Bluey
2018 · TV series · 7 min episodes · 4 seasons
Created by Joe Brumm
Bluey is an inexhaustible six year-old Blue Heeler dog, who loves to play and turns everyday family life into extraordinary adventures, developing her imagination as well as her mental, physical and emotional resilience.
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178 comments on Hacker News
"In a fight, who would win, Pikachu or Spongebob Squarepants?
What is the best episode of Bluey?
What are the IRS' exact rules for claiming office space as a deduction on my tax return?
Where can I stream Sesame Street for free?"
Ah, ad dodging, the true 21st century gridiron.
> The Pirate Bay is considered one of the worst pirate sites now
I'm curious. What are the best sites nowadays? Still torrents, right?
I used to be in the know but switched to legit things a while back so I wouldn't have to explain how dad is getting Bluey episodes.
Becoming another individual’s whole world changes your own, for better or worse.
I was a “such is life” type of person when experiencing tragedy, and fairly ho-hum during joyous moments. With kids, something changed, or “rewired”. I tear up at Bluey episodes and lose sleep due to irrational fears of an early death and not witnessing moments in my kids’ lives.
Having and raising kids is a trip.
It amazes me that people still use and recommend Cloudflare's DNS servers for resolution. Cloudflare DNS does not support EDNS Client Subnet. As a result, DNS queries resolved by their service are likely to return IP addresses for many CDNs that are physically farther away from you, leading to a slower internet browsing and viewing experience.
Sacrificing performance for a faster lookup time makes no sense in 2026. This is the one area where I continue to use Google DNS as it just works. Use anything but Cloudflare in this case, please.
Parent pro-tip: Next time the iPad is having Bluey episode playback issues, check to see if you're actually using Cloudflare DNS.
I am using whisper transcription via the Groq API to transcribe the files in parallel. But (caveat), I cut out the transcription step and had the models operate on a shared transcript folder. So the times you see are pure search and categorization times.
re. your question about the approach – they all took on the problem in different ways that I found fascinating.
Codex Spark was so fast because it noticed that bluey announces the episode names in the episode ("This episode of Bluey is called ____.") so, instead of doing a pure matching of transcript<->web description, it cut out the title names from the transcripts and matched only that with the episode descriptions.
The larger models were more careful and seemed to actually try to doublecheck their work by reading the full transcripts and matching them against descriptions.
gpt-5.2 went through a level of care that wasn't wrong, but was unnecessary.
Sonnet 4.5 (non-thinking) took the most frustrating approach. It tried to automate the pairing process with scripting to match the extracted title with the official title via regex. So, instead of just eyeballing the lists of extracted and official titles to manually match them, it relied purely on the script's logging as its eyes. When the script failed to match all 52 episodes perfectly, it went into a six-iteration loop of writing increasingly convoluted regex until it found 52 matches (which ended up incorrectly matching episodes). It was frustrating behavior, I stopped the loop after four minutes.
In my mind, the "right way" was straightforward but that wasn't borne out by how differently the llms behaved.
First thoughts using gpt-5.3-codex-spark in Codex CLI:
Blazing fast but it definitely has a small model feel.
It's tearing up bluey bench (my personal agent speed benchmark), which is a file system benchmark where I have the agent generate transcripts of untitled episodes of a season of bluey, perform a web search to find the episode descriptions, and then match the transcripts against the descriptions to generate file names and metadata for each episode.
Downsides:
- It has to be prompted to do actions in my media library AGENTS.md that the larger models adhere to without additional prompting.
- It's less careful with how it handles context which means that its actions are less context efficient. Combine that with the smaller context window and I'm seeing frequent compactions.
Bluey Bench (minus transcription time):
gpt-5.3-codex-spark low 20s gpt-5.3-codex-spark medium 41s gpt-5.3-codex-spark xhigh 1m 09s (1 compaction)
gpt-5.3-codex low 1m 04s gpt-5.3-codex medium 1m 50s
gpt-5.2 low 3m 04s gpt-5.2 medium 5m 20s
opus-4.6 (no thinking) 1m 04s
On the other hand, it depends on what kind of movie you're making and who the target group is.
Say you're making children's videos like Cocomelon or Bluey in 3D, you don't need all these nice things.
At the end, movies are about the stories, not just pretty graphics.
> And to say nothing of the shoddy quality of their TV shows. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse's lazy CG animation and unimaginative storytelling is shocking given Mickey is supposed to be their signature character.
≤4-year-olds do not care: there's bright colours and motion, and some semblance of story. The point is not to give some kind of lesson, but to distract/entertain (and probably release dopamine). See also Paw Patrol, Spidey Amazing Friends, PJ Masks, etc. None of these seem to have made any attempt at having a 'layer' that appeals to adults.
In some ways I equate this animation style with the algorithmic social media system: meant for 'quick hits'.
Contrast with (e.g.) Bluey.
> Bluey isn't reaching development milestones when he should be
She should be. Bluey and Bingo are sisters.
The show is extremely good, and when my kids were around that age, we all watched together. Hard to explain to your 6 year old why you are bawling your eyes out, but it does lead to some important conversations. It’s also an inspiration to be a better parent, particularly for Dads. Thank you Bandit.
I don’t know if any of this stuff will hit if you aren’t a parent. It hits right into the heart of all those things people tell you “you can’t understand if you don’t have kids”.
It’s an objectively good show though, I found myself watching it even when the kids weren’t around. There are still some episodes I can’t watch; but you’d need to have had those experiences to understand.
> Bluey is the saving grace there
I somehow had never heard about Bluey until TheOdd1sOut (YouTuber who does hilarious 10-15 minute video on slice-of-life topics) did a video about it.
https://youtu.be/nEQHiJVH79o
The TL;DW is that Bluey is a kids show that not only recognizes that the parents will likely be in the room while the show is on and therefore will occasionally have lines that are meant for them, but will actually tackle tough topics that children and their families may be dealing with. For example, in one episode, Bluey's mom is despairing because Bluey isn't reaching development milestones when he should be, she's blaming herself, and another character comes to console her, and the character looks directly towards the viewer and says "You're doing great!"
I'm almost tempted to actually watch the show even though I don't have kids.
> Some shows and movies seem harmless, initially, but then we noticed in so many kids movies (e.g., Zootopia, Sing), they're always yelling at each other, expressing anger, frustration, and hostility towards one another.
My kids are similar. Years ago I actually just unplugged the TV and put it behind some furniture for 3 months because I was so fed up. It calmed them down a lot (this was after Covid lockdowns, when we'd just given them too much TV) but still - it flares up.
I do think a lot of kids tv is either straight addictive (e.g. Cocomelon) or depicts how kids would like to behave, e.g. in how they talk to adults rudely (e.g. how they talk to the dad in Peppa Pig), or they're always right and the adults are wrong (too may examples to name). Bluey is the saving grace there, as it depicts healthy and respectful relationships, but it's very unusual.
It's remarkably easy to get ChatGPT to hallucinate. A go-to for me is to ask it about factual things as compared to other factual things. The description of the Bluey episode is wrong in nearly every possible way. Additionally, the response continues on analyzing in multiple ways, and again continues to get the fundamental facts and therefore the analysis wrong.
Prompt: Compare the Space episode of Bluey to Interstellar
Response: That’s a really fun and surprisingly fitting comparison! Let’s break down how Bluey’s “Space” episode parallels Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar — both emotionally and thematically — even though one is a 7-minute preschool cartoon and the other a 3-hour sci-fi epic.
1. Core Theme: Love Across Distance
Interstellar: The film centers on a father (Cooper) who leaves his daughter (Murph) to save humanity, exploring how love transcends time and space — literally. The emotional heart of Interstellar is the bond between parent and child that endures despite impossible separation.
Bluey: “Space” In this episode, Bluey, Bingo, and their dad (Bandit) play an imaginative game where they’re astronauts who have to separate to save their mission. The moment Bluey and Bandit must say goodbye echoes that same emotional tension — the pain of letting go but also the love that motivates sacrifice.
Parallel: Both stories use the setting of outer space as a metaphor for emotional distance — how people we love can feel far away, and how connection can bridge that gap.
We're back to whatever forms of trade you can source locally in that case, but that should not surprise anyone who observes regions that are actually in crisis, because that is how the economy functions in those regions. You do your best to do something nice for your neighbors and they do their best to do something nice for you, and anything that requires global trade or supply lines simply doesn't happen.
Having a copy of your own medical records could be critically important if suddenly your friend who is a doctor is now your doctor because there's nobody else.
Money tends to be worthless is such situations anyway - it's backed by the full faith and credit of a government that best case no longer cares about you and worst case no longer exists. So you aren't going to worry about your bank account, nobody will accept credit or debit anyway.
There is a whole lot of other data on the Internet that can be very, very useful in such situations. Even just having a few hundred hours of collected kids TV shows means you can sit them down in front of Bluey while the adults do stuff that is critical for survival. Knowing how to build a smelter and bellows out of clay that you can find locally means you can restart metal production in a matter of days rather than thousands of years. Knowing what the local plant species are and which are edible might keep you from starving. Knowing how to scavenge parts and wiring, as well as what their datasheets are and how you need to hook them up, means you can fix broken electronics and potentially create new ones, which gives you continuing access to knowledge.
Thank you, such a good episode. I adore bluey writing
Theres a video somewhere of some guy reviewing Bluey and Peppa.
"This episode of bluey is about the trauma of growing up and experiencing change with references to these 3 popular films"
"And in the episode Peppa goes to the beach, Peppa pig... goes to the beach"
I finally watched an episode of Bluey because of this post. Bluey is a girl! Who knew?
Cute show, but it doesn't hold a candle to Phineas and Ferb.
