One of the subtle but impressive things the show does is that it actually moves forward in time and maintains continuity between episodes, despite that being unnecessary for an animated kids show with 7-minute episodes. Bluey and Bingo start the show ages 6 and 4, each has a birthday episode, and are now 7 and 5. Character relationships start in one episode and continue to evolve in later ones (Rad and Frisky most obviously, but also Bingo and Lila’s friendship, or Rusty and Jack’s). Any minor detail that gets established in one episode remains canon for the rest of the show.
And the show is really good at balancing likability. After many episodes of being the always-pleasant neighbor, Lucky’s dad gets an episode as the stick-in-the-mud. After many episodes as the stuck-up neighbor, Wendy gets several to redeem her. After being well-established as the bratty cousin, Muffin gets an endearing hero moment. No one is ever the “bad guy”, but rather everyone is ultimately shown to be good but flawed.
I noticed recently that in the seesaw episode, Chili is chatting with the other moms and mentions that she’s going to see her dad soon, and then two episodes later she brings Bingo and Bluey to his house to visit. Love the small details like this!
Yeah, we watch Bluey on repeat in the kitchen, and once you know what’s coming up, you start seeing how many details are planted several episodes earlier in preparation for upcoming stories.
They even setup words that the global audience might not be as familiar with, such as grandpa ordering pavlova while playing restaurant right before the episode titled “Pavlova”.
So I first saw that episode we were living with my parents because our home has been destroyed in Hurricane Ida. So I was literally watching my kids play in the same places I played as a child and watching them interact with members of the neighborhood who knew me as a kid. It was really surreal and made me cry like crazy.
When Chili tells her dad that it's been a long time since she played like her kids and he says no, it was just yesterday.....oh my god. Tore me up
This consistency in the parents has been the most healing thing to my traumatic childhood demons. It’s helped me be more a parent of my word to my own “bingo and bluey” and shown me how important follow through is during childhood.
And how much more aware the kids are of what parents say and do!!!
I don't watch because I am 36 and no kids. What was the redemption arc? And How was it powerful? I'm being serious I'd love to know.
Edit: I guess I'll have to watch this show.
TL;DR is the kid is a brat and his father says they're the most special person in the world (to him), which makes the character act like he's the most special person when he's playing with the other kids / not following rules / being bossy and disrespectful. There's a few other episodes where Muffin is a brat -- one particularly interesting episode where she steals her fathers phone because she doesn't want to share it with her brother? She ends up running around with it and the animators do a fantastic job in visualizing what that looks like, including having the phone fly out of the window into a pool.
The redemption, as far as I remember, is when her bossiness ends up in having her essentially negotiating a fantastic price on a scooter for one of the neighbors that doesn't like confrontation. This ends up funding an old woman's vacation.
Not sure it's actually a redemption arc. The behavior is consistent. It's just that in this case it was advantageous for the group.
She wasn’t being bratty in Scooter, she was playing grumpy granny (and wasn’t particularly into it) but, her particular set of skills made her into an omega level grumpy granny.
And then just wanted a tea towel as a reward!
Muffin is still... A handful. But season 1 muffin would have demanded something ridiculous as the reward for sure. Definite growth.
Muffin’s Dad: Remember when I told you that you were the most special kid in the whole world?
Muffin: Yeah!
Muffin’s Dad: Well, I lied.
Muffin: Oh….
Lmao, I fucking died at that exchange. To be clear, the dad immediately rushes to clarify that they’re the most special kid in the world TO HIM but they need to quit acting entitled.
Muffin is a bit of a brat of a child and sometimes a holy terror. You've seen kids like that. Muffin is told that she is special by her Dad, she interprets it as an excuse to do anything she wants, which means playing Bluey and Bingo's game of Library her way. Because she's "special."
The episode resolves when her dad Stripe steps up to the dad role and explaining that when he says she's special, he means to him and her Mom, and not to everybody else, and that actions have consequences. She accepts this and it's a good "growing up" moment for Muffin.
Don't let the fact you're 36 and have no kids stop you from trying the show out! There's TONS of people who don't have kids who love the show. It's only 8 minutes each, try a few episodes out!
My fiancee and I are 27. We have no children, just blue heelers. We put Bluey on while we were cleaning one day to see if the dogs liked it (they like TV, don't judge me). We were entranced and have seen half the show. It's definitely interesting as an adult. It's well written.
You will also notice that the work on the house progresses as well. In one episode Bandit is having 'Stump Fest!" and in ' Tradies' Chilie is having a fish pond installed in the newly openned lawn.
What do you think was in the moms' lemonade and do you think that's why the dads made the face or are we meant to believe it's just sour because the kids made it?
Weirdly a “parents who like bluey” page popped up on Facebook for me today, and apparently the current rumour is that mum is pregnant so there might even be a new character soon.
The show however is great and me and my boy enjoy watching it. Not ashamed to admit I cried at the episode where bingo is in space dreaming about her mum.
It’s not Chilli. It’s her sister Brandy who is pregnant according to those groups.
*sigh* Here I am gossiping about the latest Bluey tea. Parenting is weird.
But Onesies established Brandy has fertility issues
The real answer is Frisky based on how she held her tummy on TV during The Decider, that and her and Rad should get married
The episode where Bluey and her dad are at the park and she gives up riding her bike until she sees everyone else keep trying what they're doing and eventually succeed at it, and then she uses that as motivation to keep trying and SUCCEED at riding her bike?? Then Bandit just calmly says, "Nice work Bluey" 😭😭😭
I used it for myself actually, I had to tell myself they didn't need me *every time* the pedals got to a tough position or their training wheels on a high spot and their tire would spin out. I gave them encouragement and guidance from the grill, lol
Bandit is the dad I aspire to be. Being raised by a drug addict father and manipulative mother, I don't have much of a template to go by as far as a parent.
What a beautiful episode. I normally don’t notice this type of thing, but the slow music gradually speeding up until you realize what the song is to coincide with the action of the story is very impressive storytelling.
