Why stop with a super-sized episode of the world’s favourite children’s show?
The cast of Bluey have suggested a feature film could be next after fans finally get to see a “moving” extended special, which is set to leave viewers in tears.
“The Sign”, the longest-ever episode of the TV phenomenon, running to 28 minutes, premieres on Disney Plus on Sunday 14 April, following months of feverish speculation over its storyline.
Fans posting on Reddit threads have correctly deduced that the title refers to a “For Sale” sign.
It fuelled speculation that Bluey, Bingo and the Heeler family may be set to leave the family home, perhaps bringing the animated Australian series loved by parents and children worldwide, itself to a shock conclusion.
But Bluey producer Sam Moor told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that the programme will be returning for another series.
And Melanie Zanetti, the actress who voices Chilli, mother to the inexhaustible sibling pups, Bluey and Bingo, agrees that the story is far from over.
“The Sign” could point the way to a full-length Bluey: The Movie. “I definitely think it would work and I’m here for anything that the Bluey team wants to do,” Zanetti told i. “I’m 100 per cent in.”
Her remarks come after Bluey executive producer Daley Pearson hinted that The Sign was a test case for a feature-length movie in an interview with the Australian press.
A bigger canvas suited Bluey. “Once we started recording “The Sign”, what became really clear was that in seven minutes there’s only so much you can do in terms of exploring a story,” she said.
“But when you have 28 minutes there’s just so much more room for nuance and themes. You can really go so much deeper and I think that’s what was so exciting about the episode.”
“It’s been called Bluey’s Oppenheimer and I love that analogy.”
“This does have an epic feel, there are multiple storylines and characters having big journeys.”
“The Sign” centres around a wedding but there is also a storyline dealing with the kind of family upheaval which can have a huge impact on children.
“When you’re a little kid, moving home is one of the first big upheavals,” Zanetti said. “What Joe (Brumm, Bluey creator) is really brilliant at doing is inserting those poignant. Even the title “The Sign” is like a packed sedimentary rock of stuff for us to play with.”
“I was wiping tears off my chin,” the actress admitted. “There were tears on my shirt when we first saw the finished version. It’s such a beautiful episode and it’s really moving.”
Amid speculation that The Sign could have been a high point for Bluey to bow out as a TV series after 151 acclaimed episodes, Zanetti said: “It is ‘a’ beautiful ending, of sorts.
“But every tiny episode we make has a beautiful ending so who knows? I’ll keep playing Chilli in it, for as long as they’ll have me.”
At the time of interviewing Zanetti, Brumm, Bluey’s sole writer who keeps a close eye over the show’s expanding spin-offs, including a live stage show and theme park attractions, was yet to indicate that he was moving ahead with a fourth season.
“He’s given me nothing!,” Zanetti exclaimed. “And I’m constantly bullying him for information, ‘Hi Joe, whaddya think, what are we doing now? Let’s do something.’ He’s someone who is very level-headed. Brilliant but tight-lipped.”
With Bluey now generating an estimated £1bn in merchandising, spin-offs and programme sales, Brumm’s next move is of central importance to parents, who use episodes as a “bible” for teaching life lessons to their children, as well as global entertainment giants.
Bluey played a significant role in boosting the revenues of BBC Studios, the corporation’s commercial wing, beyond £2bn for the first time last year.
A smart deal with Brisbane animators Ludo Studios, cut before Bluey first aired on Australia’s ABC network in 2018, gave BBC Studios Kids & Family global control of its licensing.
Disney, which acquired international streaming rights from the BBC, saw Bluey account for 29 per cent of all TV views on Disney Plus in the fourth quarter of 2023, excluding movies, according to market research firm, Circana.
Only legal drama Suits racked up more streaming viewing minutes in the US last year whilst the merchandise line stretches from potty-training accessories to a touring theatre show.
How did Bluey win over the hearts and minds of children and adults alike? Zanetti said: “Joe’s writing encapsulates all the absurdity of little kids but every episode also has so much heart.”
“The characters are fallible, no one is perfect and I think people have really resonated with that, even people who don’t have kids.”
There is profundity amid the playfulness and chaos of the Heeler pups’ family.
Zanetti said: “I was at a Comic Con (fan convention) recently and someone said to me: ‘I had a really difficult childhood and I feel like this show is re-parenting me.’ Someone else said ‘I have kids in my class with learning difficulties and its taught them how to play with other kids and changed their life at school.’”
“There is an episode Copycat, where a budgie died. I’ve actually had parents say, ‘This is the gateway to us exploring explaining about death.’ It’s a gentle pathway into huge, complex things, which is quite magical.”
“It was not what we expected when we started making the show. But to see it have such a beautiful, positive impact on the world has just been so rewarding.”
However the actress, who says she revels in the anonymity of being the voice behind a much-loved character – “it means I don’t get typecast” – steers clear of the online speculation.
“I’ve never read anything on Reddit to do with Bluey. I love that there is this fervour around that, it’s amazing. I feel so touched that people love this show so much that they’re invested in what happens to these characters in this special episode.”
The BBC and Disney were approached for comment on Bluey’s future.
“The Sign” premieres globally on Sunday 14 April, the first episode of Bluey that will premiere around the world at the same time on ABC in Australia and Disney Plus. Bluey is jointly commissioned by ABC Children’s and BBC Studios Kids & Family.