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 can't think of another cartoon targeted at that young an audience that I'd even consider sitting down and watching a half-dozen episodes of without a kid around, but I can imagine doing that with Bluey. Like I've for-sure left it running for multiple episodes after the kids left the room, and enjoyed it.
Older-audience stuff like Avatar: The Last Airbender or Justice League Unlimited, oh yeah, for sure, but something specifically aimed at lower-grades elementary school kids? Nope, can't think of another, not even nostalgia shows from my own childhood. I'd maybe do an episode just like "oh wow, remember this?" but not a session watch.
My daughter started commenting on people's appearance around age 5+ because she learned it from Peppa Pig. Everyone always talks down to and about the Daddy pig constantly. They try to incorporate some 'good' behaviors in the story but certain 'it's just a joke' jokes end up leaving more impressions on the kid than the shoehorned moral of the story. It took us a while to teach her how it can hurt others if you comment on things (even if they are technically factual statements). On the other hand, she learned some simple but useful things from Bluey that we weren't successful in teaching effectively. e.g. She learned to speak up and tell when Dad(me) was overdoing 'fun' things (literally an episode with exact same concept where Bingo has to tell her dad the same thing). She learned to be compliment and acknowledge many things verbally (instead of saying 'why do I need to say it, they know it already').
> Bluey takes some weight off as you realise (and talk to other parents about Bluey) that some things are just universal and you're possibly doing better than you think.
No question, the I can't count the number of times I've sent the "Baby Race" to other parents who ask me "When did your kid start to talk?"
We watch the Bluey bike whenever the kids say "I can't do it!" or the Dad can't draw episode.
Or the curry quest, when I had to travel for work (after all the pandemic "no work travel").
Bluey's dad is an inspiration, like the puppets episode is so funny & I keep saying "Bauxite" in random times without context.
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.
Non-parents don't realize just how exactly toddlers and young children will mimic what they see; they don't see Bluey and decide to play 'keepy uppy' they see Bluey and decide to act out the entire episode, word for word, scene for scene.
And then you realize why Peppa being a bit of a brat sometimes can be an issue.
Peppa just feels like one more of those random grab bag of terrible kids shows. There's no comfort like bluey has, no quiet episodes. It's just noise for the children, with rather dumb, flat characters
My kids will watch it, if someone like Grandma or the neighbor put it on, but their attention wanders. Bluey? They stay locked on for the entire duration of the episode
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.
https://www.20k.org/episodes/thesoundofbluey
https://www.20k.org/episodes/thevoicesofbluey
Part of the problem is selling into America - as an American, I can recognize London (smog and Sherlock Holmes!), Paris (Eiffel Tower), Sydney (Seashell Opera House), and New Zealand (Middle Earth).
I can't recognize Brisbane (and visiting it would feel like visiting Bluey).
Producers are SCARED of using unrecognizable areas (and/or for live-action, just film near where everyone is located).
If it makes you feel better, the USA has tons of large cities - far north of 100k, north of 1 million (especially if considering urban areas), that rarely or ever get featured in TV or movies; and if they do, it's often older ones.
Which is sad, mind you. Every city should have its own feel (too many places now feel like suburbs of Los Angeles, even in Europe or Asia), its own beer, its own food, its own media and music.
Even if Bluey was strange Australian propaganda to make fatherhood desirable and respectable, it still wins because it actually works at it.
Avoiding the "dumb sitcom dad" has been done before a few times, and well (Bob Parr of Incredibles; Stoick the Vast of How to Train Your Dragon; King Fergus of Brave could be some examples) - but Bandit just is a dad; he's not perfect, he's not brilliant - but he's there (except when he has to leave) and he loves - his children, his wife, himself.
And even though he says "I'm not taking advice from a cartoon dog" we all end up doing so.
I know I’m the odd one out, but I really don’t find Bluey that wholesome (with the exception of two episodes - the rain one and the Bingo sleeping/space one, which I do think are fantastic). The others are very frenetic - it feels like a pure hit of sugar in television form. It also often shows a lot of bad behaviour that kids can interpret as funny (the cousin running away with the phone after being told, the old lady buying the scooter).
Peppa might be “empty” but I don’t worry that it’s inadvertently steering him in the wrong direction. The Peppa books are also far, far better than the Bluey books.
Peppa pig has little to no value though, whereas many people find Bluey wholesome and touching and sometimes really poignant. To each their own, but at least Bluey tries to encourage creativity and play and fun beyond jumping up and down in muddy puddles. The short episode length can be a natural disengage checkpoint with Bluey too, as long as auto play is turned off.
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/)
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...
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.
>> My designs have generated roughly 2 billion dollars for the people lucky enough to be cashing in on it. Not bad surplus value for someone on an 88k salary.
I have seen every episode dozens of times (I have young grandkids who love it which has caused me to appreciate it beyond any other kids show I have ever seen). It’s certainly visually wonderful, with some really beautiful, innovative, and wonderful animation sequences (Sleepytime, Rain, Faceytalk come to mind). She is not giving enough credit here to the writing and messaging that is really IMO responsible for this show’s success. Lots of animated shows are visually amazing, but they don’t bring the beauty that Bluey does…which to me is wrapped around the amazing father that Bandit Heeler is to his kids…and it’s immersive into childlike imagination and world. That is the writing, the meat and potatoes, the animation design is the gravy.
Semi Related 20khtz episodes that are delightful:
The Voices of Bluey w/ Uncle Stripe https://www.20k.org/episodes/thevoicesofbluey
The Organic Sound of Bluey w/ Sound Designer Dan Brumm https://www.20k.org/episodes/thesoundofbluey
I love the books, I have read them all to my kids, and I agree that I think the article takes its thesis too far.
The books are strange tales. They have dark undertones. And sometimes the adults take actions that only someone with life experience would really understand (e.g. Moominpappa wanting to suddenly upend everything in the families life and move to an isolated island). But, my kids mostly pick up on the adventure and the friendships.
I feel that the Moomins are like most media that is enjoyable by both children and parents in this way (e.g. Bluey, Pixar films, etc.).
Nobody seems to have mentioned it, so I thought it deserved credit...
I am fairly sure that the episode "Handstand":
https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-2/handstand/
... in which Nana can't actively help with the party, and nobody will take the time to watch Bingo's handstand, is an intentional homage to an (at the time) award-winning Ariston TV advert from 1970s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUVs7vXNZiw
Its video-game themed music, and ground-breaking video editing, looping a clip while adding more and more characters and action each repetition, was mind-blowing ~40 years ago.
I remember one of the bluey episodes (something to do with monkey bars?) used ode to joy a few times throughout, and in the credits simply had "music by Ludwig". A very cute nod.
I'll echo this for anyone else in the comments -- You can watch the cricket episode with 0 knowledge of the show and 0 knowledge of cricket. If you haven't ever seen Bluey - it's a great example as to why so many speak so highly of it. If you haven't seen bluey but want to see what the fuss is (and especially if you have any interest in sports) -- it's only 7 minutes long and absolutely worth watching.
We have two young kids, and have friends and family who are enamored with Bluey. Every time we're over they put it on because they need us to like it too. I've seen so many episodes because everyone puts it on when we're over and I just... don't... get it. My children's attention isn't captured by it, and neither my wife nor I enjoy it.
The kids in the show are just kind of annoying, needy and of out of control. Things I don't want my kids to emulate. The parents feed into it and treat the behavior like it's ok. I also don't feel like the stories have particularly great takeaways for kids most of the time.
It's a minor gripe but I really find the staccato melodica theme song full of awkward pauses to be quite grating.
Everyone is free to like what they like. You are free to love Bluey. I just wish people would stop trying to make us like it, and stop making us watch it.
I found this thread really interesting because of the variety of peoples' favorite episodes and particularly which episodes evoked an emotional response. Some episodes named don't resonate with me at all, which just goes to show how we all have such different life experiences.
"Rain" is my favorite. The shots, the story, the music, the lack of dialog. "The Sign" was my biggest tearjerker.
Also, I came across this musician who makes great EDM remixes of Bluey songs, I recommend checking him out: https://www.youtube.com/@MicJaiy/search?query=bluey
Twenty Thousand Hertz (sound design podcast) had episode about Bluey with its sound designer Dan Brumm last year.
https://www.20k.org/episodes/thesoundofbluey
Rain and Rainbow... the best music ever, even among all of Bluey episodes. That episodes takes me back to my childhood. Just listen to these:
Rain - https://youtu.be/U7Pvxqe2JvM
Rainbow - https://youtu.be/j1E8C_qLjbk
Agreed. My three-year-old's favorite episode, by far. Realizing how artistically ambitious and just plain good Bluey is has been an interesting lesson in how kids actually do have good taste/interesting preferences as long as you don't bombard them with the Cocomelons of the world.
My daughter likes to say "that makes me happy... and sad!" at the end of a particularly artistic episode, like Sleepytime, the wordless one where it rains, or the final episode ("The Sign" - the Citizen Kane of children's television).
> One thing I really appreciate about the show is the music [...]
The music is great but many shows have great music. What makes Bluey stand out for me is their commitment to 'avant-garde' formal constraints.
Some examples:
- In the episode 'Faceytalk' they never once break from the perspective of the iPad.
- In 'Rain' there's not a single word of audible dialog.
- In 'Turtle Boy' there's lots of sign language. Remember, characters in Bluey only have four fingers. The people making the show rose to the challenge of creating proper dialogue using only signs you can make with four fingers. I imagine that's about equivalent to writing English text without the latter 'e'. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Void)
Especially since having a second child start growing up, I've realized it's actualy four stories, often all compelling at once. There's Bluey's story, and there is the dad's and mom's story, but there is also Bingo's story, about being the younger child. My younger kid loves the episode called "Bingo", which is specifically about Bingo.
Bluey is a show for everyone. Even if you don’t have kids it’s worth watching.
