Bluey (TV series)

***Bluey*** is an an Australian animated television series for preschoolers that premiered on ABC Kids on 1 October 2018. The program was created by Joe Brumm and Melanie Zanetti with Queensland production group Ludo Studio and executive produced/showrun by Britt Allcroft. It was co-commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the British Broadcasting Corporation, with BBC Studios holding global distribution and merchandising rights. The series made its premiere on Disney Junior in the United States and was released internationally on 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 younger sister, Bingo, who regularly joins Bluey on adventures as the pair embark on imaginative play together; mother, Chilli; and father, Bandit. Other characters featured each represent a different dog breed. Overarching themes include the focus on family, growing up and 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 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 won a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Children's Program in 2019 as well as an International Emmy Kids Award. 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.

## History

### Development

In 2014, Joe Brumm and some animators at Ludo Studio created a one-minute short featuring Bandit Heeler pushing his daughter Bluey on a swing while playing on his phone, causing Bluey to make a 360 around the tree branch. Just as they were about to screen it at festivals, Bob Iger of Disney came to the studio and asked what they were making. Realizing they would be in huge amounts of trouble if they told him about the short, Joe's younger brother Dan told Iger they were making a children's cartoon about a family of Cattle Dogs. Iger loved what he had heard and ordered a seven-minute pilot to see what the show was like.

Now with a huge deadline to meet, the Brumms and Ludo went to work immediately on this pilot. Realizing that they couldn't do it 100% Australian like in the 2014 short, Muppet performer Steve Whitmire was contacted to help on the pilot and voice Bandit, since they couldn't get in contact with Nathan Lane, to which he agreed and served as executive producer and showrunner. Tim Lagasse was contacted by Dan to direct this new pilot. Also brought on board was both Karen Prell and E.G. Daily as the speaking voice and vocal effects of Bluey herself, respectively; Brook Jenell Slack as both Bluey's younger sister Bingo and next-door neighbor Judo; Melanie Zanetti as Chilli, the mother of the household; and Ruby Wax as Wendy, Judo's mother. With the exceptions of Whitmire, Daily and Wax, all of the voice performers provided vocal effects for rainbow lorikeets seen in the episode alongside Jim Cummings and Frank Welker, the latter of which also served asthe voice of Lucky's Dad, the other next-door neighbor of Bluey's. Lastly, veteran voice actor Michael Bell was hired to be the voice director, since neither Brumm wanted to do it.

Once casting had been done, production on the pilot began. In it, Bluey and Bingo would play in their backyard and look at the lorikeets in their tree. As one would imagine, hijinks would ensue that involved Wendy, Judo and Pat, with Bandit and Chilli being the voice of reason. According to Joe, these were all inspired by his experiences raising his two daughters. Production concluded on August 18, 2015, with the cast and crew being exhausted from the insane production rush. At a film festival the next year, the pilot was screened to mixed feedback, but mostly positive. The person who enjoyed the pilot the most was Bob Iger, seeing a huge amount of potential in the show and even liking the fact that Karen Prell and other Jim Henson veterans were in the cast and crew, despite him not liking the Muppets.

### Release

#### Broadcast

In June 2019, the international broadcasting rights to and 50% of the trademark of *Bluey* were acquired by The Walt Disney Company, with plans to premiere on the Disney Junior television network and be distributed on the Disney+ streaming service in all territories (excluding China) from late 2019. The series premiered on Disney Junior in the United States on 9 September 2019 and was later distributed on Disney+ on 22 January 2020 and in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2020. The ABC Kids version notably features a mostly different cast than that of the first three episodes, after LUDO Studio requested that the show use an almost completely Australian cast for some countries. Meanwhile, the Disney version of the series features the original voice actors while airing in other countries, after Tim Lagasse told Joe Brumm that other countires preferred the original actors to the new ones; this is the version found on Disney+. The second series debuted on Disney Channel in the United States on 10 July 2020. In October 2019, Bluey debuted in New Zealand, airing on TVNZ 2 and streaming on TVNZ OnDemand. The first series made its Australian pay-TV premiere on CBeebies on 4 May 2020. It made its free-to-air television debut in the UK on CBeebies in April 2021.

