanding Children's Program as well as an International Emmy Kids Award in 2019. It has been praised by television critics for depicting a modern everyday family life, constructive parenting messages and the role of Bandit as a positive father figure. Bluey was renewed for a third series in October 2020.
In July 2017, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) co-commissioned Bluey as an animated series for preschool children to be developed by Queensland production company Ludo Studio.[2][3] The production received funding from Screen Australia and Screen Queensland, with the setting of the series drawing upon the unique semi-tropical Queensland climate. Created by Joe Brumm, the series was inspired by his experience in raising two daughters. Brumm wanted to portray the importance of children participating in imaginative play, having witnessed his own child's experiences, creating the title character Bluey as a Cattle Dog to give the series an Australian voice. Brumm had previously worked on children's programs in the United Kingdom as a freelance animator and decided to create Bluey as a replica of the program Peppa Pig for an Australian audience.[4]
Brumm conceived the idea independently in 2016, and produced a one-minute pilot through his company Studio Joho, with a small team in their spare time. Brumm approached Ludo Studio to develop the series; co-founders Charlie Aspinwall and Daley Pearson pitched the pilot at conferences such as MIPCOM in France.[5][6] Brumm stated that the first pilot contained some "dangerous" character behaviours which drew the attention of studio executives; this included Bandit pushing Bluey and Bingo on a swing in an unsafe way.[7] Pearson expressed that it was difficult to pitch the series as it was not high-concept; but rather "just a show about family and games".[8]
The studio developed a five-minute animation sample that was pitched at the Asian Animation Summit in Brisbane in 2016, and was thereby noticed by ABC and BBC executives.[9][10] Michael Carrington of the ABC viewed the presentation and secured $20,000 of funding for the studio to produce a refined, seven-minute pilot. The new pilot was presented at the Asian Animation Summit in 2017. The two networks officially ordered 52 seven-minute episodes of Bluey, with the BBC investing 30 percent of the funding and acquiring the global rights for distribution and merchandising.[11] The series was produced entirely in Australia by a local team, many of whom were first-time animators from Brisbane.[12] The program was announced to premiere in Australia on ABC Kids, followed by CBeebies.[2][3]
Production
Writing
The stories featured in Bluey depict Bluey and Bingo engaging in imaginative play.[13] Brumm wanted to show that self-directed and unstructured play is natural in shaping children and allowing them to develop. He consulted research based on socio-dramatic play, reading the works of Sara Smilansky and Vivian Paley, who both had backgrounds in early childhood education.[6] The episodes show the parents as guides for their children, who allow them to explore their immediate surroundings independently, giving them opportunities to practise adult roles.[13] Brumm drew inspiration for scripts from his own experiences in watching his daughters play, which he described was "as natural to them as breathing".[11] The program's scripts show how children can use gameplay to learn lessons and integrate the world of adults into their own; Brumm noticed how his children would recreate interactions such as visits to the doctor, through roleplay. Pearson stated that gameplay represents children's first experiences of collaboration, cooperation, responsibility and emotions such as jealousy. Brumm discovered the importance of play-based learning after his daughter struggled with formal education, which led him to exclude elements of literacy and numeracy in Bluey and focus on the depiction of life skills. Brumm stated that he wanted the series to depict his experience as a parent rather than aim for children to be explicitly taught something. His creative aims were to make children laugh, and show parents what children can learn while engaged in play.
An Austrailian Cattle Dog (also known as a Blue Heeler)
The characters of Bluey each represent a particular dog breed, some of which are drawn from Brumm's personal life. Brumm had a Blue Heeler named Bluey throughout his childhood, in addition to a Dalmatian named Chloe and another Blue Heeler named Bandit. [14] Bandit's career as an archaeologist was inspired by Brumm's older sibling Adam.