In Aus, among the most traditional and emotionally hardest of hard men includes the cricket community. It involves physical pain “suck it up!” And psychological warfare and abuse.
Bluey reduced most of them to tears in episode 47 of season 3. Directed right at them and if you’re not a cricketer it will be tough to see why it’s extraordinary. Just a huge wow of a piece of writing for those of us who grew up with the game and its associated culture.
In Bluey, it’s all great, all of it. But the writing is something beyond that.
This is what stuck out to me when I first watched it. Sleepytime is a masterpiece not only for the music but the whole episode. Everything about it is perfect. The pacing, the feelings, the moments, even the humor (Jupiter's giant spot).
It gets me every single time.
Many bluey episodes are like this. But Sleepytime especially stands out.
Bluey helped me out immensely at my research job. I was watching it with my daughter and in the episode, the father says, "Obstacles don't block the path. They are the path." It was a big ah-ha! moment that completely changed my attitude about the frustration I was having in my research. Then looking at my journal notes, it was all about obstacles and how to work through and around them, and that shift in perspective really accelerated my work.
20k hertz did some interviews with the Bluey creators,
https://www.20k.org/episodes/thesoundofbluey
Neet to see something start from a idea and grown to be so big and still manage to keep humble.
There's an episode where the father is trying to teach Bluey to play chess. It is implied by the mother that he's only doing that because "all smart kids play chess, therefore she should learn chess."
The teaching fails, not because she doesn't understand but because she and Bingo end up making up the fantasy of the game. (To the point that sacrificing a piece is a shock and abhorrent).
It ends up with the mother intervening, beating the dad at the game and saying "Work on the heads later, for now, just hearts."
So to you, I say: Bill Nye, yes. Bluey, yes too. Each in their own time... If the kids feel like it.
Some of this comes from watching Bluey in a literal fever binge and believing I wrote a PhD dissertation on the show because it touched so many half-forgotten things from my Masters Degree's "individual studies": I think an interesting thing to Bluey is that it is not just a "show about nothing". It's not just the daily lives and family dynamics, it actually has a central point embedded in even the studio name (Ludo Studios), which is the importance of play and games (Ludo relates to the latin for play from which we also get modern fancy terms like ludology, the study of games, and ludonarrative dissonance, the difference between what a game's story is trying to tell and what its mechanics and play style is telling), not just for fun (but also for fun), but in learning good conflict resolution and safely exploring your identity and your relationships with others and things you might want to be or grow up to do and understanding complex systems by analyzing their rulesets and playstyles and more.
There's always at least one game in every episode. It hit me early in my fever dream of a binge watch: even the intro is itself a game. One of the many simple "freeze"/"simon says"/"red light/green light"/"musical chairs" variants (the show calls it "statues" in one episode), dance while the music plays and freeze when the music stops and if you move while you are supposed to be frozen you lose. (I cheered loudly at the first episode where Bluey doesn't win the intro game. It was a lovely reward for never skipping the intro.)
There's so many good lessons about games as a lifelong tool scattered across nearly every episode, as a part of what makes the family dynamics so bright and exciting.
In the Flatpak episode, he rolls his eyes and states, "I'm not taking advice from a cartoon dog!" The episode is mostly about how Bluey takes after the parents in a game where she's raising Bingo through adulthood while they also go from fishes through dinosaurs to modern humans, er, dogs.
This show is so good on so many levels.
For parents, most definitely. I have a hard time sitting through a Caillou episode. Bluey is also way more authentic, in that interactions could really happen exactly like that in real life. Compared directly, Caillou seems synthetic.
Yeah Pixar does it a lot, and Bluey, and Peppa Pig a little. But it's really uncommon in kids TV shows. 99% of them are straight up dross just for kids with no accomodation for parents.
That's why Bluey is so popular. It's the only good TV program for adults that kids will also watch. (And I agree it's only super popular for adults, kids are way more into trash like Blippi.)
My kids love Bluey too.
When they were little they loved it because there were cartoon animals laughing and playing.
When they were slightly older they loved it because the jokes were funny.
And when they got a little older still, they loved it because the silly things the parents did in the show reminded them of the silly things us parents do. So they’ll often call out “that’s what you do daddy!” during the episodes.
The show is a work of genius because it feels like a slice of real life but packaged in a way that is entertaining for kids. So I do completely agree that it has a lot of appeal for adults too, and that definitely helps.
Pete the Cat is also great, however the 7 minute Bluey episodes (and ~3 minute "minisodes") is very nice. Pete the Cat runs 23 minutes.
All that said, I have been known to adjust the playback speed on YouTube to get the total play length of Bluey to a convenient length for a given situation.
> But they also enjoy many things on TV and bluey doesn't stick out that much.
Fwiw my kids (9 - 12) watched every episode at least 4 times already by now. Especially my youngest thinks it's 10x better than anything else on offer. In terms of categories, there's basically Bluey, and everything else. Just to say, tastes differ.
I agree it's a great show for parents too but the idea that it doesn't stick out much for the kids doesn't resonate with me. There's so many details, so many layers, so much to discover.
The post you replied to is a reference to Bandit saying "it's just monkeys singing songs, mate", when he goes to the movies with Bluey.
Bluey is like Seinfeld.
It's timeless, everyone gets a laugh (including parents) and is a "show about nothing" (just the daily lives of family dynamics).
As a parent, I really appreciate the show and no other show can compare.
(For those who haven't seen it, it's more akin to a family sitcom than a traditional kids show/cartoon)
I think that's it. They've found a balance in "family" entertainment that is sophisticated enough to please adults, much the way Pixar and 90s Disney films had. The Simpsons at outset was also sort of like this for older kids. There was moral panic at the time, but it didn't prevent the show from being an incredible phenomenon, heavily merchandised the way Bluey is now. I must have been obsessed with the Simpsons since 7-8 years old.
And do they only watch science shows teaching STEM subjects? Or do they get to watch shows that have some emotional lessons as well? If so, what shows?
I think people are reacting because Bill Nye is not even remotely in the same category. It has a different kind of value, and frankly it’s not as important as the kind of value kids get from Bluey.
It’s very nice if kids learn science. Great even. But the most important things kid can get from TV shows (if anything, it’s okay to watch things for fun as well) is to learn social skills. Bluey has a lot of that, and it does it without being annoying about it like Daniel Tiger. It’s a good balance
Bluey may have done more for fathers (and families) than anything in recent history. So many are dealing with fatherhood without having a role model themselves, and everything on TV being "fat dumb lovable idiot" sitcom-types.
The episode "The Sign" is an incredibly deep story from multiple angles.
Fun fact, Rusty was originally going to be the main character. And if you put Bluey next to Rusty, you'll see they're the same shape, just colored differently.
And yeah, absolutely amazing episode.
Different Bluey episodes resonate with different people for different reasons, but the Cricket episode from Season 3 is just about as perfect an episode of a kid's show as I've ever seen. In about 7 minutes it manages to tackle how being passionate about one of your interests or hobbies and sticking with it even when you experience setbacks pays off.
As a kids show bluey is adequate. However, I suspect its secret is that it's really a show for parents with young children that just happens to hold the attention of kids.
My daughters like bluey (ages 3-8). But they also enjoy many things on TV and bluey doesn't stick out that much.
On the other hand, I happened to be in the room for an episode where blueys dad is having a hard time making some sort of cake and bluey cleans up something to help him out without being prompted. I most definitely felt heard watching that episode.
I don't watch movies or TV shows very much.
For TV shows I keep going back to the same ones I loved, that is the X-Files. And I can't even think of a second one I'd go back to watch...damn there is really no other TV show I'm going to watch, unless you count kids show such as Bluey.
For movies I'm also going back to the ones I loved to watch. I think I did add maybe a few throughout the years, but it's safe to say that most of the movies in my library are older than 10 years old.
The thing about movies and shows is, reality can be weirder and more interesting. Most of the movies and TV shows are pretty naive when they try talking about politics or such.
While I find Bluey fun and so does my child, in many of the episodes the children are loud and frantic. I've also noticed my kid whining in the same way Bluey and Bingo do.
In trying to find calmer shows, two I like are Tumble Leaf and Guess How Much I Love You. Tumble Leaf has a stop-motion look and every episodes involves finding and object and using it to solve a problem. Guess How Much I Love You has a watercolor look and is about a rabbit family and pretty calm. I don't enjoy those as much as Bluey, but I enjoy how my kid behaves after watching them.
I'd like to find more like those two if anybody knows any.
I'll add to the chorus of praise for Bluey here. I've never seen a show before so close to my actual life. There's one episode where Bandit pretends to be a crane game, and it blew me away because I had done exactly the same thing with my own daughter just a few weeks before! It captures being a kid and being a parent in a way that is so real. Most kids content doesn't have the courage to be realistic in that way, they just want to sell toys or ad impressions. My daughter is five now and on the verge of outgrowing it, and I wish we had started watching this show together sooner.
I have a 10 month old daughter and she mostly loves Bluey for the theme song. However when she watched Sleepytime (an episode of Bluey) with me for the first time she was absolutely glued to the screen. Bluey is the only show I let her watch along with Ms. Rachel every once in awhile.
Bandit (the Dad in the show) has inspired me to be a better Dad and a better husband. I’ve heard people complain that his character sets unrealistic expectations, but if you shift your mindset a little I believe it is totally possible.
One of, if not the greatest kids and parents shows I’ve seen.
I've noticed nearly every Bluey episode has parallel stories. I think this is part of what makes it so entertaining for adults- kids are excited by the obvious message, while parents who need more to keep them stimulated enjoy watching the threads interweave. The writing is simply the best.
Glad you drew this comparison. I have a 4yo who (TLDR) we didn't really push TV on and started reading on his own when he was two.