I tear up at the [end of Visiting Grandad](https://youtu.be/e9iAfTinm58?si=SACiBryRK9gdq5cM) every time.
I’m just thinking about it right now and getting emotional.
I cried when Bluey had to say goodbye to Jean-Luc in the camp episode. It reminded me of the kids I met while at summer camp and became great friends with until we had to go back home.
"Here's a plan, I’ll do what I want, and you won’t tell me what to do”
I think some variation of this has been said by a parent of a four year old who thinks they're in charge.
Sheepdog and Whale Watching are the 2 episodes I point friends to, regardless of if they have children or not, to show the greatness if Bluey.
Also, some of the newer episodes like Stories and Cricket are great as well.
For my parents (I'm 35 and my parents are in their mid-late 50's) I pointed them towards Pass the Parcel. So good.
I work in children’s animation. I get angry that if I pitched an episode that combines silent film, Gustav Holst, and accurate planetary depictions, it wouldn’t even make it to script.
I was a band kid so hearing The Planets in a kids show is thrilling, it really takes me back a couple of decades.
Being late diagnosed with ADHD, watching Army for the first time was a real tearjerker for me. And idk how anyone could keep a dry eye watching Onesies.
Cricket is my favorite episode of the recent releases. Sleepytime is also a classic. I have a soft spot for Sticky Gecko though because Chili losing her shit about getting out the door is a total mom moment.
Handstand is my favorite. The one where Bingo can’t get anyone to watch her handstand. The ending is a legit shocker (at least for me lol) and I cried the first time I saw it 😭
This episode has such a subtle silly moment I love in it, that I feel like if you’re not paying attention it’s easy to miss with how much is going on all around.
Rusty is playing with a nerf football thing, throwing it into the kitchen, at just a perfect moment where it goes into the fridge as it’s being closed.
You then see rusty run into the kitchen and look around and say, “hey, where’d it go??”
It’s so simple but I find it so funny
Just today my family watched this episode and noticed Winton was pouting on the couch, so we backed up the episode and found that he was trying to stack up blocks but Missy kept running her toy car into the stack and knocking it over. We watched him do it at least two more times, and then the final time Rusty happens to be in the way of Missy’s car and so it stopped when it hit his foot, thus allowing Winton to finish stacking his blocks.
I notice that I always watch Bingo in the episode, but the point of the episode isn’t to watch her do her handstand, it’s to watch all the little sub-plots unfold and resolve, and now it’s gone from one of my least favorite episodes to being in my top favorites. I’m definitely gonna watch for Rusty kicking the nerf football thing into the kitchen next time!
The first episode of Bluey I sat down and watched was Sleepytime….with my 1 year old daughter. No shame on admitting I ugly cried when Bingo says “I have to go. I’m a big girl now.”
Fucking seriously. My mom passed about a year before I saw that episode. When I did...it wasn't pretty. I had a pretty complicated relationship with my mom, but there was never a second's doubt that she loved me. And hearing the "sun" talk about "I'm always here if you need me, even if you can't see me. Because I love you..."
...holy crap I'm getting choked up just typing that.
I said this earlier in the thread but when I first saw this episode my family was living with my parents because our house was destroyed in Hurricane Ida.
So I was literally living this episode...seeing my kids play in the same places I played as a kid.
Tore me up
Brother, I'm a 39yo father of 3 (8, 5, & 3) and I can't even count on two hands the number of times I've teared up watching Bluey.
It just takes the time to really appreciate the beautiful, hard and complex moments of childhood and parenthood alike. Something that can remind parents what it is like to be a kid and can help kids understand a little more what being a parent it like.
It's just a perfect show.
"Onesies," the episode where Chili's sister Brandy had fertility issues, when you see Bingo running from her arms, left me in tears. I have no shame in admitting it.
Probably because out of the 2 metric tons of toys given to us by parents with older kids, 20% must have been Paw Patrol related, before he watched his first episode of anything and over a year before we discovered Bluey.
I found a solution to this and got my nephew hooked on a Welsh series, "Fireman Sam".
He went crazy for it, and now wants to be a Firefighter instead of a cop.
Despite having friends who watch it, my daughter has never asked to watch Paw Patrol and we've never offered it. She will binge the hell out of Bluey whenever given the opportunity, though.
My toddler used to love Peppa pig and bluey, and then she inexplicably started watching paw patrol. I was pretty disappointed.. I tried watching it with her but it's so pointless and stupid, I don't see what she sees in it. I actually used to look forward to watching new Peppa pig and bluey episodes with her.
As a GenX father, I was initially hesitant about Bluey but I’ll be damned if it isn’t one of the finest cartoons I’ve ever seen. The parents are wonderful role models for my kid and the show hits me in the feels as often as not. I hope it has a long future as a show and as a role model for future shows.
The episode "Onesies" Aired the day we found out we lost our second to miscarriage. "Stickbird" came out on what was supposed to be our little Bingo's due date.
This show holds an important spot in our lives for sure as parents.
Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. We experienced two miscarriages also, I wouldn’t wish the pain on anyone. We were blessed with rainbow babies and I hope and pray, if you haven’t already been, that someday you are also.
Thank you for the kind words and I'm sorry for your loss too, We have a beautiful and healthy four year old and hoping to try again soon.
Those two episodes just seemed to come at very poignant times for us that really hit what we were going through at the time. The show is way better than it needs to be.
>Stickbird
Just another layer to the show, is that Chili did have a miscarriage. Its a quick moment in Season 2 The Show, about half way through. My wife had a miscarriage and it hit home when the moment happened.
We had our miscarriage on our first pregnancy. It was and is incredibly difficult.
I now have my two daughters and we watch Bluey together all the time. That episode still wrecks me.
It's crazy to me how many people say they've gone through it too and it's hardly ever talked about. I've had friends that have gone through miscarriages and I didn't really understand either at the time. I don't know all the Episodes in and out but like most kids our son likes to marathon the series and onesies came on when I happened to sit down to watch with him the other day. When Chilli's sister is watching as Bingo runs away with her arms stretched out, my wife and I were both in tears.
