Bit unrelated to the post, but I hate how Disney has done Blumm dirty. They want to milk bluey as much as possible (understandable), but if the creator says no then Disney won't listen. There's a high chance we'll never get a season 4, and I'm honestly fine with that if an alternative is a rushed fourth season.
Bluey is the best children's cartoon of this generation. The art is a joy to see, being full of color and well-defined lines/objects, without being overwhelming. I sincerely appreciate the creator's resistance to engineer the show for maximum attention and, instead, focus on telling a good story with relatable characters. The show can move slowly when appropriate and isn't afraid to keep the scene mostly static. The music is great and well directed to capture meaningful emotional moments without being campy. The episode length of ~7 minutes is perfect, especially for families wanting to limit screen time, as it covers a quick breakfast/lunch (or laundry/dishes break) and provides a natural stopping point to move to the next activity. I can't praise it enough and just hope its success inspires more studios to avoid the brain-rot algorithmic-lead nonsense.
My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon...
> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon...
Or maybe you should! Maybe we shouldn't be making people feel bad for being emotional! Maybe it's really successful art to be making so many people feel so strongly!
She didn't touch on how visually captivating the colour scheme is for kids. It's unsettling just how much it draws their attention, it's like a drug. It's also (partly) why I prefer Peppa Pig for my 3 year old, it's much easier to him to naturally disengage after 15-20 minutes.
Such a lovely show! It’s always fun to see examples of how it takes so much intention to make something that appears simple.
For any adults who have either never heard of Bluey, or never thought of watching a “kids” show, maybe try to an episode the next time you can’t figure out what to stream next. “Sleepy time” (season 2 episode 26) is one of the most renown, but they’re all pretty good! (https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-2/sleepytime/)
As someone who has lived in Brisbane, I can attest that it does a really good job of capturing the colour of the city. There is a unique golden hour shade there like no other city I have lived in.
Mr Roger’s and Reading Rainbow will always be the best children’s programs ever made. No other show in history has been able to entertain children with real people as successfully as they were. You won’t know unless you let your children watch it. It’s just amazing because they engage with it and when you turn it off they don’t have a tantrum like many animated shows or Ms Rachel
There was a brief moderation error, in which I changed the capitalisation to "How we built Bluey’s World", assuming that the article was about the immersive attraction called "Bluey’s World" [1,2], which has been open in Brisbane since last November.
I can attest that it is incredible; we took our kid a few weeks ago and it exceeded expectation. Probably more exciting for the parents even than the kids. Strongly recommended if you can get to Brisbane or if it comes to a city near you some day.
As a Queenslander now living in the UK, seeing Bluey for the first time filled me with homesickness in a way that no other media has.
Despite the huge media industry in SEQ, it's so rare to see it actually represented as itself (rather than dressed up as Manhattan, eg). I also remember growing up and feeling that there was never really any media I could relate to; everything "Australian" is set in Sydney, Melbourne, or some non-descript outback setting. There was always a feeling of being second best - always America in the news, not Australia; always NSW or Victoria for settings, not Queensland; always Sydney or Melbourne, not Brisbane.
The first time I watched Bluey, immediately I could see not just vague Australianisms, but actual places and sights I recognised. From small details like the bus stop signs to scenes which I can pinpoint exactly in Brisbane. Combine that with stories which I don't just identify with, but which I feel I can remember viscerally.
As a life long Melbournian, I absolutely loved how intensely Brisbane Bluey is. I know from the outside many see oz as the unified thing but the differences between cities can be drastic. Even between Hobart and Launceston in Tassie is significant.
It is like the works of Stuart McMillen (https://www.stuartmcmillen.com/), and how they depict Canberra in a way the locals can really appreciate.
I actually didn't realise how Brisbane it is until I stayed at southbank and wandered around the CBD a little bit. Even curlews were new to me, I couldn't believe it when I first saw one, I thought it was a statue.
You should watch Harrow, too. It’s a bit cliched as a police procedural, but they show a “TV version” of Brisbane: everyone lives in beautiful big Queenslanders, it’s sunny all the time, etc.
I live right in Red Hill. Bluey is literally my home! This is my neighbourhood! This is the first time I've ever felt that... and its amusing to feel that as a person in my mid 30s from a childrens show.
I love Brisbane so much, and this article captures the uniqueness so well.
Bluey is by far the best children's show I've ever watched. My son and I love watching it together. It's so refreshing after having to watch Peppa Pig for a year or so before we discovered Bluey. I disliked Peppa Pig and I was relieved when my son said he no longer wish to watch it after finding Bluey.
As a companion to this, I'd recommend the podcast 20 Thousand Hertz: their two-party on the sounds of Bluey was excellent, and as a parent immersed in Bluey, really enjoyable. Seems like they put a lot of thought and care into nearly every aspect of the show.
Kudos Catriona Drummond for letting the secret out of Brisbane, and perseverance to become a visual artist. What really attracts people to Bluey is the art. Seriously, it can be on mute and it's mesmerizing (not that the music is not awesome, because it totally makes it 10x better, too).