Before he was born I put a lot of thought into what he would watch before he was born assuming it would be a huge necessity to address. I torrented Mr Rodgers and Reading Rainbow and Eureka (amazing old science cartoon if anyone's encountered it) and I even started writing a script that would randomly select from these and automatically turn off after 1-3 episodes.
Basically I am shocked at how wrong I was. He had no natural interest in TV beyond a few minutes, even if we were watching something. We didn't have a reason to push it, when he did see newer kids media like Bluey / Cocomelon etc he would zombie out exactly as you described and then have noticeably crappier behavior for a while after we would have to have a minor battle to turn it off. Felt like microwaving his brain and we had no reason to push it on him so we didn't. After a few days he would never miss it. We let him watch stuff at friend's houses and still pop on old stuff that I downloaded once every week or two. Same basic behavior / problems. We always back off for the same reasons.
I grew up on TV and I don't judge parents who legitimately love watching TV with their kids or need it as a babysitter because of demanding schedules or absent child care assistance. It is an incredible tool in a culture that often separates extended families and discourages grandparents from playing active daily supportive roles.
But yeah for whatever reason our kid started reading independently when he was two, got really interested in languages, got his basic operators down while he was 2-3 and has never had any serious behavioral or developmental problems and other parents are always asking us what we did to accelerate his development and make him such a genius.
We didn't do anything unnatural, we just didn't intentionally push him to watch a lot of TV. He still watches stuff, we still watch stuff. It's just on a laptop and ends when he starts turning into a zombie.
With that said Bluey seems fine to me, my kids the one with the weird zombie reaction. And disclaimers all kids are different, I'm incredibly lucky to work from home on a schedule where I get to hang out with him all the time and I'm pretty sure regardless of zombie Cocomelon watching his generations problems are not going to be rooted in them zonking out on TV but who knows.
Bluey is easily the best children's TV. I mean I'd barely class it as children's TV; it's good by adult standards.
It's a bit annoying really because there isn't anything else like it at all. I would say the closest things are Pixar films which manage to appeal to adults and children. I'm not aware of any TV like that though. Apart from Bluey we're stuck with trash like Paw Patrol, Bing, Blippi, etc.
There are a small number that are not extremely annoying, but you still wouldn't actually want to watch them: Gabby's Dollhouse, Puffin Island, maybe Hey Duggee.
The first episode I ever saw was "Takeaway" (dad and kids are waiting 5 minutes outside the Chinese takeaway restaurant). It so perfectly hit on not only the actual experiences from my life but how it _felt_ in the moment that I think I laughed until I cried. Then immediately made my wife watch it.
The episode referenced in the article ("Whale Watching" about the parents being hungover) is another that, while not my favourite or anything, is certainly one of those experiences you probably have as a parent that nobody's really talking about or making media about. Bluey's managing to be entertaining and wholesome for kids while hitting on a mostly untapped niche of "relatable parenting experiences".
With how much "junk food" TV is out there, Bluey's a real gem. For kids and parents alike.
As a father of two daughters, I'm convinced the writers of Bluey have cameras in my house /s. There are so many times we have had a similar experience to one of the episodes. As my kids are now older than Bluey and Bingo, they still get excited when a new episode is released. We love Bluey in our house.
Hey Duggee is lovely. The imagery is on the vivid and trippy side, but the voice acting is top-notch with creative stories. Most importantly, it lacks the deliberate tweaking for engagement Cocomelon does.
At six my son currently has one Bluey episode (in English, simply to emerse him in another language he will pick up in any case later on) and one Shaun the Sheep after school (that's a combined twenty minutes or so). Shaun hits the exact spot in terms of humour for six year olds, and is brilliant with none of the characters actually speaking.
Bluey has the advantages of being dogs - Bandit and Bluey are identical except in size.
They’re also short episodes so they don’t feel too involved.
The newer Bluey episode "The Sign" made me ugly cry.
Miraculous changes a lot in the later seasons. I'm saying this because while our kids were very much into the first 2 seasons, it was me and my wife who got hooked for the other 3 seasons. The first 2 seasons are also full of fillers if you want, I don't shy away from skipping them when I'm alone, but we did watch it all with our kids.
We had a good time with it. Not sure if you watched it all, I'm looking forward the next season to see how the plot unravels.
But I'll definitely check Bluey :)
That being said, I wish there was a genre tagged as "engaging for adults, fun for kids": there are a bunch of movies and shows along these lines, but they aren't tagged in any other way.
Another genre that exists but I can't find is "boring for kids but child-friendly", basically any tv show that says stuff they can't properly follow, doesn't have action scenes, but has a convoluted plot for adults. On the top of my mind I can think of Shrinking (my kids still don't understand cursing in english, only italian, so this is great), but I remember there was an even better one that I can't think of right now.
The Rain episode is pretty cool too. It has almost no words apart from the goodbye at start. The good thing about bluey is that it teaches kids to do mischievous things and gives you ideas to do fun activities with kids.
https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-3/rain/
Bluey is next-level. S-tier television. It’s wholesome, calm, and entertaining. Episodes like Camping, Baby Race, Cricket, and Onesies are all emotional sucker-punches to the adults watching. (My pet theory, which my wife first suggested: Camping is essentially the Star Trek TNG episode Darmok.)
Watching the Cricket episode made me tear up. https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-3/cricket/
I watched a few episode of Bluey and I feel they are really great for parents. So great that I think they are meant for parents, not children...
Bluey is much more wholesome than Miraculous. Not a judgement thing, my eldest watches Miraculous too and I don't really have a problem with it. It's just not on the same level as Bluey. A huge plus for parents is also that Bluey is WAY more engaging for adults. Far and away my favourite program to watch with my kids. Some episodes really pull at the heart strings.
I've head the kinds TV show Bluey is especially good for dogs as it's mostly in their visible colour spectrum - I must say, our dog does seem to watch it when we have children over and it's on.
Cool, also yeah, what a coincidence! We had the same thing with books. My wife and I really suspected that he was somewhat reading until we figured out that he memorized the shapes of the sentences, so individual words or the same sentence in a different font wouldn't be recognized. It's fascinating to witness how a human brain evolves.
Also, about Bluey... The little guy has limited screen time so he can only see an episode or two per day, but I really want to keep watching even when he can't lol. I literally fell off the sofa laughing in the episode where they are trying to lick each others ice cream while the waltz music from the Nutcracker plays :)
that's wild. I find that my.... 27-month old daughter (heh, what a coincidence) also recognises the titles of bluey episodes pretty easy..
we can be scrolling a list of bluey episodes, and she knows what they are by the words.. "what episode do you want to watch?" "curry quest!" - sure enough, that's what it's called and that's what the title is
all of the pictures are some form of the characters doing something, so i find them fairly indistinguishable... I haven't tried letting her pick one without the picture, which will be the real test i guess.
I beg to differ. I prefer being able to search and select and instantly watch whatever I (or the kids) want (due to high reliability of broadband internet), over transporting physical media back and forth from a store or library and putting it into a dedicated machine for it.
I specifically recall how annoying it was to change the input on a TV because for some reason, manufacturers didn’t put that button on TVs or all remotes.
If my 3 year olds can learn to navigate tvOS to the right app or infuse library and pick the Bluey episode they want, I feel like it’s a pretty good sign of things not being shitty.
> They aren’t being “drilled” to learn “mama
They actually are, thou. Small kids are repeated the same things over and over, hundreds of times. They watch the same Bluey episodes dozens of times, get them read the same books dozens of times, listen to the same songs dozens of times.
They drill in their own ways, but they drill.
Understood, it can be a real battle to get myself away from Bluey. :)
I find that setting (and enforcing!) a limit works great though. Play X episodes a day, the turn the TV off.
I'm not saying its evil or anything, but on demand TV is IMO not a good thing for kids. It can be a real battle to get my daughter away from Bluey. Back in my day, we had to wait at least a day for the next episode, or often a week, or more! TV was actually "seasonal", which it no longer is.
I firmly believe that humans need seasons, i.e. periods of time that are different from each other, either summer, winter etc, or periods where a TV show is simply not accessible.
What almost always works to get away from TV, though, is if _I_ start a project, and within minutes my daughter will have picked up her own project, and we'll be companionably working on something.
> usual electric wheelchair costs about $65,000
This puts the Bluey episode "Granny Mobile" in context, where the grouchy granny wants to buy the used wheelchair for a mere $100. $1,200 is still an incredible deal.
> I wonder why parents consistently listening to older music than their childless peers Oh that one is easy. They probably watch Bluey with their children. That show features stuff by Rossini, Offenbach, Tchaikovsky, Holst (Jupiter!), etc... which then gets played in the house because it's so much fun.
I know my kid can't stop dancing when John Ryan's Polka (Bluey episode Fairies) is on! :)
https://www.reddit.com/r/bluey/comments/ph5sot/whats_your_favourite_use_of_music_in_bluey/?rdt=52217
It's weird that a kid's show can make the entire crave Rossini, but so is life, just roll with it! :)
As always with that sort of conversation, I don't think "screen" is a valid category of interaction. Drawing on photoshop, watching a documentary on whales, playing bejeweled or using TikTok are very different activities that impact the brain differently.
My daughter is still young (2.5 years old), but I know that I'll let her play video games when she wants as long as it's as part of other activities in the day and that the games are ones that develop either her logic, creativity or motor skills.
Similarly, watching a quality show like bluey, or watching a full movie end to finish like Totoro in Japanese are watching activities I support, whereas watching some crap cartoon made to sell toys is not.
There is a wonderful Bluey episode about this - Fairytale - where the dad tells a real life fairytale about living in the 80's.
Yeah, someone elsewhere in the thread notes that Bluey was censored for the US market.
Films and television are artefacts, they are a snapshot of a time, a place, a culture. I don't mind revisions as long as the original remains available.