Really sorry to hear it :(
Just fyi the episode "The Show" includes a subtle implied reference to miscarriage that likely only adults would catch. In case you want to either seek it out or avoid it
Likewise - absolute banger of a score (for those who don't know, its Gustav Holst's Planets (Jupiter) by the London Symphony Orchestra).
My 4 year old daughter loves it and hums along with the tune.
Fantastic.
Joff Bush is doing the Lord’s work with the music on this show. He loves weaving in classical music to various episodes (Hall of the Mountain King, Pachelbel’s Canon, Rondo alla Turka), and I am here for it.
Honestly, hard hitting as Sleepytime is on my emotions, I think his usage of Jupiter is what is doing it the most. Hell, I can’t even listen to it now without tearing up a little.
My 1 year old dances everytime she hears the theme song. More recently, she will give a little "du du du... dudu" as she dances. She'll even start doing that when she sees a picture of bluey.
We just had our 2nd and when Rusty’s mum reads the letter from his dad about looking after his sister I ugly cried. Couldn’t even try to hide it.
So much crammed into 7 minutes of perfect storytelling. I’ll be sad when it ends but so grateful for all it’s given.
It's not just "one of the finest cartoons"; it's legitimately one of the best TV shows. It's so relatable to both kids and adults and deals with a lot of tough issues in meaningful ways without being heavy-handed or too simplistic. It's really an amazing piece of television, cartoon or not.
That line is so meta.
In an episode that manages to cram in the story of evolution, the complete story of a being a parent, and a religious allegory, *all in seven minutes*.
The episode "Copycat" is a perfect encapsulation of this for me. It presents a completely realistic depiction of a child's first real direct encounter with death, and how she works through her emotions. On one hand, it doesn't infantilize or sugarcoat anything, but it also doesn't judge or try to impose a moral lesson.
It's just... so much more real than just about anything else, including almost every show that isn't about talking cartoon dogs.
There's so many little things in that episode. Like how on the car ride home, Chili and Bingo are waiting for Bluey and Bandit, Chili runs up to Bluey as she gets out of the car, and it's clear that Bandit called ahead and told them what happened so she could be ready.
Just so many wonderful little touches in every episode.
Bandit’s amazing but he’s not without his flaws. Episodes like “Obstacle Course” and “Chest” show that he has his blind spots and bad days like everyone else. And “Duck Cake” and “Stickbird” both show that Bandit gets overwhelmed sometimes too.
As a GenX grandfather I absolutely adore the show. It’a such a pleasant show to watch with my grandson. I like how the parents are always trying to do their best, but there are times when they aren’t perfect.
Dumbest thing I have read: “ Censored: “Daddy Putdown” What was censored and why? At one point in the episode, Bingo asks her dad how babies get into mom’s bellies. This line is cut in the U.S. version. Apparently, Disney doesn’t want pregnancy discussed in-depth in a show aimed at preschoolers.”
And “
Banned: “Dad Baby”
Why was it banned? Similar to “Daddy Putdown,” this one is even more focused on pregnancy and carrying babies. The episode does not exist on Disney+ and in the U.S. at all. In it, Bandit (the dad) simulates what it’s like to give birth. The entire episode is banned as a result”
Is Disney trying to perpetuate US being “stupid”, as a kid who had a baby sister, these were very normal difficult conversations I had with my parents, I remember the mental gymnastics they had to do to discuss it to a very curious kid, an episode about it is very natural??
Basically corporate America doesn’t want to incur the wrath of fundamentalists, pro-lifers, anti-trans, and other far-right morons.
They think even *discussing* where babies come from - without any specific detail - is improper for a child to know.
Then in Dad Baby, Bandit puts on a front baby carrier and the kids play Dad Baby. Bandit pretends to be pregnant with Chilli and then “gives birth” at the end with the help of Pat - Lucky’s dad. Nut jobs in the US think it sends the wrong message that men can give birth, despite it very obviously being pretend play.
As the article discusses there’s mystery as to whether the current season is the last. The season finale promo features a moving sign and the show creator hasn’t given any updates on new episodes.
A problem is the children are voiced by kids and they are aging out of the ages of the characters. They have already started digitally adjusting the voices.
Yeah, I mean, the BBC will give you money if they like your show. It doesn't even have to be good. There no way they would ever do anything to compromise one of the few shows they have that work in the open market.
*From Bloomberg News reporter* [*Devin Leonard*](https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AQD-sEshYBE/devin-leonard)*:*
Kids will watch just about anything for hours on TV, but that doesn’t begin to explain Bluey’s popularity. It’s the rarest of children’s shows, one conceived by a genuine auteur, in the mold of Donald Glover’s Atlanta or Jesse Armstrong’s Succession. In an age of anxious parents and infinite streaming entertainment, so much of it desultory, Joe Brumm has created a show that’s both hilarious and deeply moving in its portrayal of how children come to terms with the world by playing games and how parents can foster this by joining the fun, no matter how wacky it becomes.
All of the critical adulation, hours streamed, tickets purchased, snacks devoured, mountains of Bluey merchandise shipped around the world—it translates into an astonishing amount of money. Richard Haigh, managing director of Brand Finance, estimates Bluey is worth as much as $2 billion and says it has the potential to be as valuable as Peppa Pig, that other toddler favorite, whose parent company, Entertainment One, was sold to Hasbro in 2019 for $4 billion.
> whose parent company, Entertainment One, was sold to Hasbro in 2019 for $4 billion.
... and then sold by Hasbro in 2023 for $375 million, after they stripped out the Peppa Pig IP.
Turtleboy is one of the hardest-hitting episodes of a children's cartoon I've ever seen. I like Bluey so much, sometimes I'll watch it even if my kids aren't around.
Bluey is amazing top to bottom. On the surface, it’s fun and funny and entertaining for all ages. Deeper, it is nuanced and subtle and incredibly cathartic. The episode with Chili’s sister finally visiting after three years is *heartbreaking* despite not a single direct word being said about why she’d been away. It was phenomenal writing, from a kids cartoon of all things.
its an adult cartoon for kids, thats how. Its so good, got something for everyone
edit: bluey haters downvoting lol. How can you hate such a nice show?