Brumm writes the majority of episode scripts, with Aspinwall labelling the series as an "observational" show, depicting Brumm's family life, and producer Sam Moor describing it as "[Brumm's] life on screen"; when producing the pilot, Brumm's daughters were aged between four and six, like Bluey and Bingo. Brumm's process for writing sometimes begins with making notes about his family's experiences; including games his children play and the conflict that arises between them. For this reason, Brumm has described the process as a challenge for other writers on the series. Moor stated that there are few writers besides Brumm, mostly animators already working on the series. The program was designed to be a co-viewing experience for parents and their children to enjoy together. Brumm described the process of writing each episode as "a chance to make a short film". The conflict and humour in the episodes stems from Bandit's relationship with his daughters. Bluey has been described as "rough and tumble" by Pearson, with both her and Bingo being seen to subvert the stereotypes of female characters, but rather have the characteristics of real puppies. This has led to uninformed viewers questioning if the characters are boys or girls. Pearson has credited the decision of Bluey and Bingo being girls to resemble the real families of Brumm, Aspinwall and McCormack. In relation to the humour of the series, Brumm has stated there is a lot of physical activity and "craziness".
Storyboarding and animation
Bluey is animated in-house at Ludo Studio in Brisbane, in Fortitude Valley, where approximately 50 people work on the program. Costa Kassab serves as one of the art directors of the series, who has been credited with drawing the locations of the series which are based on real places in Brisbane, including parks and shopping centres. Locations featured in the series have included Queen Street Mall and South Bank. Brumm determines the specific locations which are to be included. Post-production of the series takes place externally in South Brisbane.
Approximately fifteen episodes of the series are developed by the studio at any one time across a range of production stages. After story ideas are conceived, the script-writing process takes place for up to two months. The episodes are then storyboarded by artists, who produce 500 to 800 drawings over three weeks while consulting the writer's script. After the storyboard is finished, a black and white animatic is produced, to which the dialogue recorded independently by voice artists is added. The episodes are then worked on for four weeks by animators, background artists, designers, and layout teams. The entire production team views a near-completed episode of Bluey on a Friday. Pearson stated that over time, the viewings developed into test screenings where members of production would bring their family, friends and children to watch the episode. The complete production process for an episode takes three to four months. Moor described the program's colour palette as "a vibrant pastel".
During the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the production staff of 50 were required to work on the episodes remotely from home. A skeleton crew of three remained working on the series at the studio. After restrictions eased in May, this number increased to ten and later 20. Production on the third series concluded in April 2022.
Several celebrities make appearances within the show, including David McCormack of the Australian band Custard in his first appearance in television, Anthony Field of The Wiggles, Robert Irwin, who is the son of Australian television personality Steve Irwin, Natalie Portman, who has starred in media such as Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created the Broadway play Hamilton and composed the music of Encanto.
Bluey's first appearance on home media was the Bluey: Magic Xylophone and Other Stories Vol. 1 DVD, released on October 30, 2019. DVDs of Bluey - excluding the British release Bluey: Season 1 - The First Half - are released through Universal Studios Home Entertainment and BBC Studios. Despite being distributed by the former company. the 2012 Universal logo does not make an appearance on these DVDs.
On July 2023, Bluey was rated by the Australian Classification Board for release on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.[15][16]
Follow the Heeler family on a holiday adventure to find a treasure hidden by Bandit and his brothers many years ago. The game takes place in 5 iconic show locations, and its story mode tells a family-friendly adventure about creating your own cherished memories with your family.
In Dave McCormack and Melanie Zanetti's interview on the 21 November 2022 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, they mentioned possible plans for a potential "feature film trilogy" based on Bluey.
Ahead of the release of the long-form episode "The Sign" in April 2024, Moor stated that it was "not the end for Bluey", while Pearson expressed interest in creating a feature film based on the series.[18]
On 17 December 2024, BBC Studios and The Walt Disney Company announced that a Bluey film, entitled Bluey: The Movie, will be released theatrically in 2027 by Walt Disney Pictures.[19] Marking a shift from the series' traditional animation, the film will be computer-animated and will see the series' voice cast and crew returning, with show creator Joe Brumm reprising his role as writer and director for the film. The film is a joint collaboration between Disney, BBC Studios and Ludo Studio; with Disney handling theatrical and streaming rights, BBC Studios handling financing and licensing rights, and Ludo Studio producing the feature.[20]
The film is set to continue the events of the show.[21]
Reception
Critical evaluation
Bluey has generally received a positive reception over the years. Critics praised the show's writing, humour, depiction of everyday family life and the role of Bandit and Chilli as positive parental figures. The series continues to attain high viewing figures worldwide, and in the United States, where its appearance on Disney+ continues to top viewing figures on the streaming platform.