In short: “Han Solo shot first”.
Furthermore, some content that's available overseas is also censored in US releases. I'm sure your mind just jumped to interesting places, but let me bring you back by saying one of the worst offenders here is Bluey. A literal kids show; for kids. In Australia! It's not like it's even some huge cultural norm difference like Japan vs America, it's Australia!
There's an episode that's not shown on D+ at all where the dad pretends to be pregnant with the younger daughter and then enlists the help of their neighbor (who is only ever referred to as [neighbor child character]'s Dad") in delivering the "baby". Great episode. Gotta pirate it if you're in America though.
Also lots of weird dumb censorship in smaller ways. There's a roundabout discussion of a vasectomy happening in the "background" (it's the foreground but- look mate don't make me explain it) and Disney replaced what would've been a nice advertisement for the benefits of male contraceptive that many men are hesitant about with whats instead a barely coherent conversation about something trite.
And they censor a horse (an actual animal horse, no I don't know why the dogs are sentient while the horses are just animals) pooping at a state fair while the girls were just remarking how beautiful the horse is (and they run away giggling). Has Disney ever been to a state fair?
My argument is less about the identity politics and the modern idea of "diversity" and more about how Bluey does not fall into the "stupid overconfident father / smart sassy mother" trope that is pretty much the rule in Western TV shows since maybe the Simpsons?
She has the breakdown in the doorway in front of the kids. But they all calm down together after the Bluey (mostly, IIRC) asks why they're going to the park.
(We haven't watched an episode in many months, but referenced it when my son was taking forever to brush his teeth and I got frustrated.)
Were a "tactical wee" household which is a reference to the Fruit Bat episode of Bluey.
The Daniel Tiger potty song & book is gaining traction with our youngest, though
I saw some people wondering if there will be more shows - my kids use the iView app and a VPN to watch Bluey (which has been handy to get access early to new episodes!) and they've been advertising they'll be doing a long-form 28 minute episode this year.
I cry my eyes out at those episodes every time I see them, wonderfully written episodes! (I find all the Bluey episodes are).
If you like peppa pig, give wolfoo a chance.
Also the animation for bluey and peppa pig use the same software, CelAction2D. There is an ending of bluey episode which shows the animators using the software to build the scene. My little one was amazed and asked me to get the software. She has an artistic side but this pushed her into learning about animation
I agree Daniel Tiger is great for targeting particular challenges with those little sing songs they do to help kids learn and also targets a slightly younger audience. When we were having our 2nd and our 1st was 2 years old we played the baby episode a few times "a baby is coming to our family...". Our son welcomed our newborn daughter perfectly and somehow even found a little red book to (almost) drop on her.
I love that this post is on HN. It's helping me frame why I like Bluey so much. I'm also going to try that Sarah and Duck mentioned elsewhere.
Sure, but the content of Bluey is not going to understandable to a 2 year old. I would guess 3 is when some basic understanding starts, but 3.5 to be safe.
In my experience, below 3.5 or so, more sing song-y and basic repetitious stuff is digestible. Bluey episodes have a plot and lots of dialogue that has to be followed.
Eh, well, I dunno. I’ve got kids and I don’t personally let them give me as much crap as Bluey and Bingo do. Like, if they’re running up to the screen at a kids movie I’m taking them home. There’s other people in the theatre to consider. Kids need boundaries along with compassion, and yes, I know that there are the odd Bluey episodes that deal with boundaries, not getting what you want, etc…
…but there’s a lot of what seems like the kids just steamrolling their parents. That’s not sustainable for me. Being a parent is like having two full time jobs. It’s hard enough as it is to just get through the day. The bar is set a little too high.
But hey, my wife and I agree with this, so y’all do you! I’m sure most of our kids will probably turn out just fine no matter how much we model ourselves after Bandit and Chili.
I think it is a wonderful show regardless.
Edit: Knowing the average age in this industry, I have the distinct feeling that quite a few people who are not parents are involving themselves in these discussions and moderations. Just wait. I'm offering a realistic viewpoint positioned against a cartoon. And I'm not being a jerk about it.
I love that they even address that in one of the episodes. In Tickle Crabs:
Bluey: "You're always at work!" Bandit: "I'm never at work!"
What a gem of a show, though yes, it does set the bar pretty high. Though on the plus side I can now burst into a room shout "It's Dad" and my 4 year old will reliably slow clap and then burst into laughter :P
Daniel Tiger is so much more difficult to watch as an adult, but I have to give it credit for its potty training episode: that was a huge help when trying to potty train our 2.5-year-old. So I definitely agree that a targeted application of Daniel Tiger can really help, and also easier to digest for a pre-schooler.
However, I do think that having complex messages that aren't easy to understand is probably important for young children. "The world is a complicated place" is a lesson I wish even more adults understood. And I've learned that children may show no comprehension of something the first few times they hear it, but it's in there, making connections, shaping the brain as it grows. I can't tell you how many times I've told my daughter something I thought went way over her head (and did, at first), but randomly came out again months later. So by all means go for the simple Daniel Tiger message when it helps them through a problem they're having. But don't underestimate their capacity for deeply integrating ideas from everything they see and hear -- and I love Bluey for being by far the best young kids' show for them to integrate into their brains.
> achieving a level of poignancy alongside its humour
This quote about a particular episode sums up Bluey for me. It's tremendously well written - funny to both kids and adults alike, and often hits you in the feels. It's genuinely good TV.
Yeah I'll go further.
- It doesn't display the dad as a bumbling idiot for a start, an unmistakably uncommon move in home set shows.
- It doesn't synthetically force women to the center stage for the sake of scoring points with left leaning audiences.
- It doesn't shoehorn in political messages that don't belong and largely harkens back to a time where childrens television didn't require scrutiny of the publisher just to see if it fit the parent's flavor of morality.
- It largely fits the actual day-to-day life experiences of individuals who are most likely to have kids young enough to watch Bluey, namely millennials.
- Parent's are main characters in a lot of the episodes: The parents in Bluey aren't some side-object only included for the sake of completeness. The parents are main characters and are developed as thoughtfully as the children. By doing this the producers were able to garner attention from both the children and the parents. It's honestly a bit of a shame that we've sidelined parents for so long for fear of offending people.
- The show unashamedly depicts an intact household with two loving, heterosexual parents. It's "stunning and brave" in the current culture.
- The show depicts two children who are absolutely uninvolved or unconcerned with their sexual identity, despite the current narrative being that they are the age at which they should be.
- The show is diverse, but not for the sake of checking a box. There is no prioritized group in the show and tension between the breeds of dogs are displayed as equitable and able to relate to one another with minimal conflict (much like in real life, despite what you may have heard).
- There is no mention of a god. There is no big G god, nor any pagan gods. There are no "spirits", no "forces", no "inner being" that is wrestled with. It's a kids show and stays a kids show.
I could go on, but at this point I feel I've overstayed the common HN user's tolerance.
Here's a somewhat embarrassing admission: I never appreciated Holst's "The Planets" until I saw it used (particularly "Jupiter") in a Bluey episode.
To expand - most kid shows that adults can stand to watch are written to adults in some sly way that flies over the kids' heads. Often that adult targeted humor is something that kids have no context for (subtle sexual innuendo, pop culture references) - I think the 2016 "The Jungle Book" remake is a good example of this, with extended and funny references to Apocalypse Now and other mature films. But Bluey will have some innocuous fun episode and the subtle context is actually something about death, parental legacy, being an adult with a life predating your children, the pain of miscarriage, etc. I don't know how they pull off addressing those topics but they somehow do and it's magical.
> I'm wondering if I should actually try watching a couple of the episodes mentioned here.
Yes you absolutely should. One of the things I really like about the show is it promotes imaginative play. It addresses things like how to deal with being bored. Shows like paw patrol and stuff have zero imaginative anything. It's one of the things I love about Bluey.
Yes, one of my surprising takeaways from this show is how many new different ways I learned to play with my children. It’s humbling to say this, but there are genuine interesting, quick, and free stuff that I learned watching Bluey. I sometimes finish an episode with my daughter and think “let me give this a try…”
> scene where Bluey is playing “Penguins” in the bathroom was cut from the U.K. and the U.S., although it’s still referenced in the episode.
Huh? I'm pretty sure I saw this scene on Disney+.
Has anyone else noticed that “Camping” is basically the Star Trek TNG episode Darmok? Bluey meets a French dog named Jean-Luc. They construct some shelter together and have to hunt a monster. (I.e. Bandit pretending to be a wild boar.) They find a way to communicate despite speaking different languages. One leaves. Shaka, when the walls fell.
In the end, Muffin, her scream echoing—Bluey and Jean-Luc, their tails wagging!
(My wife who’s not really an Trekkie pointed this out to me. Also there’s another read about Jean-Luc’s departure as death and an eventual reunion in the afterlife when we will all finally understand each other. Read it as you like it.)
I have two data points for you:
My wife and I banned Bluey in our house a couple years ago. We use TV as "quiet time" for our kids (currently ages 3 to 9) after lunch, replacing the time when they used to nap, and Bluey seems to make them go crazy. I haven't even watched any of the episodes, so I can't object specifically to any of the content; we just observed a consistent, counterproductive effect on their behavior.
My neighbor, another dad of two toddlers, expressed something to me a few months ago that was similar to your opinion.
I'm honestly stunned by the overwhelmingly positive comments on this thread, and I'm wondering if I should actually try watching a couple of the episodes mentioned here.
Bluey is great and we love it, but I do have to say that it is not as directly beneficial for very young children as something like Daniel Tiger. Daniel Tiger has episodes that directly and clearly address things that young children are going through (little siblings, using the bathroom, managing emotions, etc). Bluey has episodes that address those things but does so in ways that are less direct and comprehensible for a pre-school child. Many Bluey episodes are more for the parents, than the children. Bluey will be with us long after our last Daniel Tiger episode is watched.
