If you’re one of the millions of fans of the Australian kids’ animated series Bluey, you’ll be aware that the show’s third season, which began airing in early 2021 in Australia, just concluded with an epic 28-minute special episode called “The Sign.” (Episodes are usually seven minutes long.) You’ll also be aware that the episode, and the lead-in to it, sent Bluey fandom into a tailspin of speculation that this was the end for the beloved show.
That’s partly because the format-breaking episode, which moots a massive change for the starring Heeler family of anthropomorphic dogs and integrates dozens of cameos and plotlines from across the entire series, has “finale” written all over it. And it’s partly because the creators of the show — which streams on Disney Plus and is distributed worldwide by the BBC, but remains in the full control of its creator, Joe Brumm, and the boutique Australian animation outfit Ludo Studio — have been evasive about the future of the show beyond season 3.
The short answer is: Bluey’s not over, although it’s unclear what form its return will take, and a fourth season is not a given.
Producer Sam Moor told the BBC, “No, it is not the end for Bluey. I’m sure we have many more surprises in store for you. We have more in store and we are thinking what would be next.” Notably, Moor’s comment stopped short of confirming season 4 of the show, and her wording was open-ended about the format of Bluey’s return.
There’s been plenty of speculation about a Bluey movie as the logical next step for a kids’ entertainment brand that has reached such a massive scale: Bloomberg reports that the Bluey brand is worth $2 billion, and in the U.S., it was the second most-streamed show of 2023 after Suits. A movie seems a real possibility. In an interview with Deadline, Brumm indicated that “The Sign” was a test case for Bluey in longer formats. “I’m loving going longer on ‘The Sign’, and I’d love to try to go longer — I definitely would not rule that out,” he said. “That’s why I’m very interested to see how ‘The Sign’ goes down with the audience. Obviously it’s four times as long as a normal episode. Will the audience accept a stint with a longer story?”
It’s remarkable that Bluey’s future is such an open question when the show is at the height of its popularity; movie or no movie, it’s shocking that season 4 has not yet been confirmed. Popular shows for kids tend to quickly get shifted onto production-line status. Although Bluey’s 153 episodes might seem like a lot, consider that Peppa Pig — Bluey’s predecessor and inspiration as a preschoolers’ favorite, and a show Brumm worked on himself — has run for eight seasons and almost 400 episodes over 20 years. This is the trajectory Bluey would normally be expected to be on.
But Bluey is different for a couple of reasons. For one, Brumm retains total creative control of the show. Based on credits, he has written every single episode, only rarely with a co-writer. He doesn’t own the show, but neither does Disney, nor the BBC. It’s Ludo’s property, and the small Australian studio has so far been content to let Brumm call the shots. Bloomberg paints a picture of executives at these and other companies, with hundreds of millions of dollars of potential revenue at stake, waiting anxiously to hear from Brumm what’s next.
Image: Ludo Studio
The other reason is a creative decision Brumm has made that differentiates Bluey from a lot of kids’ shows — and, indeed, other animated sitcoms. Unlike the perpetual, never-changing worlds of Peppa Pig or The Simpsons, time passes in Bluey. Both Bluey and her sister Bingo have had birthdays since the show began, and aged up accordingly; Bluey is now 7. Some episodes, like “Camping” and “Daddy Dropoff,” end with sudden, poignant flash-forwards into the characters’ future lives. In the show’s world, change is subtle, and rarely dramatic, but it is real. Adding to the stakes, Brumm is wary of recasting the original child actors (whom he has never named). “I’d look for every other alternative before replacement,” he told Bloomberg.
In other words, Brumm’s integrity has given Bluey a natural shelf life that a show like Paw Patrol simply doesn’t have. It really could end at any moment, either because Brumm decides he’s had enough, or because the actors age out, or because the characters do. Viewers instinctively understand this from the show’s tone and storytelling choices, even if they haven’t been reading any interviews. And this is what makes “The Sign” such a moving episode of TV.
The previous episode, “Ghostbasket,” which aired a week earlier, ended with a shock reveal: a for-sale sign outside the Heelers’ house. In “The Sign,” it’s revealed that Bluey’s dad, Bandit, has taken a job in a different city. The family is moving. The episode explores how destabilizing an event like this is for kids with its usual mix of humor and sensitivity, but the truth is that it’s destabilizing for the audience, too — whether kids, parents, or adult fans. The house is a (beautiful) space we’ve come to know intimately over years, and there’s a huge supporting cast of beloved characters that Brumm is threatening to take away.
“The Sign” is laden with callbacks to previous episodes that transcend the usual pointing Rick Dalton endorphin kick of recognition, instead moving subplots forward in meaningful ways. Bluey’s aunt Brandy — who appeared in “Onesies,” a heartbreaking episode about infertility — is shown pregnant. The single parents of some of Bluey’s school friends, shown chatting in “TV Shop,” get together. Life goes on. The episode’s premise and its dramatic conclusion are given extra weight and texture by a recent episode, “Stickbird,” in which the usually irrepressible Bandit is shown being distracted and low-key, struggling with something.
The care with which Brumm braids real life into the Heelers’ hilarious games, and confronts all the joy and pain of both childhood and parenting, is what earns “The Sign” its massive emotional payoff. The effect simply wouldn’t be possible in the hermetic, time-frozen world of other animated shows. And if the episode ultimately walks back from the brink of huge change, then it’s consistent with the show’s values, which have always put community and family before the individual. It was the right choice. Whether Bluey will return in a new season, a movie, or something else, fans can trust Brumm to keep it real.