Bluey: “We don’t know if this is Peppa Pig or Family Guy”

Bluey has won legions of fans across the world as a show that appeals to both kids and parents, but when it was first pitched, industry executives didn’t quite know what to make of it.

Creator Joe Brumm had returned home to Australia having worked on Peppa Pig when he turned his attention to an idea based his parenting of two daughters.

Ludo Studios co-founder Daley Pearson tells TV Tonight Brumm wanted to creat an animation for pre-schoolers, which tapped into his talent for telling adult stories too.

“Joe created a one minute short of Bluey “The Weekend”. That was Dad pushing Bluey on a swing and Bluey went all the way around. It had a lot of standards and practices issues,” he recalls.

“We were literally told by everyone. ‘We don’t know if this is Peppa Pig or Family Guy.’ For about a year that went on. We stupidly answered ‘both’ -but that doesn’t exist.

“A Trojan horse show for kids that was really for parents”

“We pitched it as co-viewing … a Trojan horse show for kids that was really for parents. It was a kid’s show that parents could put up with and love too. Then we realised that we had to make it to prove it to people.

“Saying your show is co-viewing is kind of like saying your comedy is really funny.”

The answer was to produce something people could watch: a 6 minute pilot which was screened at the Asian Animation Summit in 2016. The reaction was instant.

“At that time, there was a real hero with ABC called Michael Carrington. He was running kids at the time and gave us the license fee, to then unlock Screen Australia finance, which hadn’t been done for a long time in Kids,” Pearson continues.

Both ABC and BBC Studios boarded the series, while Pearson also credits Screen Queensland for their support of the Brisbane-based production company.

“Screen Queensland were particularly helpful”

“Screen Queensland were particularly helpful to people helping themselves. Charlie (Aspinwall, co-founder) and I had real help from them. I always think we would have figure out how to do it, but we would be 10 years behind. Their small encouragement of support rolled us into bigger things.”

For Pearson Bluey is the icing on a deep cake. His previous credits include live action comedies The Strange Calls, #7DaysLater and Robbie Hood, plus animation The Strange Chores. Its success is a reminder that persistance pays off.

“I worked as a debt collector at GE, I worked at a 24 hour convenience store at Coolum Beach which is where I started to write The Strange Calls. It was overnight, I’d literally be sitting there from 12 till 5am at a small, coastal hamlet at night. That opened up being able to do my first series through a number of lovely people helping me like Debbie Lee (previously ABC), and then eventually, Hoodlum.

“I knew if I did film or TV jobs, I’d probably get fired or something”

“I knew if I did film or TV jobs, I’d probably get fired or something, because I really wanted to make my own stuff. So I just made a lot of shorts with friends as possible.”

Bluey‘s success keeps accruing. In addition to stellar ratings, best ever iview figures, global merchandising, live stage play, AirBnB house, Disney+ global broadcasting there are awards from the International Emmy Awards, AACTA Awards, Logie Awards, Kidscreen Awards, Banff World Media Festival Rockie Awards, Australian Directors’ Guild Awards, Screen Producers Australia Awards, ARIAs and more.

“We opened the Ludo Studios animation studio to make Bluey. For half of the (staff’) it was their first job out of uni. So there was a lot of nail biting, making that first episode. Is it going to be terrible or is it going to be okay? And everyone led by Joe and Rich, who’s now the director, just rose to the challenge.

“I was always told in swimming to concentrate on your own lane.”

“I think being in Brisbane enabled that. We had no distractions. I was always told in swimming to concentrate on your own lane. I think because we were in Brisbane, we had no option but to make it work. The quality kept rising up, the animation team talent kept getting better and better. The producers Sam Moore and Charlie Aspinwall just kept rising to the challenge. We really became our own barometer of success. I think that helped a lot. We weren’t comparing ourselves to any other show.”

Each episode takes 4 months to complete, and while they are produced concurently, a season takes years to complete. And while Bluey has featured big names including Natalie Portman and Eva Mendez and is dubbed into languages including Cantonese and Italian, Pearson says it remains true to its Australian voice.

“The voices that we’re attracted to are those Australian voices you don’t hear much anymore”

“The voices that we’re attracted to are those Australian voices you don’t hear much anymore …. country kids or those drawls that you hear. It’s really important, especially to Joe, to find that kid in Charleville who only talks that certain way, Dave McCormack (Dad) is a perfect example of it.

“It’s a very particular Australian accent.”

Bluey is available on ABC Kids and iview.