The artistic mature here is also off the charts, to recognize that innate sense of what makes things amazing:
> Appeal is such an intangible element to visual art, I could try and harp on in some pseudo-scientific way about what I personally think creates that deep satisfaction when viewing something ‘visually appealing’. I think there’s a whole weird matrix of things firing off in our monkey brains to illicit it. But I’ll just leave it at: we know it when we see it. I wanted to make something that was truly delicious to look at.
Just seeing the sketches of the Heelers' kitchen brings a smile to my face, reminding me of one of my favorite episodes of Bluey, Pavlova. If you haven't seen it before, take the seven minutes to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERyw2dz2-ZM
Despite being a cartoon specifically aimed at little kids, it's an absolute delight. I think my wife and I like Bluey more than our toddler does, actually.
When my son was in the last stages of leukemia, Bluey was on repeat all day. He was completely immersed in that world and we, his parents were there with him too.
Now, 5 years after his death, he's little brother is also in love with the show and we watch an episode at least once a day.
There will never be another TV show like this one for those personal reasons and also because it's just too good.
I love that its Brisbane. I hate that, the parts of brisbane you see are largely financially out of reach. I used to have a house on my street that was extremely similar to the Heelers, and it sold for 2 million, then the place next door to them went for 1.7.
I spend most episodes in financial distress wondering how to practically afford the lifestyle, and how my kiddo would ever be able to afford that lifestyle.
Even in terms of Nostalgia for the older generations, the suburbs depicted were well out of reach for a friends family. His father used to tell me he dreamed of moving into one of those suburbs but it was too expensive for their combined income, where one income was an aviation engineer.
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[ 5.6 ms ] story [ 61.0 ms ] threadMy only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon...
You should try moving across the country with littles, after selling their childhood home, and then watching the finale...
Or maybe you should! Maybe we shouldn't be making people feel bad for being emotional! Maybe it's really successful art to be making so many people feel so strongly!
Cricket. Every time. .. I love it.
For any adults who have either never heard of Bluey, or never thought of watching a “kids” show, maybe try to an episode the next time you can’t figure out what to stream next. “Sleepy time” (season 2 episode 26) is one of the most renown, but they’re all pretty good! (https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-2/sleepytime/)
I can attest that it is incredible; we took our kid a few weeks ago and it exceeded expectation. Probably more exciting for the parents even than the kids. Strongly recommended if you can get to Brisbane or if it comes to a city near you some day.
[1] https://www.bluey.tv/blueys-world/
[2] https://www.bbcstudios.com/news/bluey-s-world-opens-in-brisb...
Good read so far! Chapter 3 delves more into the highs and lows of working on the show.
Despite the huge media industry in SEQ, it's so rare to see it actually represented as itself (rather than dressed up as Manhattan, eg). I also remember growing up and feeling that there was never really any media I could relate to; everything "Australian" is set in Sydney, Melbourne, or some non-descript outback setting. There was always a feeling of being second best - always America in the news, not Australia; always NSW or Victoria for settings, not Queensland; always Sydney or Melbourne, not Brisbane.
The first time I watched Bluey, immediately I could see not just vague Australianisms, but actual places and sights I recognised. From small details like the bus stop signs to scenes which I can pinpoint exactly in Brisbane. Combine that with stories which I don't just identify with, but which I feel I can remember viscerally.
As a Brit now living in Queensland, thanks for swapping places with me. Appreciated. Cheers mate. Enjoy the rain and moaning.
It is like the works of Stuart McMillen (https://www.stuartmcmillen.com/), and how they depict Canberra in a way the locals can really appreciate.
I live right in Red Hill. Bluey is literally my home! This is my neighbourhood! This is the first time I've ever felt that... and its amusing to feel that as a person in my mid 30s from a childrens show.
I love Brisbane so much, and this article captures the uniqueness so well.
Peak Qld as Qld on film was very likely the moon party in He Died With A Felafel In His Hand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gug5ViK3KSw
.. at least IMHO.
Whenever you see "America" in a tv/movie, it's actually Canada (Vancouver).
Which I found here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43816546
https://www.20k.org/episodes/thesoundofbluey
https://www.20k.org/episodes/thevoicesofbluey
The artistic mature here is also off the charts, to recognize that innate sense of what makes things amazing:
> Appeal is such an intangible element to visual art, I could try and harp on in some pseudo-scientific way about what I personally think creates that deep satisfaction when viewing something ‘visually appealing’. I think there’s a whole weird matrix of things firing off in our monkey brains to illicit it. But I’ll just leave it at: we know it when we see it. I wanted to make something that was truly delicious to look at.
Despite being a cartoon specifically aimed at little kids, it's an absolute delight. I think my wife and I like Bluey more than our toddler does, actually.
Now, 5 years after his death, he's little brother is also in love with the show and we watch an episode at least once a day.
There will never be another TV show like this one for those personal reasons and also because it's just too good.
Cute show, but it doesn't hold a candle to Phineas and Ferb.
I spend most episodes in financial distress wondering how to practically afford the lifestyle, and how my kiddo would ever be able to afford that lifestyle.
Even in terms of Nostalgia for the older generations, the suburbs depicted were well out of reach for a friends family. His father used to tell me he dreamed of moving into one of those suburbs but it was too expensive for their combined income, where one income was an aviation engineer.