#### Critical Reception

*Bluey* has enjoyed a positive critical reception. The series received a seal of approval from Common Sense Media, with reviewer Emily Ashby commending its positive family and social themes. Bluey was praised by Philippa Chandler of The Guardian for its "sharp script" and depiction of everyday family life, while commenting that its Queensland background set it apart from other cartoons on television. Readers of The New York Times's parenting blog submitted Bluey as their favourite children's show, describing it as charming, smart and "very real". The series was called "laugh-out-loud funny" by Stephanie Convery of The Guardian, who credited its humour to the "quirky behaviour" of the child characters. In 2019, *TV Week* listed Bluey at No. 98 in its list of the 101 greatest Australian television shows of all time. Despite only being on air since 2018, the magazine wrote that Bluey "stole Australia's hearts faster than any other cartoon character" in what it described as a "cute, funny and modern" series. The series was listed at No. 14 in *Junkee*’s list of 50 television programs that defined the decade, in which it was described as "an absolute delight". In a list published by *Rolling Stone* of the top 100 sitcoms of all time, *Bluey* was listed at No. 96, being the only Australian series to be featured.

The series received praise for its constructive parenting messages and depiction of Bandit Heeler as a positive father figure. The character was commended for his patient nature, willingness to do housework and play with his children. Jennifer McClellan of *USA Today* described Bandit as "sarcastic, sympathetic and silly". He has been received as "more emotionally intelligent" than the father from *Peppa Pig*. Reporters for *The Guardian* wrote that the show's messages about parenting align with published literature on parental wellbeing, noting how the show depicts the importance of play and learning social skills in child development. McClellan acknowledged the family dynamic of the characters; she described Chilli as the "voice of reason" and noted how Bluey and Bingo learn to navigate their sibling relationship. Convery commented that the sisters are accurate depictions of children, and that the roles of the parents are not presented as stereotypical of their respective genders. The series has also received online praise for its representation of attention deficit issues through the character of Jack.

A rather unfortunate incident saw an apology issued by the ABC in August 2020 in relation to the usage of the term "ooga booga" in the episodes Teasing and Flat Pack, which was described as a term with "racial connotations and a problematic history for Indigenous Australians" through a viewer complaint. The ABC claimed that the term had only been intended as "irreverent rhyming slang made up by children", and maintained their commitment to addressing discrimination. The two episodes were temporarily removed from rotations before being edited to remove the term, which prompted mixed reactions from viewers.

In regards to the Disney version of the show, it has gained some criticism for not having every character speak with Australian accents, but has gained praise regardless for the superior voice acting (especially Nathan Lane’s performance as Bandit and Tom Baker’s as Charles Claw) and the imaginary settings being shown, allowing for more creative scenarios and ways of teaching the lessons. Daniel Cerone of *Los Angles Times* called it "Australia’s answer to any one of Paul Winchell’s shows from Nickelodeon, which is a very good thing to be." Some have even praised this version for having some of the characters speak with accents that match their breed’s origins (most notably Mackenzie and his family’s Scottish accents, the Terriers’ British accents and Judo’s Japanese accent).

## Voice Actors

The child characters in the ABC Kids version of *Bluey* are voiced by children of the program's production crew and are not credited as voice performers, not to mention that the actor for Jean Luc's Dad is currently unknown. For this reason, we will list their actors/actresses from the Disney version as their official voice performers.

### ABC Kids/Disney

* Brook Jenell Slack as Bingo/Muffin/Chloe/Winton/Judo/Winnie
* Karen Prell as Bluey/Dark Gray Terrier/Jack Russell/Gruber
* E.G. Daily as Bluey's vocal effects/Honey/Jean-Luc's Mum
* Amelie Bea Smith as Socks/Buddy/Missy/Lila/Lulu/Pom Pom
* Melanie Zanetti as Chilli/Indy
* Jim Cummings and Frank Welker as various animals
	+ Cummings also voices Hercules
	+ Welker also voices Jean-Luc's Dad and Captain
* Nancy Cartwright as Mackenzie/Lucky
* Nika Futterman as Snickers/Rusty
* Monica Ray as Light Gray Terrier
* Francesca Marie Smith as Gray Terrier/Coco
* Francis Stanton as Frank
* Joe Brumm as Gruber's Dad/Customer
* Pam Arciero as Juniper
* Joff Bush as Busker
* Layne Beachley as Surfer
* Tim Lagasse as Jean-Luc
* Anthony Field as Postie
* Kathryn Mullen as Mia
* Terri Irwin as Alfie's Mum
* Eva Mendes as Yoga Instructor

