Bluey show: Brisbane-made cartoon wins hearts of families

Brisbane-made cartoon juggernaut Bluey has won the hearts of parents and kids alike for its positive depiction of family values and familiar backdrops. Now, it’s hoping to showcase family life in the River City to the world.

Brisbane’s beloved animated sisters, Bingo and Bluey, with parents Bandit and Chilli are winning hearts across the globe.

Brisbane animator Joe Brumm never for a moment considered setting his homegrown hit cartoon, Bluey, in a fictional world.

“I didn’t want a generic setting. I wanted this sort of tree and this river and this and that, it just made sense to say let’s embrace Brisbane,” he says.

Children and parents across the country have revelled in seeing animated versions of Queenslander homes, jacaranda and poinciana trees, New Farm Park, CityCat ferries and native wildlife on the show.

“I’m a very proud Queenslander so we’ve got all the best parts of Brissie,” Joe says.

Fortitude Valley’s Ludo Studios created Bluey, which airs on ABC Kids.

But it’s not only the familiar local setting that has seen Bluey achieve 75 million program plays since it premiered in October 2018 — the highest figure ever for any ABC-TV show, surpassing even The Wiggles and Play School.

The big-hearted show about a family of blue and red heelers including six-year-old Bluey, four-year-old Bingo, mum Chilli and dad Bandit, has won audiences over for its joyful take on modern family life.

The second half of the first 52-episode series went to air in April and another 52 episodes will air in 2020, with three Bluey books set to hit stores before Christmas.

Bluey isn’t only a hit with kids, but parents too — something Joe set out to achieve from the start.

Brisbane animator and Bluey creator, Joe Brumm

“I wanted to flip the idea that you make cartoons just for the kids and the parents have to tolerate them. I thought ‘why not make a show, a bit like The Simpsons, where you get a broad demographic’,” he says.

Celebrating the beauty of childhood and the benefits of socio-dramatic play was another driving factor.

A father of two daughters aged seven and eight, Joe believes imaginative play is under pressure these days.

“When kids aged four to six get together and all play shops, that’s an amazing achievement. Research seems to say you learn best in a play environment at that age and some studies show up to 60 to 70 per cent of total game time is spent in negotiation of rules and roles, and I just think that’s beautiful,” he says.

Asked if he based Bandit on himself, Joe replies: “He’s a bit of an ideal. I play these games but when you do a cartoon version of it, it’s hyper. I like to think I put some of my faults into him, like he’ll be on his phone when he shouldn’t be and he wants to lie down,” he says.

A still from the "Work" episode of Bluey

Born in Winton, Joe, 40, moved to Cairns when he was five and Brisbane when he was 12. One of three boys (the middle one), his dad worked for the Department of Primary Industries and his mum was a librarian.

“I’m very close to my brothers, we’re all two years apart and we’re a very playful family. We’re always trying to make each other laugh and we’ve got dark senses of humour sometimes,” he says.

Like Bandit, Joe’s older brother, Adam Brumm, is an archaeologist.

“We loved the little joke that dogs love digging up bones,” Joe says.

When he finished school, Joe wanted to study illustration but “wasn’t good enough to get in” so opted for animation instead at Griffith University.

“I did a tour of the animation studio and they had Spider-Man up on the walls and there was a bunch of cool-looking people hanging around drawing comics and I thought ‘this is for me’,” he says.

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Brisbane-made Bluey TV series is smashing viewing

Later in London, he worked as an animator on popular children’s shows Charlie and Lola and Little Princess. He also worked on Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom at the same studio that made the international phenomenon, Peppa Pig.

“I was quietly nosy and fascinated with how each studio’s pipeline was set up,” he says.

In 2010 he returned to Brisbane and came up with a cartoon dog called Rusty based on a kelpie he had as a kid, but the colours were all wrong.

“It looked a bit like Bluey but it was black and brown. It’s a bit hard to make a kids’ show without bright colours and I remembered an old blue heeler we had in Cairns called Bluey, and I thought ‘this is great’. And then there’s red heelers as well, which was perfect because we suddenly had the sisters,” he says.

A still from "The Creek" episode of Bluey

After teaming up with Ludo Studios, they soon had the ABC helping them fund a pilot episode they presented at the Asian Animation Summit in Brisbane in 2016, where it won the best in show award.

“It was the easiest thing in the world after that. Everyone wanted it and it was just a matter of picking who would get it,” Joe says.

While the show knocks a bunch of stereotypes on the head — Bandit is an empathetic father actively involved in parenting duties and housework; Chilli works as an airport security guard; Bluey and Bingo are assertive and adventurous girls — Joe swears this wasn’t deliberate but simply a case of art imitating modern life.

“All I know is that with me and my brothers and my mates there’s a lot of work to do when kids come. I’m a real worker and so you just start doing it whether that’s laundry or whatever,” he says.

Libbie Doherty, ABC acting head of children’s content, says initially there was confusion among viewers about Bluey being a girl.

Ludo Studio co-founder/directors Charlie Aspinwall and Daley Pearson. Picture: Mia Forrest

“The sisters are expertly treated as kids without the overt stereotyping that can be prevalent in children’s content. We get a lot of comments from parents saying how refreshing it is to see Bandit reflected as an imaginative, caring and capable father who prioritises playing with his girls. Mums have also responded to Chilli revelling in her playfulness and delighted that a mother who merrily heads off to work is seen as positive,” she says.

Showing the love between Bandit and Chilli was important to Joe.

“This is a family and they love each other and their time to show that love is squeezed, so they have to do it in the midst of games and the kids get enjoyment and security out of seeing that,” he says.

Bluey is made entirely in Brisbane at Ludo Studios in Fortitude Valley, run by Charlie Aspinwall and Daley Pearson.

“Joe and I spend a lot of time chatting about our kids and what they’ve been up

to and it’s always funny to talk about that. They’re at such a beautiful age and they’re so excited to be in the world. Bluey is a celebration of childhood and parenting and the way that parents and kids belong together,” Charlie says.

Almost everyone from the animators, musicians and voice artists, including Dave McCormack of rock band Custard who voices Bandit, are originally from Brisbane.

“I don’t really have to act, I just read it — it’s pretty much my life,” Dave says.

“My daughters love it. Initially they thought it was pretty weird — ‘why’s Dad’s voice coming out of a dog on the telly?’– but now they love it and if it’s on, we’ll watch it and have a giggle.”

Dave McCormack of rock band Custard voices Bandit in ABC Kids Bluey

While the identity of the voice artists behind Bluey and Bingo is a closely guarded secret, other voice talents include radio and TV personality Myf Warhurst as Aunt Trixie, singer-songwriter Megan Washington as teacher Calypso, Joe’s younger brother Dan Brumm as Uncle Stripe and his mum, Chris Brumm, as Nana Heeler. Joe’s wife, Suzy Brumm, is also a storyboard artist on the show.

Ludo is in the final stages of securing an international deal for Bluey and is hoping for a US and UK release in December. Despite early talks about redubbing, they have decided to only proceed if the Australian voices remain.

“We had to stick to our guns,” Daley says. “We thought we’d lose everyone by saying we don’t want to redub it, the voices are perfect, but people love it because it is Australian,” Daley says.

Or more specifically, Brisbane.