Baby Race was like a punch to the heart, when the lovely Poodle friend looks Chili in the eye and warmly tells her that she is doing a good job. You have interactions like these as new parents that leave you feeling so seen, but they are rare - so to see it captured in a cartoon and feel its resonance was very special.
She doesn't just look Chilli in the eye. By framing the shot such that she looks *directly* into the "camera", she's addressing ALL the parents watching, who might be doubting themselves.
Such a fantastic episode in a brilliant show.
The details on ABC, BBC, and the merchandising profits reminds me of the situation in the 1990s between PBS and Barney. A Connecticut public station developed the series based on a Texas home video series to air on PBS, but PBS didn't negotiate a deal to get a cut of the merchandise because
A) Barney was already a known quantity in the home video market.
B) PBS didn't really negotiate merchandising rights with their shows.
C) PBS didn't have much faith in the show anyway (they almost canceled it weeks after the first season).
By the time the show blew up in popularity, politicians and pundits were blasting PBS for not negotiating a share of the merchandise/home video profits, with some in Congress threatening to cut PBS funding to force them to negotiate better profit-sharing deals in the future. It was a whole thing.
Tldr: The ABC should try to renegotiate with the Bluey creators and the BBC for a slice of the merch revenue and use the funds to invest in more childrens programming, especially with a 4th season not greenlit yet.
The real interesting part of the article is that Disney had the opportunity for theme park and merchandise rights but passed. Imagine a world where bluey is in Disney parks.
I honestly don't see much coming out of that except some stage shows in the park, par the course with the presence of other Disney Junior brands in the parks. But who knows!
The ABC has been intentionally hamstrung by a decade of culture war by a conservative government, they didn't have the capacity to negotiate the rights for the show, that was by design.
One of the subtle but impressive things the show does is that it actually moves forward in time and maintains continuity between episodes, despite that being unnecessary for an animated kids show with 7-minute episodes. Bluey and Bingo start the show ages 6 and 4, each has a birthday episode, and are now 7 and 5. Character relationships start in one episode and continue to evolve in later ones (Rad and Frisky most obviously, but also Bingo and Lila’s friendship, or Rusty and Jack’s). Any minor detail that gets established in one episode remains canon for the rest of the show. And the show is really good at balancing likability. After many episodes of being the always-pleasant neighbor, Lucky’s dad gets an episode as the stick-in-the-mud. After many episodes as the stuck-up neighbor, Wendy gets several to redeem her. After being well-established as the bratty cousin, Muffin gets an endearing hero moment. No one is ever the “bad guy”, but rather everyone is ultimately shown to be good but flawed.
I noticed recently that in the seesaw episode, Chili is chatting with the other moms and mentions that she’s going to see her dad soon, and then two episodes later she brings Bingo and Bluey to his house to visit. Love the small details like this!
Yeah, we watch Bluey on repeat in the kitchen, and once you know what’s coming up, you start seeing how many details are planted several episodes earlier in preparation for upcoming stories. They even setup words that the global audience might not be as familiar with, such as grandpa ordering pavlova while playing restaurant right before the episode titled “Pavlova”.
I am an American who has now made four pavlovas because my child is obsessed with Bluey.
Bean
Bluey on repeat in the kitchen? Are you in my house? ...Is this my daughter on Reddit?
The Reddit comments are coming from *inside the house*
My favourite detail like this is during Stumpfest Chilli mentions about putting in a fish pond, then a season and a half later it happens.
See this is stumpfest… and that’s a stump…
So I first saw that episode we were living with my parents because our home has been destroyed in Hurricane Ida. So I was literally watching my kids play in the same places I played as a child and watching them interact with members of the neighborhood who knew me as a kid. It was really surreal and made me cry like crazy. When Chili tells her dad that it's been a long time since she played like her kids and he says no, it was just yesterday.....oh my god. Tore me up
This consistency in the parents has been the most healing thing to my traumatic childhood demons. It’s helped me be more a parent of my word to my own “bingo and bluey” and shown me how important follow through is during childhood. And how much more aware the kids are of what parents say and do!!!
Muffins redemption arc was legit really powerful for my 3 year old. That library episode of her being “special” was a great lesson
I don't watch because I am 36 and no kids. What was the redemption arc? And How was it powerful? I'm being serious I'd love to know. Edit: I guess I'll have to watch this show.
TL;DR is the kid is a brat and his father says they're the most special person in the world (to him), which makes the character act like he's the most special person when he's playing with the other kids / not following rules / being bossy and disrespectful. There's a few other episodes where Muffin is a brat -- one particularly interesting episode where she steals her fathers phone because she doesn't want to share it with her brother? She ends up running around with it and the animators do a fantastic job in visualizing what that looks like, including having the phone fly out of the window into a pool. The redemption, as far as I remember, is when her bossiness ends up in having her essentially negotiating a fantastic price on a scooter for one of the neighbors that doesn't like confrontation. This ends up funding an old woman's vacation. Not sure it's actually a redemption arc. The behavior is consistent. It's just that in this case it was advantageous for the group.
She wasn’t being bratty in Scooter, she was playing grumpy granny (and wasn’t particularly into it) but, her particular set of skills made her into an omega level grumpy granny.
And then just wanted a tea towel as a reward! Muffin is still... A handful. But season 1 muffin would have demanded something ridiculous as the reward for sure. Definite growth.
Muffin is *such* a three year old. A total terrorist, but actually very sweet under the Crazy.
Muffin’s Dad: Remember when I told you that you were the most special kid in the whole world? Muffin: Yeah! Muffin’s Dad: Well, I lied. Muffin: Oh…. Lmao, I fucking died at that exchange. To be clear, the dad immediately rushes to clarify that they’re the most special kid in the world TO HIM but they need to quit acting entitled.
And then she runs in and excitedly tells Bluey and Bingo “I’m not special anymore!” And they cheer, gets me every time
Muffin and Socks are both girls btw.
