In the season three episode of Bluey, “The Sign,” which aired on Disney+ on April 14th, the Heeler family pulls back from an inter-city move at the last second. The 28-minute special shows the family grappling with change and uncertainty as Bandit, the dad, accepts an offer for a new and higher-paying job in another city. Chilli, the mom, is dubious about this choice, and the kids (Bluey and Bingo, 7 and 4) do not want to leave.
As the Heelers process this huge shift in their lives, they host a family wedding on their property and convince a runaway bride to give her scattershot groom a second chance. It’s a long show for kids with a lot of heavy stuff to carry. Parents, meanwhile, are divided over the ending, which culminates in a happily-ever-after that is directly opposed to many families’ reality.
Some have said that Bluey is a show for adults that just happens to appeal to kids. Others insist that it is a kids’ show that adults get too wrapped up in– “it’s just monkeys singing songs, mate. Don’t think too hard about it,” as Bandit chides Bluey in an earlier episode (“Movies” in season two). And then there are parents like me, who see it as a show first and foremost for kids that also appeals to us adults because it speaks to a child’s personhood rather than simply trying to entertain them.
It is a fine line to walk, to engage very young children and touch the hearts of their parents. In the latest Bluey special, directors Joe Brumm and Richard Jeffery have spoken to the kids and left the grownups bewildered on the lookout. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
As Bandit Heeler rips out the For Sale sign in the front yard, as Bluey and Bingo run happily back into the home they have lived in their whole lives, and as the Heeler family shares a quiet dinner together to the strains of Meg Washington’s ethereal Lazarus Drug, the conclusion of this story seems tailor-made to speak to children, not adults. “How do we explain this twist to kids whose families really do have to move, and can’t just decide to keep their house at the last minute?” parents asked– reasonably! — on Twitter. “It’s not that simple in real life.”
I cannot argue with that logic. In fact, I agree with the excellently-written position of Rebecca Sharley, who wrote on Substack about her own experiences with moving and the fear that accompanies change. Sharley astutely points out that Bluey writer Joe Brumm had an opportunity to explore a hard, brave decision that grappled with loss and the unknown, and ultimately backed away from it. She felt let down by the ending and the way that Bluey’s lighthearted world does not reflect the economic reality in Queensland, and I see and respect that conclusion.
Yet just as the Heelers’ dog-dominated universe is a fantasy, so is the stability and security of the world in which their story takes place. And it is just that: a story. In discussing thought-provoking media with children, we must make room for them to separate fiction from reality. Bluey’s happy ending won’t match up with the endings we make for ourselves (or those we must make the best of, from what is thrust upon us). As we navigate the complexities of real life, we can take comfort in the stories we share and the satisfaction of a happy ending on page and screen.
Rather than being an unexpected twist, Bluey’s ending was foreshadowed from the beginning of this episode. “Why do stories always have happy endings?” Bluey asks her teacher. “Because life has enough sad ones,” Calypso tells her.
I can’t predict what will happen in season four of Bluey, once that finally arrives (no release date is yet available, though the showrunners have confirmed the series is not over) but I would be shocked if the storylines feature the death of any major character, the divorce of Bandit and Chilli, or any other intense tragedy that would directly affect the main characters. There is a time and place for children’s media to address difficult topics (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood often did so with grace and gentleness) yet Bluey’s appeal does not lie in a penchant for tackling the darkest sides of childhood, but in its grounding, emotional-regulating peace: comfort TV in seven minutes.
In the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks, loosely based on the artistic struggle between P.L. Travers and Walt Disney over the film adaptation of Travers’ book Mary Poppins, Walt Disney (played by Tom Hanks) delivers one of my favorite lines about writing. “That’s what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.”
Life has enough sad endings. Though an animated children’s show about a family of blue heelers could certainly have redeemed a “sad” story choice into a warm and fuzzy ending, the emotional satisfaction that Bluey delivers when the family huddles together over takeout burgers and fries, in their own living room, is hard to beat. My inner child silently cheered. The real, present child cuddled on my lap smiled as he watched.
For a child, the story arc of “The Sign” is one of fulfillment: what Bluey and Bingo want is to stay in their beloved home. In the end, they get to stay. Hooray! For parents, it’s more layered: the adult Heelers are wrestling with the age-old question of what constitutes a better life. Are they stepping toward greater happiness for their children, or making a terrible mistake? Bandit believes the former, while Chilli is inclined to the latter. “Probably,” she tells Bandit. “But let’s make [the mistake] together.” And she takes his hand. Well, his paw.
Divided they might be in opinion, but united they stand in decision; when Bandit wants to move, Chilli goes along (not, as she corrects Frisky, because her husband is making her but because she agrees that it could be good for their family). And when Bandit takes a call from his realtor that reveals the sale has fallen through, he takes it as a sign: the Heelers are meant to stay. Their happiness is not dependent on a nebulously-defined “better life” (read: more money) but on the security they have in each other. Maybe a future story will see their hope instilled again with a new horizon; maybe they will stay rooted and flowering in a single spot. (“Daddy Dropoff” in season 2 hints at this with a flash-forward to Bingo and Lila graduating high school together, which does not imply a move, and the newest tag-on to season three, “Surprise,” shows Bluey returning as an adult to the old Queenslander.)
“The Sign” doesn’t shy away from the hard things; it opens up the door for parents to discuss the hard things like moving away and weddings that don’t work out, tailoring those conversations to individual needs, while providing a safe fictional landing place for children to explore their emotional world while remaining firmly rooted among family and friends. At the end of the day, that’s all Bluey ever claimed to offer. I think it’s enough. We’ll see.
And when stability and change and sacrifice have all been pondered, and the dances have been danced, we can finally consider the one question that will unite us all: where, exactly, was Bluey keeping that coin she pulled out at the lookout?
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Amy Colleen has written about life, literature, and the pursuit of hilarity for P.S. I Love You, Pregnant Chicken, Frazzled, and The Belladonna Comedy. You can read more of her work at amycolleen.substack.com.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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