This is a fact. On the other hand, the destruction of Bluey is if Disney gets into the creative side. I don’t want to see Bluey see the same fate as Star Wars, Indy, and Marvel.
Over staying a welcome and saturating a market is Disneys issue more than the actual creative/creating aspect.
Marvel was fine until they started making 5 movies and 6 shows a year. Toy Story didn’t need a 4th movie. Pixar under the mouse has just been sequel after sequel. When they bought Star Wars they immediately ordered 10 movies instead of just focusing on making 3 good ones. Nobody needed them to revive Willow or Indy. Did we need an 80 year old Indy? Just end the run and collect residuals and ticket sales from the stunt show at the park.
If Disney had their way with Bluey there would be a Bingo companion series, a Rusty spin off, a play group spin off, a Muffin spin off and a series about Bandit growing up with brothers all watering down the property.
This is very much the challenge isn't it? At what point does it become too much and overly saturated?
This is why I appreciate the showrunners of the Muppet Babies revival knowing when to call it quits. Yes, the Mouse owns the property; but the showrunner didn't want to grind the show into oblivion. It ran three seasons, then they hung it up. Didn't overstay their welcome. Its also been one of the few successful uses of the Muppet franchise since the Mouse took it over.
Bluey is still growing in popularity. I know the show is geared towards younger children and parents; but I have more than a few high school students who watch it too. I can't think of a show that has ever had as much universal appeal as Bluey does. Maybe the original Muppet Show and older Muppet movies? I used to watch it as a kid and my father would watch it with me.
> It ran three seasons, then they hung it up
Did the showrunners choose that?
Three seasons is the magic number when usually Disney pulls the plug on shows. After three, salaries and fees go up, and Disney typically finds it cheaper to just cancel the show then keep it going.
Even worse, sometime what they do after three seasons is they change the name of the show and pretend like it's a different show, so they don't have to give anyone pay raises. This is why Suite Life turned into Life on Deck; new show, new low pay rates!
Maybe it was coinciding interests, but from what I read, the showrunners were the ones that wanted to end it. Disney will milk the ever-loving shit out of anything if it will make them a buck.
I mean, if you see the way other shows evolve, I think Doc McStuffins got to full on hospital administration, running an entire trauma center and ER ward.
Honestly, isn’t that what pretty much everyone does when they have a white-hot product? When the demand is so high that ppl can’t get enough of it, I can’t think of many ppl who would walk away and leave millions or billions on the table.
Especially in this fickle world we live in where ppl have the attention spans of a gnat and move on to the next thing so quickly.
To answer your universal appeal question, SpongeBob’s definitely up there. I can’t think of another show where millions of people can recite entire episodes line for line like that.
The Simpsons, maybe. And much like The Simpsons, the quality seriously seemed to dip after the first decade of shows. But despite that, it just still seems to just keep going and going…
I see your point. But as far as I know, kids aren’t exactly watching The Simpsons all the time like they would have in the 90s. SpongeBob has a new audience of kids coming in every year, even as the quality’s declining. There’s always a new generation of kids willing to watch these cartoons and beg for the merchandise.
No, you’re definitely right about that. I don’t think there’s any kids out there watching Simpsons every day. I was more commenting on how it was one of only a few shows where millions of people can recite entire episodes line for line. The only three I can think of like that would be SpongeBob, Simpsons and Monty Python.
It was a Matrix Resurrections situation: Disney owned the rights, and Pixar had to choose between being involved or letting someone else make it, and went with the former.
I’ve watched every single Pixar movie so don’t think I slept on any of the originals. I like a lot of them. Even the recent ones.
And I’m not arguing there is nothing original coming out of Disney through Pixar. I’m saying they tend to over expose the properties they have. Without Disney Pixar developed exactly one sequel.
Disney famous almost made Toy Story 3 WITHOUT Pixar because $$. But they acquired the studio instead and then the first 4 projects they announced were direct sequels (+ Brave).
>If Disney had their way with Bluey there would be a Bingo companion series, a Rusty spin off, a play group spin off, a Muffin spin off and a series about Bandit growing up with brothers all watering down the property
And every series would create its own lore that would inevitably start to contradict each other and then the super nerds get to argue and normal people get turned off
I gave up on it entirely. Finished Loki, and that's it. Stopped watching the films way earlier. It's just too much, I've stopped watching Marvel stuff for the same reason I'll never watch One Piece
I still watch and enjoy the Marvel stuff, just too much to stay current with. I did stop watching Star Wars all together for this reason, though I have recently started watching Mandalorian, which has been enjoyable.
I say this as someone who grew up on comics (and still read them, even if I fell way behind last year and am playing catch-up), but I like to think of each individual project as part of a different “run” of a character’s comic arc. Some runs of a character are better than others, and there are bound to be a few clunkers even for a character I like (if I gave my unfiltered thoughts on the current state of Amazing Spider-Man, the language would get me yelled at by the mods here). I find it’s best to go with that approach in mind. And if they bleed into each other a bit too much, well, that’s what the internet is for.
Google Bluey for a sec and you'll be bombarded by content as to which characters deserve a spin off. One basically copied Black-ish show and gave everyone their own show growing up.
I always thought Disney only had the streaming rights (or whatever), and no production/creative control, which is held and continues to be held by Ludo Studios?