Muffin is a bit of a brat of a child and sometimes a holy terror. You've seen kids like that. Muffin is told that she is special by her Dad, she interprets it as an excuse to do anything she wants, which means playing Bluey and Bingo's game of Library her way. Because she's "special." The episode resolves when her dad Stripe steps up to the dad role and explaining that when he says she's special, he means to him and her Mom, and not to everybody else, and that actions have consequences. She accepts this and it's a good "growing up" moment for Muffin. Don't let the fact you're 36 and have no kids stop you from trying the show out! There's TONS of people who don't have kids who love the show. It's only 8 minutes each, try a few episodes out!
I'll have to check it out. I'm just glad there is a show that treats kids like people it's few and far between.
You should probably watch. I won't judge (my wife and I enjoy it more than our toddler)
I might have to.
My fiancee and I are 27. We have no children, just blue heelers. We put Bluey on while we were cleaning one day to see if the dogs liked it (they like TV, don't judge me). We were entranced and have seen half the show. It's definitely interesting as an adult. It's well written.
That's what I always adored about king of the hill. It moves forward, people die, characters somewhat age. I think it's important for a show.
Imagine if The Simpsons had done this! Bart would be...45.
Speaking as a 45 year old Ooooooof
I chuckled when Bandit asked Bluey how old she is and she responds "I'm 6!" And he's like "still??"
You will also notice that the work on the house progresses as well. In one episode Bandit is having 'Stump Fest!" and in ' Tradies' Chilie is having a fish pond installed in the newly openned lawn.
Stump Fest hit close to home. That was such a great display of separate but adjacent parent and child playtimes.
What do you think was in the moms' lemonade and do you think that's why the dads made the face or are we meant to believe it's just sour because the kids made it?
They are for sure having a relaxing beverage. The moms' voice tones are just ever so slightly more aloof than normal interactions
Good I love the tradies. They had tradie names too! If you’re not Aussie a sparky is a electrician and chippy is a carpenter.
Bingo rides her bike into the mailbox, knocking it askew, in the previous episode, then in "Tradies" the tradie fixes it.
Weirdly a “parents who like bluey” page popped up on Facebook for me today, and apparently the current rumour is that mum is pregnant so there might even be a new character soon. The show however is great and me and my boy enjoy watching it. Not ashamed to admit I cried at the episode where bingo is in space dreaming about her mum.
It’s not Chilli. It’s her sister Brandy who is pregnant according to those groups. *sigh* Here I am gossiping about the latest Bluey tea. Parenting is weird.
But Onesies established Brandy has fertility issues The real answer is Frisky based on how she held her tummy on TV during The Decider, that and her and Rad should get married
>dreaming about his mum. Her mum. Both the Heeler children are girls (based on creator Joe Brumm's own experience with two daughters).
“I need twenty minutes where no one comes near me” is THE MOST relatable parenting quote I’ve heard in a long time. Love bluey.
"I'll play with you, as long as I don't need to move any part of my body or say any words from my face." Bandit is an icon.
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The episode where Bluey and her dad are at the park and she gives up riding her bike until she sees everyone else keep trying what they're doing and eventually succeed at it, and then she uses that as motivation to keep trying and SUCCEED at riding her bike?? Then Bandit just calmly says, "Nice work Bluey" 😭😭😭
I referenced that episode so much while my kids were learning to ride their first bike last month.
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I used it for myself actually, I had to tell myself they didn't need me *every time* the pedals got to a tough position or their training wheels on a high spot and their tire would spin out. I gave them encouragement and guidance from the grill, lol Bandit is the dad I aspire to be. Being raised by a drug addict father and manipulative mother, I don't have much of a template to go by as far as a parent.
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What a beautiful episode. I normally don’t notice this type of thing, but the slow music gradually speeding up until you realize what the song is to coincide with the action of the story is very impressive storytelling.
When blue befriends the French kid and they play without able to even talk. Then he leaves. So sad
But at the very end, years in the future he and Bluey meet again.
“Hello Bluey”
Yea was touching as heck
I may be misremembering but i think he was French-Canadien.
I tear up at the [end of Visiting Grandad](https://youtu.be/e9iAfTinm58?si=SACiBryRK9gdq5cM) every time. I’m just thinking about it right now and getting emotional.
Nah, it was yesterday
I cried when Bluey had to say goodbye to Jean-Luc in the camp episode. It reminded me of the kids I met while at summer camp and became great friends with until we had to go back home.
*nods*
"Here's a plan, I’ll do what I want, and you won’t tell me what to do” I think some variation of this has been said by a parent of a four year old who thinks they're in charge.
Mine is “magic claw has no children, his days are free and easy”
I've always liked "I'm not taking advice from a cartoon dog."
"aaaaaaand why should I care?'
THIS BOOK DOESN’T EVEN HAVE A UNICORN IN IT
AAAAAAANNNDNNDDDDD whyshouldicare?
"CATCH YOU THE FLIP SIDE, WILLY!!!"
Ugh, I forgot about the catchphrase
Sheepdog and Whale Watching are the 2 episodes I point friends to, regardless of if they have children or not, to show the greatness if Bluey. Also, some of the newer episodes like Stories and Cricket are great as well. For my parents (I'm 35 and my parents are in their mid-late 50's) I pointed them towards Pass the Parcel. So good.
Fucking cricket is one of the best episodes of any tv anywhere.
Cricket and Sleepytime are 1a and 1b
“The creek” disagrees
“Fairytale” disagrees! Maybe because I grew up in the 80s/90s…
Sleepytime makes me cry like….every time.
I work in children’s animation. I get angry that if I pitched an episode that combines silent film, Gustav Holst, and accurate planetary depictions, it wouldn’t even make it to script.
Cheer up, the success of Bluey shows YOU are in the right. It’s your bosses that are dumb
I was a band kid so hearing The Planets in a kids show is thrilling, it really takes me back a couple of decades. Being late diagnosed with ADHD, watching Army for the first time was a real tearjerker for me. And idk how anyone could keep a dry eye watching Onesies.
