Bluey worlds (2018–23, Australia)

There’s no doubt that Bluey (2018–23) took the world by storm from the day it was launched. From attracting six million viewers – about a quarter of the total Australian population – when first released on the national Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) free-to-air channel and streaming service, this grew to 100 million views just before it launched worldwide. The latest statistic from the Variety website in January 2023 shows it to be the eighth most streamed US show in 2022, with over 20 billion viewing minutes. Amidst the hubbub and excitement of being a part of this success, from my standpoint as a feminist academic animator, I pondered what Bluey would be like if it had been written by a woman? Or a team of women? In fact, neither really matters, because what Bluey looks like is largely due to the foundational team of women who helped create it: contextually, visually, performatively and organizationally. By contextually, I refer to the long-term relationships, both personal and professional, among the team of animators and Bluey’s male creator, Joe Brumm. By visually, I refer to the visuals from the development, pre-production and early stages of production, which were drawn by women in their different key roles within the animation production line. By performatively, I refer to how animators create believable and coherent characters, which look and behave as if they were live characters in a real world despite being drawings, because of the professional skills and personal attributes of the animators. And finally, though not least, how an agile and empathetic management approach supports the creative tasks that go into the enormous amount of organizational work necessary to keep track of no fewer than 15 episodes at different stages of production on a daily basis. This chapter focuses on the intimate way the Bluey world was made, illuminating and suggesting that many of the charms of the Bluey characters are present because of the prevalence of women in the making of Bluey’s worlds.

Keywords: animation co-director ; animation production ; animation production manager ; art director ; Bluey ; children’s animation series ; storyboard artist