By Garry Maddox
A Bluey movie is heading for cinemas as creator Joe Brumm shares the “trifficult” news that he is leaving the globally successful TV series.
The Walt Disney Co and BBC Studios have announced that the animated film will be released around the world in 2027.
The film will “continue the adventures of Bluey, a lovable, inexhaustible, blue heeler dog”, the companies said in a statement.
Brumm will write and direct it, with the voice cast including series regulars Melanie Zanetti as Bluey and Bingo’s mum, Chilli, and David McCormack as his dad, Bandit.
Brumm posted on the show’s website that he had been working on another project when “an old idea resurfaced and before I knew it, I’d written a Bluey feature script that I really love.
“Fast-forward through a tonne of contracting and we’re about to embark on making an animated Bluey movie!”
But Brumm also shared the “trifficult” news that he was leaving the series after the extended final episode, The Sign, in the third series.
“I always said I wouldn’t keep making the show if I thought I couldn’t make any new season as good as the last,” he wrote. “This would have been the case for me with a potential season four, so I’ve decided to take a break from my involvement in the TV series.
“In the event I can’t wrap my head around doing more seasons myself, The Sign will mark my TV finale for Bluey and I wrote it as such.”
Brumm wrote that Bluey had completely changed his life: “To walk away from it while it’s at such a height will seem crazy to some but, for now, I am finding it difficult to reach back genuinely into that four to six-year-old world and write authentically.
“My Bluey crew and all the creative people in my life completely understand my decision. Working with that wonderful group of people has been the absolute highlight of my animation career and I hope Bluey on their CV is a badge of pride for them.
“To be clear, this is not an announcement about the end of the show, but it is an acknowledgment that my focus will be on the film.”
Bluey executive producer Daley Pearson hinted that a film could be on the horizon when he said this year that The Sign was something of a test to see how an audience would respond to a longer format of the show.
“It’s an episode about these very important things that these characters are going through,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “It’s probably the biggest possible changes these characters have ever gone through.
“There’s a bit of experimental feel to it. Will it work? Will the audience stick with it? ... I think it’s one of the most beautiful episodes we’ve made.”
In a statement accompanying the news that Disney had acquired the world theatrical rights to the film, Brumm said he “really enjoyed the experience of working with a longer format on The Sign, so going even further with a feature film felt like a natural extension of that.
“I’ve always thought Bluey deserved a theatrical movie. I want this to be an experiential event for the whole family to enjoy together.”
Everyone’s favourite Brisbane family.
After its cinema run, the film will be streamed on Disney+, ABC iView and ABC Kids in Australia.
The TV show, developed in Queensland and commissioned by the ABC and BBC, is screened in more than 140 countries. It was this year’s most-watched series globally on Disney+, and the year’s No.1 most-watched series on streaming up to November among total viewers in the US.
As well as winning awards at the Emmys, BAFTAs, AACTAs and Logies, Bluey has won influential fans including Lin-Manuel Miranda, who told this writer last year that watching it with his two young sons was a comfort during the worst of COVID-19 in New York. He has since voiced a horse called Major Tom in an episode.
“They’re hashtag goals,” Miranda said. “Even though it’s about dogs, it feels like they’ve got a camera in our house.”
In a joint statement, Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden described Bluey as a global phenomenon.
“We are deeply grateful to Joe Brumm for creating a world that continues to inspire and delight families everywhere,” they said.
The film will be made by Happy Feet and The Lego Movie producer Amber Naismith, and Bluey series 1-3 director Richard Jeffery will co-direct.
In the US, Good Morning America on the Disney-owned ABC network flagged there would be more Bluey news later in the week. Fans on a Bluey Reddit thread speculated that this would be the official announcement of series four.
With Kate Lahey and AP
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