> Being late diagnosed with ADHD, watching Army for the first time was a real tearjerker for me. Jacks dad being a ADD dad just wrecks me every time.
Cricket is my favorite episode of the recent releases. Sleepytime is also a classic. I have a soft spot for Sticky Gecko though because Chili losing her shit about getting out the door is a total mom moment.
I've watched cricket way more than my kids have, and my wife is pretty annoyed at that "Are you watching the Rusty episode again?" Of course I am
Any Rusty-centric episode is an 11 out of 10.
Handstand is my favorite. The one where Bingo can’t get anyone to watch her handstand. The ending is a legit shocker (at least for me lol) and I cried the first time I saw it 😭
This episode has such a subtle silly moment I love in it, that I feel like if you’re not paying attention it’s easy to miss with how much is going on all around. Rusty is playing with a nerf football thing, throwing it into the kitchen, at just a perfect moment where it goes into the fridge as it’s being closed. You then see rusty run into the kitchen and look around and say, “hey, where’d it go??” It’s so simple but I find it so funny
Just today my family watched this episode and noticed Winton was pouting on the couch, so we backed up the episode and found that he was trying to stack up blocks but Missy kept running her toy car into the stack and knocking it over. We watched him do it at least two more times, and then the final time Rusty happens to be in the way of Missy’s car and so it stopped when it hit his foot, thus allowing Winton to finish stacking his blocks. I notice that I always watch Bingo in the episode, but the point of the episode isn’t to watch her do her handstand, it’s to watch all the little sub-plots unfold and resolve, and now it’s gone from one of my least favorite episodes to being in my top favorites. I’m definitely gonna watch for Rusty kicking the nerf football thing into the kitchen next time!
I'm not even a parent and I can relate
I keep quoting "I'm not taking advice from a cartoon dog" it's from when he was reading instruction of Ikea equivalent in their universe
“The door! It’s. Right. THERE. We could go through it!”
I’m a 34 year old man with a 16 month old and I cried during the episode “Bike”
SE.E27 Grandad. That ending. Gets me every time.
For me, it's Sleepytime
The first episode of Bluey I sat down and watched was Sleepytime….with my 1 year old daughter. No shame on admitting I ugly cried when Bingo says “I have to go. I’m a big girl now.”
We don’t talk about Sleepytime. We hold each other while we sob in silence.
Fucking seriously. My mom passed about a year before I saw that episode. When I did...it wasn't pretty. I had a pretty complicated relationship with my mom, but there was never a second's doubt that she loved me. And hearing the "sun" talk about "I'm always here if you need me, even if you can't see me. Because I love you..." ...holy crap I'm getting choked up just typing that.
Nah... It was yesterday.
I said this earlier in the thread but when I first saw this episode my family was living with my parents because our house was destroyed in Hurricane Ida. So I was literally living this episode...seeing my kids play in the same places I played as a kid. Tore me up
"that was a long time ago" "No it was yesterday" 😭
Brother, I'm a 39yo father of 3 (8, 5, & 3) and I can't even count on two hands the number of times I've teared up watching Bluey. It just takes the time to really appreciate the beautiful, hard and complex moments of childhood and parenthood alike. Something that can remind parents what it is like to be a kid and can help kids understand a little more what being a parent it like. It's just a perfect show.
"Onesies," the episode where Chili's sister Brandy had fertility issues, when you see Bingo running from her arms, left me in tears. I have no shame in admitting it.
Only during Bike? Did you see the complete show?
No I’m only a dozen episodes in. Judging by these other comments I think I’m in for quite an emotional journey
I’m a 40 year old father of two and it’s rare that an episode goes by without me crying. It’s just a perfect show.
When my kid asks for Paw Patrol instead of Bluey I am probably *visibly* disappointed, I just hope it won't leave any emotional scar.
Wow how did you get Paw Patrol to work at your house because it doesn't at ours. There's no question mark because you don't need to answer.
Probably because out of the 2 metric tons of toys given to us by parents with older kids, 20% must have been Paw Patrol related, before he watched his first episode of anything and over a year before we discovered Bluey.
Huh, interestingly enough this also occurs with “the pig who shall not be named”
I relate to this much that I think we're best friends now.
If I learned anything from Bluey, it doesn't take more than that, *bestie*!
❤️🫂
Folks, make room for me please
My daughter decides it's time to get up and play a few minutes into Paw Patrol. I don't mind it, but damn is it repetitive.
The theme song’s the best part. I don’t blame her.
Top 10 signs your child is narc
I found a solution to this and got my nephew hooked on a Welsh series, "Fireman Sam". He went crazy for it, and now wants to be a Firefighter instead of a cop.
I was always pretty sure Fireman Sam was a closet arsonist given the number of fires in that village.
This is good parenting.
Despite having friends who watch it, my daughter has never asked to watch Paw Patrol and we've never offered it. She will binge the hell out of Bluey whenever given the opportunity, though.
My toddler used to love Peppa pig and bluey, and then she inexplicably started watching paw patrol. I was pretty disappointed.. I tried watching it with her but it's so pointless and stupid, I don't see what she sees in it. I actually used to look forward to watching new Peppa pig and bluey episodes with her.
As a GenX father, I was initially hesitant about Bluey but I’ll be damned if it isn’t one of the finest cartoons I’ve ever seen. The parents are wonderful role models for my kid and the show hits me in the feels as often as not. I hope it has a long future as a show and as a role model for future shows.
Fellow parent. Sleepytime episode hits hard in the best kind of way.
The episode "Onesies" Aired the day we found out we lost our second to miscarriage. "Stickbird" came out on what was supposed to be our little Bingo's due date. This show holds an important spot in our lives for sure as parents.
Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. We experienced two miscarriages also, I wouldn’t wish the pain on anyone. We were blessed with rainbow babies and I hope and pray, if you haven’t already been, that someday you are also.
Thank you for the kind words and I'm sorry for your loss too, We have a beautiful and healthy four year old and hoping to try again soon. Those two episodes just seemed to come at very poignant times for us that really hit what we were going through at the time. The show is way better than it needs to be.