### ABC Kids

* Dave McCormack as Bandit
* Brad Elliott as Pat
* Hsiao-Ling Tang as Bella (Shadowlands)/Chloe’s Mum
* Dan Brumm as Uncle Stripe
* Myf Warhurst as Aunt Trixie/Indy's Mum
* Ann Kerr as Mrs. Retriever
* Sam Moor as Daisy
* Charlie Aspinwall as Marcus
* Richard Jeffery as Mackenzie’s Dad
* Jasmine Moody as Takeaway Lady
* Megan Washington as Calypso
* Meg O’Connell as Pony Lady
* Daley Pearson as Poffertje Dog/Rocko/Cinema Counter Dog
* Jake Bresanello as Winton’s Dad
* Joff Bush as Chew B’Deube
* Liana Wright as Juniper’s Mum
* Layne Beachley as Surfer
* Chris Brumm as Nana
* Ian McFadyen as Bob
* Claire Renton as Doctor
* Charlotte Nicdao as Nurse/Checkout Lady
* Stephanie Bendixsen as Vet Corgi
* Michael Griffin as Docket Boy
* Anthony Field as Rusty's Dad
* Stephen Lee as Customer
* Rupert Degas as Yes/No Button/Movie Voices
* Hamish Blake as Employee/Jack's Dad
* Zoe Foster Blake as Checkout Dog/Jack's Mum
* Beth Durack as Wendy
* Laurie Newman as Mort
* Sean Choolburra as Maynard
* Suzy Brumm as Pom Pom's Mum
* Leigh Sales as Ice Cream Lady/Bella
* Bob Brumm as Grey Nomad
* Judy Newman as Grey Nomad
* Eliot Fish as Fido
* Robert Irwin as Alfie
* Marc Fennell as Alfie's Boss
* Anne Pearson as Shop Assistant
* Bishanyia Vincent as Hospital Kid's Mum
* Patrick Brammall as Uncle Rad
* Claudia O’Doherty as Aunt Frisky
* Kelly Butler as Doreen
* Vikki Ong as Snickers’ Mum
* Grant Sundin as Doctor
* Mary Bolling as Librarian
* Kate McMahon as Library Dog
* Julie Baster as Bus Stop Lady
* Loren Taylor Mackenzie’s Mum
* Darren Hanlon as Alt Energy Dog
* Emily Taheny as Wendy (Season 3)
* Jess Harris as Sheila
* Anna Daniels as Shanelle
* Adele Vuko as Jasper's Mum
* Greta Lee Jackson as Buddy’s Mum
* Jane Hall as Rusty's Mum
* Shauna Corrigan as Sat Nav
* Nani Thomann as Backpacker
* Brice Pennetair as Backpacker
* Matt Brown as Ziggy
* Natalie Portman as Whale Doco Narrator
* Sam Simmons as Bob (young)

### Disney

* Brook Jenell Slack as Bella/Pony Lady/Yes/No Button/additional voices
* Karen Prell as Aunt Trixie/Jack's Mum/Snickers' Mum/Chloe's Mum/Mrs. Retriever/additional voices
* E.G. Daily as Daisy/additional voices
* Nathan Lane as Bandit
* Nancy Cartwright as Mackenzie's Mum/Doctor/additional voices
* Nika Futterman as Nurse/Rusty's Mum/additional voices
* Jim Cummings as Rusty's Dad/Maynard/Fido/Burke Boulder/Bob (young)/additional voices
* Frank Welker as Pat/Mackenzie's Dad/Marcus/Mort/additional voices
	+ With a few exceptions, Welker is also the person who reads the title of each episode.
* Dave McCormack as Uncle Stripe
* Betty White as Calypso
	+ Megan Washington (uncredited) as Calypso’s singing voice
* Cheryl Blaylock as Juniper’s Mum
* Russi Taylor as Nana (Grannies, Charades and Christmas Swim)
* Jerry Stiller as Bob (Grannies and Escape)
* Ringo Starr as the Storyteller (a few episodes)
* Nigel Plaskitt as The Wise Old Wolfhound
* Tom Baker as Charles Claw
* Edward Glen as Alfie
* Seán Barrett as Alfie’s Boss
* Ming-Na Wen as Buddy’s Mum