Certain episodes of Bluey have received critical acclaim, such as Sleepytime, which has been praised for its emotional message and visuals; it is currently one of the top-rated Bluey episodes on iMDB.
The series' popularity has led to multiple ancillary media being produced, including Bluey's Big Play, which is currently touring the United States and Canada with a further tour in Great Britain pending for late 2023. In 2022 a balloon version of Bluey appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and the Paris Parade. Blueyhas also featured in other media.
Cultural significance
Bluey's breakout popularity has stood the test of time. A major factor of the show's continuing popularity is through social media (such as on TikTok; additionally, YouTuber TheOdd1sOut has reviewed the series in a video, giving it a positive review). Bluey has featured in 2022's Reddit r/place canvas, where she was drawn with an orange heart; the heart being a symbol of Bingo, who was erased during the event. The following year's r/place canvas depicts Bluey and Bingo as depicted in official artwork, alongside the Heeler house itself, a picture of Bingo as depicted in "Sleepytime", Stripe and Trixie's side of the family plus Rusty, and Bluey on the Windows Vista taskbar below the canvas.
Despite its younger-skewing nature, Bluey is no stranger to censorship when released worldwide. Common reasons of censorship include toilet and/or crude humor, regional differences, including between Australian and American English, imitable sequences, and complaints from viewers.
Notable instances
The episode Dad Baby is not aired by Disney, most likely due to extended (play-acted) depictions of pregnancy and childbirth.
Two episodes, Teasing and Flat Pack, were removed from circulation for a brief time to edit out a term considered racially demeaning to indigenous Australians.
The episode Exercise was criticised for an opening scene where Bandit and Chilli complain about their weight and pinch fat rolls. Ludo voluntarily edited the episode to remove the opening scene entirely.[22]
Gallery
Promotional images
The series' logo in blue
An early promo image (Note: Chilli's design is slightly different)
The show airs on ABC Kids in Australia. It is licensed for international distribution by BBC Studios, airing on Disney Channel in the USA, India and other countries, CBeebies in the UK, Taiwan and Australia, and TVNZ in New Zealand.
Bluey aired on Disney Channel eleven months after the ABC Kids release.
Sometimes vocabulary is changed that would be unclear to the target audience - in BBQ, the word "capsicum" is replaced with "pepper".
Episodes may be edited to remove content deemed inappropriate. Disney broadcasts remove the pony pooping scene from Markets, and skip the episode Dad Baby entirely.
Some episodes have been edited in all markets. In the episode Chickenrat, Bandit's reaction to sauerkraut was edited from sneezing to burping, because the episode gave the impression that food allergies weren't to be taken seriously.
Bluey only began airing on CBeebies, the under-7 channel of BBC who co-funded the show, in early 2021.
The show has been dubbed into at least 30 languages (most of which can be found on Disney+ or on Disney Channel in their respective countries).
In China, the show can be watched on Youku and Tencent Video in either English or Mandarin.[23], and seasons one and two can also be viewed on ABC iview.
Originally, this show was going to be an Australian version of Peppa Pig, though over time this has changed into a show in its' own right.[24][25]
The show's main typeface text font is Hello Headline by Deartype.
There is a long sausage-type dog called 'long dog' hidden in many episodes. For example, in Charades, it’s hidden in the knitting on the couch. Long dog was designed by one of the background artists in series one, and the pup also turns up in some of the books.
The child characters are mostly voiced by children of the crew, though a few are professional actors. They are not credited to protect their identities.
Coincidentally, there is a 1976 police drama series also named Bluey. According to a newspaper quiz, the two shows are rumoured to be connected, though it is unlikely.
The series was featured in an episode of the American answer-with-a-question game series Jeopardy! as a clue.[26]
A video game based on Bluey was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in November 2023.