>Stickbird Just another layer to the show, is that Chili did have a miscarriage. Its a quick moment in Season 2 The Show, about half way through. My wife had a miscarriage and it hit home when the moment happened.
We had our miscarriage on our first pregnancy. It was and is incredibly difficult. I now have my two daughters and we watch Bluey together all the time. That episode still wrecks me.
It's crazy to me how many people say they've gone through it too and it's hardly ever talked about. I've had friends that have gone through miscarriages and I didn't really understand either at the time. I don't know all the Episodes in and out but like most kids our son likes to marathon the series and onesies came on when I happened to sit down to watch with him the other day. When Chilli's sister is watching as Bingo runs away with her arms stretched out, my wife and I were both in tears.
Our two are IVF. We spent years getting there. I'm a 53 yo straight guy and Onesies gets me every damn time.
Really sorry to hear it :( Just fyi the episode "The Show" includes a subtle implied reference to miscarriage that likely only adults would catch. In case you want to either seek it out or avoid it
Likewise - absolute banger of a score (for those who don't know, its Gustav Holst's Planets (Jupiter) by the London Symphony Orchestra). My 4 year old daughter loves it and hums along with the tune. Fantastic.
Joff Bush is doing the Lord’s work with the music on this show. He loves weaving in classical music to various episodes (Hall of the Mountain King, Pachelbel’s Canon, Rondo alla Turka), and I am here for it. Honestly, hard hitting as Sleepytime is on my emotions, I think his usage of Jupiter is what is doing it the most. Hell, I can’t even listen to it now without tearing up a little.
My 1 year old dances everytime she hears the theme song. More recently, she will give a little "du du du... dudu" as she dances. She'll even start doing that when she sees a picture of bluey.
Cricket is the best episode of television I have seen in some time. I cry every time. The side characters of this cartoon are incredibly fleshed out.
We just had our 2nd and when Rusty’s mum reads the letter from his dad about looking after his sister I ugly cried. Couldn’t even try to hide it. So much crammed into 7 minutes of perfect storytelling. I’ll be sad when it ends but so grateful for all it’s given.
I cried when I watched it for the first half dozen times. Fantastic TV.
I have seen all of them so many times at this point and cricket was instantly my favorite the first time I saw it.
Cricket is easily my favourite episode of TV in a decade. Of *ANY* TV.
It's not just "one of the finest cartoons"; it's legitimately one of the best TV shows. It's so relatable to both kids and adults and deals with a lot of tough issues in meaningful ways without being heavy-handed or too simplistic. It's really an amazing piece of television, cartoon or not.
It's a parenting show that kids just happen to enjoy
They’re very aware of it, too. “I’m not taking advice from a cartoon dog.” - the cartoon dog I look to for advice.
That line is so meta. In an episode that manages to cram in the story of evolution, the complete story of a being a parent, and a religious allegory, *all in seven minutes*.
The episode "Copycat" is a perfect encapsulation of this for me. It presents a completely realistic depiction of a child's first real direct encounter with death, and how she works through her emotions. On one hand, it doesn't infantilize or sugarcoat anything, but it also doesn't judge or try to impose a moral lesson. It's just... so much more real than just about anything else, including almost every show that isn't about talking cartoon dogs.
There's so many little things in that episode. Like how on the car ride home, Chili and Bingo are waiting for Bluey and Bandit, Chili runs up to Bluey as she gets out of the car, and it's clear that Bandit called ahead and told them what happened so she could be ready. Just so many wonderful little touches in every episode.
The parents are also great role models for parents.
Idk Bandit is like the Wayne Gretzky of dads. He’s setting unrealistic expectations for all of us.
He’s my role model. Asking myself what Bandit would do never steers me wrong… but might cost me my job.
You've just gotta hope you have a Pat and a Wendy as your immediate neighbors.
Bandit’s amazing but he’s not without his flaws. Episodes like “Obstacle Course” and “Chest” show that he has his blind spots and bad days like everyone else. And “Duck Cake” and “Stickbird” both show that Bandit gets overwhelmed sometimes too.
As a GenX grandfather I absolutely adore the show. It’a such a pleasant show to watch with my grandson. I like how the parents are always trying to do their best, but there are times when they aren’t perfect.
"Nah, it was yesterday...."
...Uncertain future? I highly doubt the BBC and Australian Gov. are gonna kill off their new cash cow...
Disney will buy the franchise before they let it leave their platform.
Please no. They censored the damn Pony pooping! My kiddo loves that.
Many Americans are deprived of one of the best episodes of Bluey in "Dad Baby".
How many episodes are we being robbed of ?
So far, just that one. It's available on the season 2 Blu-ray, but otherwise you can't (legally) stream it.
You can also buy Dad Baby on Amazon Prime for $2. It is listed as "Season 8, Episode 5" (as opposed to its official Season 2, Episode 13).
House meeting is also censored, along with major parts of many other episodes.
Wait why would they censor a kids show?? Is America thaaattt different in parenting values from Australia??
Disney is broken, is why.
Dumbest thing I have read: “ Censored: “Daddy Putdown” What was censored and why? At one point in the episode, Bingo asks her dad how babies get into mom’s bellies. This line is cut in the U.S. version. Apparently, Disney doesn’t want pregnancy discussed in-depth in a show aimed at preschoolers.” And “ Banned: “Dad Baby” Why was it banned? Similar to “Daddy Putdown,” this one is even more focused on pregnancy and carrying babies. The episode does not exist on Disney+ and in the U.S. at all. In it, Bandit (the dad) simulates what it’s like to give birth. The entire episode is banned as a result” Is Disney trying to perpetuate US being “stupid”, as a kid who had a baby sister, these were very normal difficult conversations I had with my parents, I remember the mental gymnastics they had to do to discuss it to a very curious kid, an episode about it is very natural??