I got quite excited once because I thought I recognised Mt Beerburrum in the background of one of the Bluey episodes. I hadn't visited that area in decades.
That's quite an opinion you've put in quote marks there. Such a pity you've not thought about how a hypothetical Bluey episode might cover that topic.
A bit tangential but also related -- I grew up watching 'Adventures of the Gummi Bears' back in the late 80s and early 90s. Recently, I came across it on Disney+ and re-watched it. I was pleasantly surprised that some of the episodes are teaching kids good (again, subjective) morals and behaviors. The language is never crass even when the characters are upset (meaning it's a good thing to teach kids). I liked it so much that I re-watched all of the six seasons twice.
Now that I saw this article and discussion, I'll be trying Bluey next.
The other thing is that there is zero conflict in Peppa Pig - any bad thing that happens is resolved immediately. Peppa always gets what she wants. Bluey is far more realistic: the parents can't just wave a wand to make Bluey and Bingo's problems go away, and it leads to a life lesson.
For example, in the "Copycat" episode Bluey finds an injured bird and she and her dad take it to the vet. It dies anyway. But it's a valuable lesson for Bluey: she learns that some things are out of her and her parents' control and by the end of the episode she comes to accept it. They would never do an episode like that on Peppa Pig.
(I currently have a Bluey-obsessed toddler).
The core of pretend playing, is pretending. Bluey very clearly punches her dad square in the stomach, he lets out an audible sound of pain, and......nothing happens. I agree that maybe Bluey didn't actually mean to hurt her dad - but the way the scene plays out she clearly does and she isn't told about it, the dad just takes it. Because the dad is portrayed as a (in this episode - literal) punch bag who has to accept everything the kids do. No valuable lesson was shown or taught here.
My opinion anyway.
> Are cartoon physics insulting kids intelligence?
dclowd9901 already said the issue is when it's "just lazy storytelling". Pixar shows you can tell great stories with cartoon physics.
You don't eat only sugar. You don't eat only carbs. You don't eat only protein. Your body needs a mix.
Many people want their kids to have a healthy diet. Saying Nutella is a "sometimes food" is not the same as saying Nutella is "bad", or that it's a "never food."
Tom & Jerry is a sometimes food. Other shows exercise a different range of critical skills.
I was gobsmaked when I saw a clip from Mr. Rogers where Daniel Striped Tiger asks Lady Aberlin "What does assassination mean?", in a special episode created after the assassination of RFK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQv0ZtpRdNk And Mr. Rogers could tackle racism head-on, like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4recJ6qXyk in an era when blacks were prohibited or physically attacked for trying to go to "white" pools.
Bluey could take on these sorts of topics for kids, in an age appropriate way. Tom&Jerry could not.
Nor could Blippi, so it's not just cartoon physics that's the issue.
But Mr. Rogers couldn't pull off the classic "coyote paints a picture in a wall, Road Runner enters the picture and speeds off into the distance, coyote tries and crashes into the wall" gag, nor should it. I don't think it's a good idea for kids to only watch Mr. Rogers-type shows either.
> kids are more interested in stuff which is surprising
Strange then that kids' cartoons are often so formulaic.
"The Animal Mechanicals are sent to a new floating island to resolve a problem. The team comes up with a plan, and each team member gets to use their special abilities to help out. There are problems along the way, but they are resolved and everyone is happy at the end."
"Something goes wrong. The Paw Patrol are called to help. Ryder comes up with a plan, the pups use their special abilities to help out. There are problems along the way, but they are resolved and everyone is happy at the end. Except for Mayor Humdinger."
I'm going to be honest here: Bluey means a lot to me, as a 32-year-old childless woman, because this show has really touched me in ways that may not be obvious at first:
I've felt more in touch with my own imagination since I started watching Bluey. I've actually been writing music and sketching in my spare time again, which is something I haven't done since before the pandemic.
It's actually helped me piece together things that I felt as a child that I never properly dealt with, or even knew how to voice back then. I've been able to find healing and peace, and articulate stuff in therapy a bit better.
In general, I just feel a bit happier and a bit better after watching an episode of Bluey. Sometimes I just want to watch something to feel positive emotions without it being overly-happy fluff. There's a realism to Bluey that makes it easier for me to "let my guard down" and feel happiness.
I do kind of live vicariously through Chilli, with my hope being that I can be a mum some day.
Oh, and my cat now has a nickname: Muffin. Make of that what you will.
As a dad, I used to like Peppa Pig, but now can barely stand it - as opposed to Bluey.
Daddy Pig is fat, useless, convinced he's an expert in everything but failing every time. His parenting skills hover around 0, and always needs to be rescued, usually by Mummy Pig. So much for healthy co-parenting.
Furthermore, Peppa is mean to her friends, who like her regardless, she always gets special treatment.
I'm not saying there isn't a lot of good stuff in PP, there is for sure, but the issues above feature in every episode and they really get to me now.
Bluey is female, blew my mind when I first learnt this after watching a few episodes.
Bluey is awesome, the one disappointing thing is hearing US and UK media try and modify it.
A few episodes have been butchered because something was found offensive - like the kids playing cavemen and saying Ooga Booga or the parents sighing while weighing themselves on a scale. Come on!
Just leave it alone and serve it as is. The creators expressed a few times he's almost had enough of edits over dumb things.
They also tried to get re-dubs done to remove the Aussie accents, luckily that was pushed back on.
I feel like I'm the only parent on planet Earth that really doesn't like Bluey. Every time I watch it(which is often, my son likes it), it just seems to be promoting bad behaviour at the expense of the dad(like many other shows to be fair - looking at you Peppa Pig), including physical violence(one episode the kids decide the dad now has a stomach ache, so they punch him in the gut - and the dad just plays along with it, it's never commented on as a bad thing). And the mum keeps making reductive comments and making fun out of the dad, even though he literally drops everything the second his kids want anything.
I don't know, I just don't get it. When people describe it as wholesome to me it feels like the opposite - it shows an unhealthy relationship between the kids and the parents, and I don't feel like it teaches my son any valuable lessons at all.
Bluey is the only show my kid loved, and never wanted to binge watch. He’d watch one or two episodes and then want to turn the TV off so we could play Silly Hotel or Keepy Uppy or Grannies. Where other shows grabbed his attention longer, Bluey always inspired him to go out and play.
Quite a few of those drew an eye-roll from me.
https://www.fatherly.com/entertainment/banned-censored-bluey-episodes
A couple of them I can understand (like being safe, not showing kids to slide on a wet tile floor), some I can see parents being appreciative for not having to answer questions about certain topics --- but some "edits" like cutting out farting seems a bit too over the top. My preschooler has just discovered farting and thinks it is _hilarious_ (because it is!). I'm proud as can be, but Mom just rolls her eyes. Proud dad here.
One thing that I appreciate about Bluey, apart from the other things people have commented on, is that the animation style is very aesthetically pleasing. So many kids shows have the exact same 3D CGI style, and some of them honestly look just uncanny-valley creepy.
Another thing that most people wouldn't experience is seeing episodes set in places I might have been in the last couple of weeks. It's obviously stylised and interpretive, but a lot of the buildings and places are very accurately represented!
You can watch it adhoc.
Edit: Pretty much all the top Bluey episodes have a good emotional pull to them. See https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/mar/21/the-10-best-bluey-episodes-for-both-kids-and-parents-sorted
As the father of two young daughters, I adore Bluey. Quite apart from how good the episodes are for adults, I really enjoy the following aspects:
1. It portrays wholesome and positive family relationships, particularly between father and daughters. The girls are also good to one another, with occasional conflict kindly and realistically resolved.
2. It tells simple stories without pushing political messages. Unfortunately, children’s television at large has become another victim of the culture wars, with heavy-handed social messages infecting what should be simple cartoons. Bluey is something I can trust.
3. I don’t have to expose my kids to American accents. They’ll have more than enough of that from regular programming when they grow up.
Just watched The Wiggles documentary on Netflix. They were big when my kids were young and they are from Australia. I have heard of Bluey but didn't know it was also from Australia. They know something about kid shows there, apparently.
My wife will run in from the other room to skip “Sleepytime” because she knows she’ll be bawling by the end of it if she even thinks about it. Does me the favor because I will be too.
My endorsement of the show is that it feels like one of the great sitcoms like Cheers or Frasier, Golden Girls or Roseanne. The stories are never pandering or simple. You never quite know where they’re going to go with a plot line so when it lands, you’re often delightfully surprised or floored. Most kids shows seem like a low effort afterthought full of contrived vapid nonsense. As far as I’m concerned my kids can watch as much Bluey as they like and I’ll buy the shit out of their merch if it signals to other networks to get off their asses.
Forgot to mention the animation in the show is absolutely some of the best I’ve ever seen in a cartoon. I really appreciate the way the show models real physics as things would be in the real world. One of my biggest pet peeves of kids shows is when they show something that is physically impossible (not for comedic purpose, just lazy storytelling). It’s basically just thumbing its nose at kids’ intelligence.
Bluey is a godsend in our household. It's not annoying and the amount of classical and original music woven into each episode is wonderful.
There's one particular episode - "Sleepytime" - which I cannot bring myself to watch anymore because I get so emotional. Every parent I talk to with young kids who has seen the episode agrees and knows what I mean. It's really that good, and despite being a fun little show there are a lot of episodes that are actually art.
I'll add that although the kids in the show sometimes get up to mischief, they never do anything that I don't mind my own toddler emulating. My child now rings her xylophone, commands the rest of the family to freeze, and we have fun playing along.
Bluey, I honestly believe, is a show for adults (more specifically parents, but, you know, parents are adults) that kids can also enjoy. Like, traditionally, the "best" kid's media from an adult point of view has been kids shows that are also enjoyable for adults, but Bluey is genuinely the opposite.
