The Bark Heard Around the World — Bluey!
If you are a parent, have friends that are parents, a five-year-old, or are an anxious-ridden young adult grasping for some semblance of comfort that you did not get as a child, then you’ve probably heard of the animated show sweeping the world — Bluey.
Bluey is an Australian preschool cartoon about the titular blue dog and the rest of her family and friends. The extended title sequence actually says it all, as the Heeler family — consisting of the dad Bandit, mother Chili, younger sister Bingo, older sister Bluey, along with a slew of other family members like cousins Muffin and Socks, Aunt Trixie and Uncle Stripe, Nana, and more boogie, playing a round of freeze dance. The show follows their everyday lives while dealing with the tough situations, somber moments, and the lessons that life brings.
The show has garnered a massive following, with over 3.8 million viewing minutes on streaming alone at the end of 2023. More recently, the show released their biggest episode yet. This episode — titled “The Sign” — is a whopping half-hour long (where usual episodes range seven to nine minutes), and tells the story of Aunt Frisky and Uncle Rad’s wedding while the Heeler family deals with the impending doom of moving away.
And by God, I think the blue dog has done it again.
Like all Bluey episodes, the animation style is fantastic. Created by Ludo Studios, the dog-ified world of Queensland, Australia is showcased in a beautiful landscape. The animation allows for a dreamlike, but most importantly, childlike quality to it. It is almost like the imagination of the preschooler became real, in all of its bright colors and wonderment.
Even for a show made for young children, the acting is top notch. The young actors portraying Bluey and Bingo — who are unknown to their audience, an aspect of the behind-the-scenes process that I personally think is wonderful, given the long, tumultuous history of children in entertainment — give an incredible performance. At the end of the special when the sister duo learns that they are moving away for good, Bingo (who is incredibly sensitive) starts crying and trying to pull the “For Sale” sign out of their yard, with Bluey going to help. All the audience hears is huffing and tears, encouraging the audience to feel their own responses of what it can be like to have such a big, emotional event to happen at such a young age.
The parents, played by David McCormick and Melanie Zanetti, respectively, also allow a generational learning experience to come across within the show. The greatness of Bluey comes from the idea that the show is not just for children, but for the people taking care of them as well. The showrunners understand how difficult it is to live one’s life, and also take care of a child to have them grow up the best that they can be. In “The Sign” specifically, the parents have to reconcile with the idea that the big “adventure” they are going on is actually a good decision. Chili yells out in a fit of frustration, “I only said that to make you kids feel better,” an anxious thought that many parents can relate to. The world is a mind-boggling place, but Bluey can help you with this.
But what Bluey, and especially “The Sign,” does extremely well is getting an audience to viscerally react to something — a.k.a. with tears. Bluey is an emotional show. It ranges in topics such as friends coming in and out of your life, infertility, feeling inferior to other parents, and even death. This can lead to some pretty big sobs to come out of everyone that is watching it (ask my entire family, they will tell you). And this is worldwide. People everywhere are crying over the little dogs on their screens moving away, and the ultimate joy that comes when that does not happen. The Heeler family is back in their house. All is right in the world, so maybe life will be okay for us.
Bluey is a smart show. It understands that this is not just a show teaching a child their ABCs. It wants more out of its audience: parents, children, and sad 20-something-year-olds (like myself) alike. Bluey wants to reconcile with the ideas that life is not all sunshine and rainbows. It is full of hardships, but that does not mean we have to succumb to it. We can have the happiness we deserve, if we persevere, just like little orange and blue Australian dogs do each and every week.
Bluey is available now on Disney+.
Photo Courtesy of Ludo Studios.