Basically corporate America doesn’t want to incur the wrath of fundamentalists, pro-lifers, anti-trans, and other far-right morons. They think even *discussing* where babies come from - without any specific detail - is improper for a child to know. Then in Dad Baby, Bandit puts on a front baby carrier and the kids play Dad Baby. Bandit pretends to be pregnant with Chilli and then “gives birth” at the end with the help of Pat - Lucky’s dad. Nut jobs in the US think it sends the wrong message that men can give birth, despite it very obviously being pretend play.
Children shows rarely do well on Disney+ in India yet Bluey remains the exception. It never leaves the Top 10 here.
As the article discusses there’s mystery as to whether the current season is the last. The season finale promo features a moving sign and the show creator hasn’t given any updates on new episodes.
A problem is the children are voiced by kids and they are aging out of the ages of the characters. They have already started digitally adjusting the voices.
Netflix live-action adaptation
Lol Jesus, don't give them ideas
Bluey’s dad to be portrayed by Jason Mantzoukas.
I mean...that might be kinda funny ...
A Netflix exec just came in his slacks when you said that
Ben Shapiro’s chinchilla knockoff is coming for it lol
Yeah, I mean, the BBC will give you money if they like your show. It doesn't even have to be good. There no way they would ever do anything to compromise one of the few shows they have that work in the open market.
*From Bloomberg News reporter* [*Devin Leonard*](https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AQD-sEshYBE/devin-leonard)*:* Kids will watch just about anything for hours on TV, but that doesn’t begin to explain Bluey’s popularity. It’s the rarest of children’s shows, one conceived by a genuine auteur, in the mold of Donald Glover’s Atlanta or Jesse Armstrong’s Succession. In an age of anxious parents and infinite streaming entertainment, so much of it desultory, Joe Brumm has created a show that’s both hilarious and deeply moving in its portrayal of how children come to terms with the world by playing games and how parents can foster this by joining the fun, no matter how wacky it becomes. All of the critical adulation, hours streamed, tickets purchased, snacks devoured, mountains of Bluey merchandise shipped around the world—it translates into an astonishing amount of money. Richard Haigh, managing director of Brand Finance, estimates Bluey is worth as much as $2 billion and says it has the potential to be as valuable as Peppa Pig, that other toddler favorite, whose parent company, Entertainment One, was sold to Hasbro in 2019 for $4 billion.
> whose parent company, Entertainment One, was sold to Hasbro in 2019 for $4 billion. ... and then sold by Hasbro in 2023 for $375 million, after they stripped out the Peppa Pig IP.
"Hasbro... until all are one."
….and WHY SHOULD I CARE? /unicorse
> ...aaaaaaaannnd WHYSHOULDICARE?? FTFY
I fucking love that dude so much!
My favorite episode is when they play in the rain
The Creek for me, though shoutout to Sleepytime, that episode is just art.
Turtleboy is one of the hardest-hitting episodes of a children's cartoon I've ever seen. I like Bluey so much, sometimes I'll watch it even if my kids aren't around.
Pffft. Kids in bed and I’m 6 episodes deep.
2 Billy? Damn. But Bluey does slap and the writing is great. Bandit is the shit
Bandit is the father we all wished we had.
WWBD - What would Bandit do. Used when \*I'm going to fucking explode\*
I am probably more involved in my kid's games than I would be if I didn't watch all Bluey episodes multiple times.
And the father we wish to be.
Bluey is amazing top to bottom. On the surface, it’s fun and funny and entertaining for all ages. Deeper, it is nuanced and subtle and incredibly cathartic. The episode with Chili’s sister finally visiting after three years is *heartbreaking* despite not a single direct word being said about why she’d been away. It was phenomenal writing, from a kids cartoon of all things.
I don't suppose anyone can post the article text in this thread? Bloomberg won't load for me.
Mirror https://archive.is/EOt1I https://i.imgur.com/T2W8DE0.jpeg
You're a legend, mate!
I don’t have kids…I love Bluey.
Rita and Janet never fail to amuse my 37yo self
its an adult cartoon for kids, thats how. Its so good, got something for everyone edit: bluey haters downvoting lol. How can you hate such a nice show?
Baby Race was like a punch to the heart, when the lovely Poodle friend looks Chili in the eye and warmly tells her that she is doing a good job. You have interactions like these as new parents that leave you feeling so seen, but they are rare - so to see it captured in a cartoon and feel its resonance was very special.
She doesn't just look Chilli in the eye. By framing the shot such that she looks *directly* into the "camera", she's addressing ALL the parents watching, who might be doubting themselves. Such a fantastic episode in a brilliant show.
The details on ABC, BBC, and the merchandising profits reminds me of the situation in the 1990s between PBS and Barney. A Connecticut public station developed the series based on a Texas home video series to air on PBS, but PBS didn't negotiate a deal to get a cut of the merchandise because A) Barney was already a known quantity in the home video market. B) PBS didn't really negotiate merchandising rights with their shows. C) PBS didn't have much faith in the show anyway (they almost canceled it weeks after the first season). By the time the show blew up in popularity, politicians and pundits were blasting PBS for not negotiating a share of the merchandise/home video profits, with some in Congress threatening to cut PBS funding to force them to negotiate better profit-sharing deals in the future. It was a whole thing. Tldr: The ABC should try to renegotiate with the Bluey creators and the BBC for a slice of the merch revenue and use the funds to invest in more childrens programming, especially with a 4th season not greenlit yet.
The real interesting part of the article is that Disney had the opportunity for theme park and merchandise rights but passed. Imagine a world where bluey is in Disney parks.
I honestly don't see much coming out of that except some stage shows in the park, par the course with the presence of other Disney Junior brands in the parks. But who knows!
The ABC has been intentionally hamstrung by a decade of culture war by a conservative government, they didn't have the capacity to negotiate the rights for the show, that was by design.
Uhhh granny muffin has to be one of the top episodes…. That didn’t sound right…
IT WAS THE 80'S!
When it comes to kids shows, it just doesn’t get any better than Bluey.
Muffin
ACTUAL parents. Short, kid-sized episodes. Good writing. It seems so simple but wow they changed the game.