#### Additional voices

* Dan Brumm
* Joe Brumm
* Joff Bush
* Rupert Degas
* Debi Derryberry
* Jeffery Garcia
* Richard Steven Horvitz
* Brian Hull
* Robert Irwin
* Monica Ray
* Kevin Schon
* Francesca Marie Smith
* Emily Taheny
* John Tartaglia
* Myf Warhurst
* Megan Washington
* Melanie Zanetti

## Production

### Writing

The stories featured in *Bluey* depict Bluey and Bingo engaging in imaginative play. 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. 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. Brumm drew inspiration for scripts from his own experiences in watching his daughters play, which he described was "as natural to them as breathing". 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.

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. Bandit is based on a Blue Heeler belonging to his father's friend. 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". 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. 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, with members of production bring their family, friends and children to watch the episode. The complete production process for an episode takes three months.

During the lockdown period of the 2019–22 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.

### Casting

#### ABC Kids

The series features David McCormack, from the band Custard, as the voice of Bluey's father, Bandit. He was initially approached to read what he assumed would only be "a couple of lines", but ended up voicing Bandit for the entire pilot. McCormack performs his voice work for the series remotely in Sydney, which is then sent to the production company in Brisbane. He stated that he does not hear any other voice actors or view footage while recording, and that he doesn't alter his own voice to produce Bandit's dialogue. Melanie Zanetti provides the voice of Bluey's mother, Chilli; she became interested in the series after reading the script for the pilot.

Brumm's mother, Chris Brumm, voices Nana Heeler, while his younger brother, Dan Brumm, voices Uncle Stripe, as well as working as a sound designer on the series. The child characters of the series, including Bluey and Bingo, are voiced by some of the children of the program's production crew.

#### Disney

This version of the series has a noticeably impressive list of actors. While Melanie Zanetti is still the voices of Chilli, this version features Karen Prell of *Fraggle Rock* fame as the title character and Aunt Trixie, Brook Jenell Slack as both Bingo and Muffin, Broadway legend Nathan Lane as Bandit, Frank Welker as additional characters and many of the animals, and many other notable actors and guest stars.

### Music

*Main article: Bluey: The Album*

In the first three episodes, Mike O’Donnell and Junior Campbell wrote the entire soundtrack and led a group of additional composers, including David Barber and Joff Bush. Both Barber and Bush graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium, where they met Pearson, and before *Bluey* worked on series such as *The Upside Down Show*, *The Family Law* and *Australian Survivor*.

After O’Donnell and Campbell were rejected by Brumm for the remainder of the show, Barber, Bush and James Newton Howard were asked to take their positions as the leading composers. Bush stated that each episode has its own unique musical style, and he and the other composers like to become involved in the episodes as they are scripted. Live instruments are regularly played for the recordings. Every episode of *Bluey* is individually scored, a decision made by O’Donnell and Campbell. If a theme were to be reused, it would be a new take on it, complete with different instruments and an improved tone.

Classical music is regularly used throughout the underscore, with pieces such as Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and Mozart's "Rondo Alla Turca (from Sonata No. 11)" being interpreted by the composers. O’Donnell and Campbell composed the theme song for *Bluey*, and they have been brought on to compose the music Brumm feels would be the most grand or music that the other composers could not achieve, once again leading the other composers. They have even been nominated for several APRA Screen Music Awards, in 2019 for the soundtrack of the episode "Teasing" and in 2020 for "Flat Pack". The show's score won the APRA Award for Best Music for Children's Programming in 2021.

The music for *Bluey* is licensed by Universal Music Publishing on behalf of BBC Worldwide Music Publishing. The first soundtrack for the series by Barber and Bush, *Bluey: The Album*, was released on 22 January 2021. It debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, and became the first children's album to reach the top of the charts in Australia. It won Best Children's Album at the 2021 ARIA Music Awards, and won the 2021 APRA Award for Best Soundtrack Album. On 7 April, a version of the album produced by Walt Disney Records and O’Donnell & Campbell was released to equal amounts of critical acclaim; although it didn’t win any awards (it only got 8 nominations), it *did* manage to become the best-selling album of the year, managing to beat Adele's *30* by over 6.38 million and was named "THE greatest children's album of the decade" by television personality Conan O'Brien and comedian Steve Martin.