There are episodes where it feels like the entire point is to get the adults in the room misty-eyed and sniffling, and it all relies on contexts that younger children just absolutely wouldn't have - but they'd still have a good time! And while Bluey and Bingo (the kids on the show) frequently learn lessons, as you'd expect from educational children's media, those lessons are almost always coupled with examples from Bandit and Chilli (the parents) on how to constructively _teach_ those lessons.
(Not to mention, a bunch of episodes are just straight-up the parents learning lessons, while the kids are just being kids and having fun.)
For me, it fills the niche that Bob's Burgers used to fill - an example of a family that's quirky but genuinely loves one another, and communicates (both their love and in general) to move past situations that could become much more serious without it. (Bob's Burgers has fallen off -- to me -- because the characters feel a lot more like caricatures of their earlier selves and most modern episodes seem to rely on one or more characters carrying the "idiot ball" to make anything happen, but that's a rant for another time.)
My wife and I watch an episode every night after dinner to relax after stressful days (two episodes on the really stressful ones) and it's just... Its' very good. We always feel better by the time the credits roll. We've watched a few episodes with kids and they have a good time, but we've also watched a few episodes with other adults, and it's catharsis. It's on another level entirely. I can't imagine what it's going to be like for kids who grew up watching Bluey, to rewatch it as an adult and catch the entire other level it works on. I'm jealous. <3
My only problem with Bluey is actually a problem with the Disney+ app on my Vizio TV. The episodes are all fairly short, but then there’s like 5m of credits before the next episode starts and it’s kind of annoying to manually fast forward through them via remote. I often reach for stuff on Netflix just so the next episode will auto play after a few seconds instead of requiring actual manual intervention to keep the little ones out of my hair while making dinner.
This episode broke my heart with its wholesomeness! I'm a grown ass adult and I watch Bluey unashamedly. I don't even have a kid companion to provide cover. It's such a layered show, with themes that resonate with adults as well. Cafe, where Bluey as a kid makes friends immediately with another kid, and Bandit and the other kid's dad were very cagey about how fast is too fast. Puppet subtext is as serious as any Ridley Scott Maker/Creature theme. Space is about revisiting traumatic events in one's past, and a gentle advise on how to deal with it. "I am Magic Claw. Magic Claw has no children. His days are free and easy." Hilarious and true.
- Bluey - Sarah & Duck - Kiri & Lou - Hey Duggee - Numberblocks - Little J & Big Cuz
There's also a few classics in Australia like "Little Ted's Big Adventures" and "Big Ted's Adventures" and "Little Joey's Big Adventures" or similar, about a dozen episodes each looking at vehicles/sports/animals.
Play school is great once kids get to about 3 or 4 years old, lots of variety, language, things to learn, playing with physical objects in interesting ways.
If you want more of an American style but don't like Paw Patrol, you could try Blaze (a monster truck show that teaches counting and light physics) or Bat Wheels (just Batman themes cars, but it's higher quality than PP).
> every time I acquire a new episode of bluey or something, my wife wants to watch it first
I wish Jellyfin had something similar, as my current process involves manually tagging things with a tag that isn't visible, then removing that tag once I've reviewed it.
Fwiw, Plex parental controls are absurdly flexible.
I have it set up so the kids account can only watch things that have been given a particular tag. Due to how granular Plex tags are, this means you can give them a whole movie or TV show, some of a TV show, or a single episode
As it is right now, they have access to a reasonably large corpus of content, but nothing new; every time I acquire a new episode of bluey or something, my wife wants to watch it first. We basically always approve it, since we aren't that likely to object to most things you'd find in a kids show, but it's nice to have the peace of mind
Bluey is contemporary entertainment. It's not old enough to be part of culture, which is what GP was talking about. Last century media isn't either. We're talking folk tales and religion here.
Bluey is also one of the handful, perhaps single-digit number of, decent kid shows. Modern children television shows emphasize superstimuli, obnoxious behavior, and/or push merch. I am grateful it exists, because the space of children entertainment is much worse today than it was 30+ years ago.
> If you think about it, a lot of children’s stories and religions rely on this concept of the panopticon to inspirei moral behavior.
If you raise your child on media from the last century that is.
Modern childrens television shows emphasize empathy over crude means like surveillance. Bluey is a great example.
I think there's a Bluey episode about not eating the recycled tires on the playground...
There are entire episodes of Bluey that are pretty much therapy for parents. And there’s episodes that celebrate being a parent. There's even episodes that bring tears to my eyes every time, even having seen them half a dozen times.
- Baby Race
- Bike
- Camping
- Flat Pack (how do they tell a story that deep in six minutes?!)
- Sleepytime (yep, welling up just thinking about it now)
- Rain
- Granddad
My kids really love this show, coincidentally it's even on at this moment. Regarding the parenting lessons, they resonate with the kids as well. There was an episode after which one of our kids compared the story of an episode with something that happened in our household and it gave us a nice chance to talk about it on their level. The Bluey writers really do a terrific job. My kids never learned a lesson from Paw Patrol, except wanting to buy their merchandise.
I've thought a lot about this and am currently developing screenshot/AI-based monitoring for device usage for my kids under the age of 12. Aside from that, here's what our family does. We have three children under the age of seven. 1. Limit use to specific days, and specific time of day. This will keep them constantly asking you for it. 2. Choose high quality, age-appropriate shows like Daniel Tiger, Bluey. High quality creative games like Minecraft. I wrote some code to filter Rotten-Tomatoes "Fresh" movies by age-appropriateness via commonsense media. I'll host this on a website sometime soon. 3. Choose a DNS filter for your home router as a back-stop against accidental searches with inappropriate results. 4. Get to know the Screen Time options. It is possible to disable age-restricted content and disable Safari web browser. 5. I don't let them roam YouTube. It's mostly junk. 6. Probably goes without saying when considering young children, but still worth repeating the surgeon general's advice: Avoid social media until at least age 16. 7. Also worth mentioning that human trafficking of children does happen, even among young children, and predators use online spaces to find and groom children. So keep this in mind when you consider what you allow for your kids. 8. Also, sexting is a real thing that happens frequently and is frequently regretted or weaponized. Teach your kids to never ever take an inappropriate photo of their bodies.
Also would love to hear what everyone else is doing!
Bluey. I know it was big last year, and I didn’t catch onto it then, but it is a delightful show and there are lots of clips & episodes on YouTube that are very easy to sit down with.
Also Brio wood trains, which my kid loves - there are lots on YT - just some hand driving a train around a track.
The issue is that, at least for me, growing up the only exposure you had to the concept of "normal" on TV was sitcoms. They lived in a block of shows that got shown either before or after The Simpsons (which was obviously meant to be not real, except for literally everything they said about the American healthcare system) and thus even though you knew there was meant to be funny things happening, it was never clear what the subversion of - not to teenagers trying to figure out their identity.
We had a stunning lack of shows which tried to depict well adjusted male characters: i.e. people who could have emotions, who could have flaws and were allowed to work to correct them, but who could also be sources of wisdom or correct. Instead we had "sitcoms" and "drama".
And in Australia at least, our "drama" is...pretty god damn messed up - but at least that was obviously something you didn't want to watch.
It's why show's like Bluey have exploded the way they have: it fills that need for a middle ground of something in media to say "this is what you can be" in a way which isn't playing to stereotypes.
Though I suppose all of that could be summarized as: the death of boomer humor about hating your wife is long-overdue.
Bluey episodes are 12 minute informational nuggets on “how to play” - they’re amazing.
I mean, the new movies and shows in general aren't very good, but I'm surprised how good Bluey is. I think I like it better than my kids.
There are many episodes where the treat the parent as a toy. Specifically the dad.
For example. Theres an episode where the father is trying to give the kids a bath. They repeatedly ignore him that its time to be done playing it bathe. Or to stop splashing and make a mess. And by repeatedly i mean there's no control, eventually the Mom walks in and groans, there's a huge mess, kids still aren't bathed etc etc.
Its an overarching theme that the dad is largely a toy. And even when he tries to be stern or strict its joked and laughed off and ignored. Moreover that the kids cant really have "fun" without the dad being actively playing.
Overall the lesson is the kids learn the dad was right in the beginning and much effort would be saved by them listening, but that falls flat on a 3-6 year old passive listener (they do pick it up sometimes in the moment).
And there are actual times where I CANT be actively playing. I love to but its a time and place thing. There are times i have to fix things, clean up, prep dinner, etc etc. And our style is the kids in those moments need to be able to go and play.
Additionally, in our house, theres a time and place for playtime and joking and a time and place where you need to listen and do what we say. It can be a safety issue otherwise (ie: no stopping or listening in a store, parking lot, street etc). And even more the kids have to learn that when I say (or they say) "enough" that means enough and you need to respect the wishes of others, family or not.
Overall Bluey is decent, better than most even, and certainly tries to break that 50-80's mold of parents "not your firends" and theres a huge barrier/gap. But with all things, theres a happy medium. So as a result we have to moderate their intake of it (and plenty of other shows too). Bluey is just a good example where the fanbase can be rabid in their support, and sometimes forget that kids are kids and dont understand context or "real" vs "fake" well at all, something we as grown ups see as second nature now.
some media/shows that portray the parents as toys (ie: Bluey) because we notice it tends to stunt their independence and skews their overall expectations of a parent child relationship.
could you elaborate on that please? bluey seems to promote a healthy parent-child relationship (at least in the few episodes that i saw). how does it stunt their independence and skew their expectations? are you suggesting that showing parents that are always available gives the wrong idea to children about their parents? how would that play out?
> Along with all the old/nostalgic Disney animated films, they generate and acquire a lot of the "in" content for kids (Bluey, Mickey Mouse Kids House, etc.)
