How old is Bluey the show? Bluey is an Australian animated preschool television series that premiered in 2018. The show follows the adventures of a six-year-old Blue Heeler puppy named Bluey and her family. Bluey is known for its clever writing, heartwarming stories, and hilarious humor.

How old is Bluey the show?

The Bluey TV show is 4 years old as of August 16, 2023. It premiered on ABC Kids in Australia on October 1, 2018. It was created by Joe Brumm and is produced by Queensland-based company Ludo Studio. The show follows the adventures of Bluey, a six-year-old Blue Heeler puppy, and her family. It has been praised for its humor, heart, and realistic portrayal of family life.

In the show, Bluey is six years old for most of the episodes. However, in the episode “Pass the Parcel”, she is shown to be seven years old. This suggests that the show takes place over a period of time, and that Bluey’s age changes slightly from episode to episode.

Bluey’s younger sister, Bingo, is four years old for most of the show. However, in the episode “Handstand”, she is shown to be five years old. This suggests that the show also takes place over a period of time, and that Bingo’s age changes slightly from episode to episode.

Overall, the Bluey TV show is a relatively young show. However, it has quickly become one of the most popular children’s shows in the world. It is praised for its humor, heart, and realistic portrayal of family life.

Learn more about Bluey

Conception

In July 2017, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) co-commissioned Bluey as an animated series for preschool children to be developed by Queensland production company Ludo Studio. The production received funding from Screen Australia and Screen Queensland, with the setting of the series drawing upon the unique semi-tropical Queensland climate.

Created by Joe Brumm, the series was inspired by his experience in raising two daughters. Brumm wanted to portray the importance of children participating in imaginative play, having witnessed his own child’s experiences, creating the title character Bluey as a Cattle Dog to give the series an Australian voice.

Brumm had previously worked on children’s programs in the United Kingdom as a freelance animator and decided to create Bluey as a replica of the program Peppa Pig for an Australian audience.

Brumm conceived the idea independently in 2016, and produced a one-minute pilot through his company Studio Joho, with a small team in their spare time. Brumm approached Ludo Studio to develop the series; co-founders Charlie Aspinwall and Daley Pearson pitched the pilot at conferences such as MIPCOM in France.

Brumm stated that the first pilot contained some “dangerous” character behaviours which drew the attention of studio executives; this included Bandit pushing Bluey and Bingo on a swing in an unsafe way. Pearson expressed that it was difficult to pitch the series as it was not high-concept; but rather “just a show about family and games”.

The studio developed a five-minute animation sample that was pitched at the Asian Animation Summit in Brisbane in 2016, and was thereby noticed by ABC and BBC executives. Michael Carrington of the ABC viewed the presentation and secured $20,000 of funding for the studio to produce a refined, seven-minute pilot.

The new pilot was presented at the Asian Animation Summit in 2017. The two networks officially ordered 52 seven-minute episodes of Bluey, with the BBC investing 30 percent of the funding and acquiring the global rights for distribution and merchandising.

The series was produced entirely in Australia by a local team, many of whom were first-time animators from Brisbane. The program was announced to premiere in Australia on ABC Kids, followed by CBeebies.

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 and another Blue Heeler named Bandit. 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”; when producing the pilot, Brumm’s daughters were aged between four and six, like Bluey and Bingo.

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.

Locations featured in the series have included Queen Street Mall and South Bank. 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 where members of production would bring their family, friends and children to watch the episode. The complete production process for an episode takes three to four months. Moor described the program’s colour palette as “a vibrant pastel”.

During the lockdown period of the 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. Production on the third series concluded in April 2022.

Characters and Voice Actors

A full list of characters can be seen here.

The child characters are voiced by children of the series’ production crew, and are not credited in order to protect their privacy.

• Dave McCormack – Bandit
• Melanie Zanetti – Chilli
• Brad Elliott – Pat
• Hsiao-Ling Tang – Bella (Shadowlands), Chloe’s Mum
• Dan Brumm – Uncle Stripe
• Myf Warhurst – Aunt Trixie, Indy’s Mum
• Ann Kerr – Mrs. Retriever
• Sam Moor – Daisy
• Charlie Aspinwall – Marcus
• Francis Stanton – Frank
• Richard Jeffery – Mackenzie’s Dad
• Jasmine Moody – Takeaway Lady
• Megan Washington – Calypso
• Meg O’Connell – Pony Lady
• Daley Pearson – Poffertje Dog, Rocko, Cinema Counter Dog
• Jake Bresanello – Cornelius
• Joff Bush – Busker, Chew B’Deube, Chattermax (in Bluey: Dance Mode!
• Joe Brumm – Gruber’s Dad, Customer
• Liana Wright – Juniper’s Mum
• Layne Beachley – Surfer
• Chris Brumm – Nana
• Ian McFadyen – Bob
• Claire Renton – Doctor (Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound)
• Charlotte Nicdao – Nurse, Checkout Lady
• Stephanie Bendixsen – Vet Corgi
• Michael Griffin – Docket Boy
• Anthony Field – Postie, Rusty’s Dad
• Stephen Lee – Customer
• Rupert Degas – Yes/No Button, Movie Voices
• Hamish Blake – Employee, Jack’s Dad
• Zoe Foster Blake – Checkout Dog, Jack’s Mum
• Beth Durack – Wendy
• Laurie Newman – Mort
• Sean Choolburra – Maynard
• Suzy Brumm – Pom Pom’s Mum
• Leigh Sales – Ice Cream Lady, Bella
• Bob Brumm – Male Grey Nomad
• Judy Newman – Female Grey Nomad
• Eliot Fish – Fido
• Robert Irwin – Alfie
• Caitlin Hill – Alfie’s Mum
• Marc Fennell – Alfie’s Boss
• Anne Pearson – Shop Assistant
• Bishanyia Vincent – Hospital Kid’s Mum
• Patrick Brammall – Uncle Rad
• Claudia O’Doherty – Aunt Frisky
• Kelly Butler – Doreen
• Vikki Ong – Snickers’ Mum
• Grant Sundin – Doctor_(Baby_Race)
• Mary Bolling – Librarian
• Kate McMahon – Library Dog
• Eva Mendes – Yoga Instructor
• Julie Baster – Bus Stop Lady
• Loren Taylor – Mackenzie’s Mum
• Darren Hanlon – Alt Energy Dog
• Emily Taheny – Wendy (Season 3)
• Jess Harris – Sheila
• Anna Daniels – Janelle
• Adele Vuko – Jasper’s Mum
• Greta Lee Jackson – Buddy’s Mum
• Jane Hall – Rusty’s Mum
  Shauna Corrigan – Sat Nav
• Nani Thomann – Backpacker
• Brice Pennetair – Backpacker 2
• Matt Brown – Ziggy
• Natalie Portman – Whale Documentary Narrator
• Sam Simmons – Bob (young)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda – Major Tom
• Miranda Tapsell – Dougie’s Mum
• Rose Byrne – Brandy
• Sam Cotton – Chippy
• Mick Molloy – Sparky
• Margot Knight – Old Pug
• David Murry – Shopper
• Ray Warren – Commentator
• Johnathan Thurston – Commentator
• Gordon Bray – Commentator
• Adam Hills – Commentator
• Neil Finn – Doctor (Exercise)
• Mick Fanning – Surfer (Show And Tell)
• Kate Miller-Heidke – Chilli’s Mum
• Carrie Bickmore – Terrier’s Mum

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