Circus

> Deputy, that lion tamer is going down. Big time!
>
> Jack

**Circus** is an episode from the second season of *Bluey*.

## Synopsis

**DISCLAIMER: Because it has more elements that are missing in the ABC Kids version, we will only show the plot synopsis for the Disney version of this episode.**

It's election day, and Bandit and Chilli are taking their kids along with them. While the kids try to convince their parents to pick and not to pick certain candidates just by how they look, Chilli tells them the right thing is to vote on who would be the best leader. Bluey asks how to be one, Bandit tells her that one way is to make up the best way to give commands to others. Bingo does not like the idea of being told around (demonstrated on how she's told not to touch a possibly dodgy mushroom). Bandit tries to sympathize with her, when suddenly the other kids show up and offer the Heeler kids to play. They joyfully accept, but can't decide what to play. Then, Jean-Luc shows up and suggests "Circus", to which everyone agrees to.

The parents go on their business near the booths, while the kids set up their roles. Honey is the circus lion wanting to run away, Mackenzie is the tamer whose mean behaviour makes the lion want to leave, Bluey and Coco are the acrobats who are also sisters, Bingo is the audience, and Jean-Luc is the ringmaster who gives commands (except to the audience, though audience participation is welcome).

Nearby, Winton and his big friend Hercules are playing "Motorbike". The bored Winton, acting as the jump, wants to have a turn of being the motorbike, an offer Hercules outright rejects.

Meanwhile, the game of "Circus" begins with the first act being a lion jumping through the hoop. Mackenzie procedurally acts mean to his lion Honey. Jean-Luc politley tells Mackenzie to be nice to his lion, although Mackenzie immediately says he's not the ringmaster's to command. The lion clears the hoop, but the mean lion tamer eats the treat. The lion gets so angry that Bluey has to hold her. At the same time, two policemen have watched the whole thing and are ready to put the lion tamer in prison for animal abuse and refusal to follow the rules.

Back to Winton, he looks up from his lie-down pose and sees a more exciting game from afar. He looks around, and when Hercules doesn't seem to look, jets off to Bluey and her friends. Just in time, Jean-Luc is figuring out the next act and with his new friends' permission allows him to take part. The circus is in need of some silly fun, so the ringmaster allows Winton to be what he wants to be: a clown!

It doesn't take long for Hercules to realize his jump is missing. He sets his sight on the bunch of friends playing "Circus".

Back in the circus, Mackenzie does a trick involving a treat on the lion's nose; it also involves snatching it for himself, much to the friends' surprise and horror, as well as the lion's anger as she runs away with the lion tamer having to chase her. Bluey tells Coco to keep the audience occupied, with the latter commenting that Mackenzie should have been nice to the lion.

Hercules finally gets to Winton. Unamused by the fact that his jump is now a clown, he angrily demands to play with them. Bingo tells him to ask for Jean-Luc's permission since he's the circus ringmaster, but Hercules demands that he's playing, and that they're playing "Motorbike", not "Circus", with the rest of the kids being his jumps. Jean-Luc complains against his insistence while the other kids reluctantly give in.

The lion problem is still left unsorted as Mackenzie tries to lure his pet back, only to be pounced by Honey. In the meantime, the kids get bored pretty quickly as the jumps. Bingo suggests running away, but the police have another plan. They tell Hercules to stop. Bingo then tells him that if he wants to play, he has to play their game, otherwise he can't play. Hercules insists that he can't be told what to do, but Bingo objects because they were playing first. He answers this by letting out a loud, annoying raspberry, much to the other kids' discomfort. The police then calm him down and take him to Mackenzie.

Hercules gets to Honey and Mackenzie and separates them both. Mackenzie insults Honey, "you meanie lion!" and smacks her, Bingo and the police. Horrified, Hercules puts Honey down, assuring her that she's a good little lion. As for Mackenzie, just after calling him out for being a meanie and going berserk, Hercules lifts Mackenzie in the air and spins him around. The kids are amused and laugh at his fate, with his excuse being that Hercules is just pretending. The circus gets another attraction: Hercules the muscleman! A "yay" from the audience, now with more members, is heard. The police then take the extremely dizzy Mackenzie to jail for animal abuse and refusal to obey the law.

Eventually, they all decide to play "Motorbikes". While the other kids are speeding off as motorbikes, Coco offers Bingo and Winton to be the jumps with her. They accept and lie down next to her.

Later, the Heeler kids and Coco sit under a tree with Jean-Luc. Bluey asks Jean-Luc why he came back to Australia, to which the latter replies that his family moved to the country to learn more English and that his mother got a new job. Bingo then asks if he'll see his best friend again, to which he whispers in her ear: "It's a free country, so that is possible."

### Disney

* Brook Jenell Slack as Bingo/Winton
* Karen Prell as Bluey/Jack and his mum
* E.G. Daily as Bluey's vocal effects/Honey/Daisy
* Nancy Cartwright as Mackenzie
* Nika Futterman as Rusty
* Jim Cummings as Hercules
* Frank Welker as Marcus/Mackenzie's Dad
	+ Welker also provides the vocal effects for the iguana, the fly it eats and a few birds and reads the title of the episode as usual.
* Nathan Lane as Bandit
* Francesca Marie Smith as Coco
* Betty White as Calypso
* Tim Lagasse as Jean-Luc
* Ming-Na Wen as Buddy’s Mum