True for my family too! It's just that my kids already cycle through most, if not all, of the content they want to watch.
You might not be the right market (or at least, the marketplace might be different for your demographic).
I'm a parent, and for me, and all my parent friends, Disney+ is the streaming service that generates the most value in our households. Along with all the old/nostalgic Disney animated films, they generate and acquire a lot of the "in" content for kids (Bluey, Mickey Mouse Kids House, etc.)
Before my kids, Disney+ would have been the first streaming service to make the cut. But now, it'll be the last.
Fair warning there is a Bluey episode where the kids push their father down steps. A day after watching one of my wards pushed someone down the steps :/
There’s no where else to say this, but for wholesome kids entertainment, Bluey is hard to beat. Every 10 minute episode is basically a guide on how to play. Kids love it. Parents relearn how to play. It’s so charming and ridiculous. Totally worth the money.
This is kinda like what Amazon does with their channels, which is a bit clunky in various ways, but on the whole I don't hate the model. (besides the fact that the increasing fragmentation of content means I have to have a dozen subscriptions).
What I really want is some sort of meta "subscription manager" where I could mark what I'm currently watching and what I always want access to, and it could manage cancelling and uncancelling the various subscriptions that I have. Even better if it could just give me access to everything through a unified interface. I would pay for this - I think it could save a lot of money.
What I've been doing recently is whenever I sign up for a new thing, I just immediately cancel. That way when I hit the end of the month and I'm not using Peacock or Shudder or whatever other bench team service, I just won't have it any more. If I need it again, rinse and repeat.
Currently the only subscriptions I'm maintaining long-term are HBO and Disney. Disney will probably be a long-runner as long as my kids still want to use it for Bluey and the odd movie. HBO has their classic shows like The Sopranos and Deadwood, plus the Adult Swim catalogue, so they land in a good value spot for me too.
You can search the episodes in google eg.
bluey "the beach" episode
My least favorite disneyplus.com experience is using the desktop site to try to find an episode of Bluey which the kids are asking for.
"We want to watch 'The Beach', please."
OK let's go to disneyplus.com and type in "Bluey" (no search by episode name). There are 3 seasons available. I can see five episode titles at a time.
Hmm, how do I see more episodes? Oh right, if I hover my mouse over episode 6, a right arrow is visible. Let's tap that one...two...three..four times, here we go, s01e26 The Beach.
There are about 50 episodes per season, so good luck finding s02e45. Also, the order in which they are shelved on Disney Plus sometimes varies versus what's shown in Web searches for the episode order.
At the same time, there are some absolute gems which I would have loved as a child. Bluey is a work of art, from the animation and stories to the unique score for each episode. The episode "Sleepytime" was the 2nd highest rated tv episode after BBs Ozymandias. Puffin Rock, Trash Truck or Sea of Love also come to mind as great tv shows. There are even still new episodes of Shawn the Sheep coming out, which are hilarious. It's just harder to find high-quality content, when it's so cheap to produce 10x more garbage.
Make your own.
There's PBS kids shows in spirit like Daniel Tiger, Tumble Leaf, Octonauts, Llama llama, Bluey, Puffin Rock, and many more.
I watch an episode first to make sure it is something educational and not too "entertaining". I'm personally in the camp that if something is too entertaining, you aren't learning much. i.e. Cocomelon, Sesame Street, etc.
For a Preschool-Kindergarten range:
PBS Kids has at least two free apps: one video streaming, and one educational games. Both are great.
Sensical [1] is a free streaming service/app that only includes content that meet Common Sense Media criteria. Common Sense Media [2] rates/reviews media for quality and age-appropriateness.
Kanopy [3] is a streaming service/app that is freely available through many libraries. It has a walled-off kids area with movies, shows, and videobooks that are not garbage. I have no concerns letting my kid loose in the kids area to choose among that content.
YouTube Kids [4] is a free streaming service/app that can be terrible or decent. To be decent, you must curate the content yourself (rather than the algorithm) so you have to find and add "channels" or even individual videos, and remove them when they are outgrown. Some channels I found are...
YTK General: PBS Kids (collection of 5 channels), Sesame Studios (collection of 6 channels), Khan Academy Kids, Bluey, Deep Look, PBS Space Time, TheDadLab, Super Sema, Mystery Doug, Brainzy Games, The Kiboomers [for toddlers]
YTK Animals: Nat Geo Kids, The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Animal Wonders Montana, San Diego Zoo, BBC Earth Kids
YTK Drawing: Super Simple Draw, Muffalo Potato, Draw So Cute, Art for Kids Hub, drawstuffrealeasy, Red Ted Art
Enough with the streaming video. For educational but fun apps, I recommend:
PBS Kids Games, as mentioned before.
Khan Academy Kids [5].
Teach Monster: Reading for Fun [6].
NumberBlocks/Alphablocks [7] have freemium game apps (NumberBlocks World, AlphaBlocks World) that combine the show and games. They also have lame free apps (MeetTheNumberBlocks, MeetTheAlphaBlocks) that I wouldn't waste time on.
[1] https://www.sensical.tv/
[2] https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
[3] https://www.kanopy.com/en/kids
[4] https://www.youtubekids.com/
[5] https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/
[6] https://www.teachyourmonster.org/readingforfun
[7] https://www.learningblocks.tv/
There is a kids show made in my country called Bluey. It is distributed by Disney in the USA. They censored parts and even entire episodes of the show. Cutting things like fart and poop jokes, talk of vasectomies and discussions of childbirth.
The Bluey episode "Fruit Bat" touches on this -- when you decide to have kids you're choosing to forego a lot of fun, in Bandit's case pickup football matches with adult friends.
It's a conscious choice and the tradeoff is a very different life focus. I don't think one or the other purpose is inherently better, just different.
Having two young kids at home for the past two years with full-time jobs and minimal childcare has really stretched things further than I would have expected.
Watching how much the older kid loves going to the library, check out a stack of books, take them to the playground and read them while his sister plays -- while they both exude sheer joy -- has been unforgettably good. It's not all happy times; the kids need a lot of help and they aren't always cooperative. But it's the job I signed up for and it has a uniquely valuable comp structure.
As an Aussie I think of Bluey as one our proudest exports.
But some episodes I wonder if overseas audiences get the same tensions. IE Curry Quest, walk for a curry swap but have to deal with a magpie.
Do people really understand how "out to get you" magpies can be in Spring? As a kid, they can be vicious bastards.. when I realised they were dealing with one I was anxious over how it was going to go.
It's fascinating to see the number of Bluey fans. My kids love it too. Making it American would just ruin it.
I grew up reading Paddington books, and about 90% of what I know about British money came from those books. Re-interpreting it to American dollars would have ruined the immersion into the story, IMO. I was very glad when the Paddington movies were unapologetically British.
Bluey runs on repeat in our (American) house and I'm sure I've seen each episode a half-dozen times now. I find the Australian accents and cultural references to be a charming and fundamental part of the show. The wildlife, the fauna, the building designs—it all screams "Australian" at you, so hearing a bunch of American accents in that setting would be jarring and out-of-place.
The Aussie themes have even led to some history lessons in our house: a handful of episodes reference Australian soldiers (including Bluey's grandpa) which led to my kids asking what wars Australia fought in. Queue the (very) gentle introductions to WW1 and WW2, and the Pacific War specifically.
I didn't even realize it but when Bluey, Bingo, and dad go to watch Chunky Chimp (the kids' movie with a big storm) the characters' accents are American.
"it's just a bunch of singing monkeys I wouldn't read too much in to it"
Tried Bluey? I describe it as a positive family sitcom. There are lessons to the episodes but they do a great job integrating them into the stories. I enjoy watching it on my own.
Unfortunately, only Season 1 is on DVD in the US. If you have Disney+, you can watch 1 & 2. No idea when season 3 will be released in the US.
I don't find anything brainwashing in Peppa Pig and Bluey, both of which are a huge hit with the kids/toddlers. I watched many episodes of both and in my opinion they are great.
I have the same feelings as you -- most children shows are a bit ... much. Tumble Leaf is a good one. Slow pacing. Other good ones are Puppy Dog Pals, and Bluey (very short episodes). Also, the old VeggieTales episodes are always good, like Rumor Weed or Fib from Outer Space.
This is exactly our experience with Youtube.
I can sit with my kid and watch a couple episodes of a show I've never heard of (Like Bluey) and say, "Yep, this is a definite thumbs up. You can watch Bluey when you have screen time" And I trust that when an episode ends, another episode of Bluey is what will show up.
For a youtube channel, I have to watch the entire video and I can say, "Yep, you can watch this exact video. Make sure autoplay is off."
I have no clue what video would play next. I have no clue what product the youtuber will try to shill in the middle of the video, etc.
Bluey is great, and as a parent it is relatable in so many ways. But I don't think your link points at a particular episode. At least, not for me.
Name of episode?
You're probably right - Uber Eats et al have already shown that there's demand for this even at high prices.
Yet another simple human pleasure sacrificed at the altar of efficiency...
(To anyone in Australia or with an Aussie VPN, there's a wonderful Bluey episode about this here: https://iview.abc.net.au/video/CH1903Q034S00)
There's an episode of Bluey where the daughter makes friends instantly on the playground and the dad struggles to be friends with the other dad.
It was a wakeup call to me to just say hi to other dads at the playground and I'm glad I do it. Sometimes it's awkward but most of the time I find someone who also wants to make time go by quicker.
Not a deep answer like the others but watch the kids TV show ‘Bluey’. I won’t spoil it by trying to explain, but the mum and dad (dogs) do an amazing job of picking up on and embracing their kids games. It’s impossible not to have some of it rub off on you after watching a few episodes.
Try the episodes ‘Fairies’ and ‘Stumpfest’.