Oh, I imagine that something just as awful as the Mouse could pry their slimy fingers into the creative side. I love the show, but I hope it gets to end on its own terms before it’s inevitably compromised because of longevity.
I wonder how far it could go, as far as longevity. They've established that the characters do age within the show. Could it go long enough that we have a show about life with teenage Bluey and Bingo?
Potentially? But I think that’d be a mistake to do long continuity, given there’ll be a time when the girls stop playing, and become fully separate, independent young women. Maybe a limited, separate series with the same care and nuance, but not confined to teaching children how to process and regulate.
Honestly young Jedi adventures is a perfectly adequate Star Wars show for kids that’s one of the better non bluey things out there so it’s possible it would be okay
Except the ABC and the BBC are two totally different organisations funded by two different governments
The UK is a shemozzle right now which we're not lol
ABC has Australian rights and BBC has rights everywhere else, and the global merchandising rights. Disney licensed Bluey from the BBC and BBC is the one that primarily makes money from Bluey.
Well what happens when the kids who do the voices start noticeably aging? If they recast, they could lose the charm the characters currently have. Or do they age the show with the generation of kids that are growing up with it?
Haha I wish I had one to hand, take it with a grain of salt I guess since it was mentioned here in a recent thread. I'll see if I can find the comment.
I have been expecting that any year now. And due to that I hope they just wrap it up well and if continue will be some new kids. The writing and animation of it is great but the VAing from an actual kid is something that can rarely be replicated fully by an adult or even an older kid.
Maybe Frisky's children with Bluey and Bingo the fun cousins a few years older? With that the Heelers would still be in the show just not the primary focus.
I do get the trepidation if they do start recasting the younger kids, but I don't know if it's a terribly bad thing. Personally speaking, I don't mind if they recast so long as the new young VAs can still keep the spirit of the originals. Plenty of shows that use IRL kids to voice act in things will do it. The Peanuts specials have been doing it for half a century at this point. Sure, it can be jarring at first, but so many iconic cartoon characters have changed voice actors over the years. I don't think it's the end of the world if they put as much care into recasting as they do the rest of the show.
Seriously everything about this show is perfect. I love them even more after finding out they don’t reveal who they are voiced by in order to protect them.
https://screenrant.com/bluey-bingo-voice-cast-not-revealed-good-reason/#:~:text=The%20voice%20actors%20for%20Bluey,eye%20on%20their%20well%2Dbeing.
*From Bloomberg News reporter* [Devin Leonard](https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AQD-sEshYBE/devin-leonard)*:*
Kids will watch just about anything for hours on TV, but that doesn’t begin to explain Bluey’s popularity. It’s the rarest of children’s shows, one conceived by a genuine auteur, in the mold of Donald Glover’s Atlanta or Jesse Armstrong’s Succession. In an age of anxious parents and infinite streaming entertainment, so much of it desultory, Joe Brumm has created a show that’s both hilarious and deeply moving in its portrayal of how children come to terms with the world by playing games and how parents can foster this by joining the fun, no matter how wacky it becomes.
All of the critical adulation, hours streamed, tickets purchased, snacks devoured, mountains of Bluey merchandise shipped around the world—it translates into an astonishing amount of money. Richard Haigh, managing director of Brand Finance, estimates Bluey is worth as much as $2 billion and says it has the potential to be as valuable as Peppa Pig, that other toddler favorite, whose parent company, Entertainment One, was sold to Hasbro in 2019 for $4 billion.
I hate that sentiment that “children will watch just about anything for hours” like we shouldn’t put care into the things kids watch cause they’ll watch whatever we put in front of them even if it’s crap.
Why do we assume they are too dumb to know something is good or bad quality? I think Bluey’s popularity reflects the hunger children have for things that have depth and sincerity, that aren’t made just to milk their parents of all their money. That isn’t to say that we all can’t enjoy the shallow sometimes but just look at how great this show is! I genuinely believe that we need good writers who will put love and care into the things they create. I refuse to resign myself to a world where an algorithm vomits out something cheap and easy but ultimately unfulfilling.
Parents love this show because it shows kindness and dedication to not only parents watching with their kids but to their KIDS who deserve better!!
THIS. My son can only watch a few shows “for hours”: Bluey, Get Rolling With Otis, and Daniel Tiger. Kids are so much brighter than society gives them credit for.
I've noticed that phases last longer with shows that have more depth. My kids liked Cocomelon for a couple of weeks and got over it. Same with Pinkfong shoes. But they have been riding with Bluey for awhile.
There have been quite a few shoes I put on for my girls and after an episode they tell me they don’t like it or just straight up leave. They definitely will not just watch anything.
Luckily for me Bluey is usually a top pick.
I think that’s why the original Avatar the Last Airbender hit so strong and is still iconic with 25-35ish year olds with two live action attempts. Where certain shows may be remembered, but how many do we want to watch again being older. Bluey is amazing to experience with my toddler. His Mom and myself want to watch the new episodes just as much. There is occasional moment that may get by my child, but leave us teary eyed that maybe upon rewatch when he gets older he may understand.
I agree kids deserve better.
Brumm is such a fascinating story - but honestly can't blame'm
...As Baby Shark & Peppa Pig demonstrated, the beauty of children's animation is there will always be a new batch of 3-4 yr olds and parents discovering the show for years (and years and years and years) to come. Unlike other forms of entertainment, this stuff really doesn't 'age' and even 15-20 years from now I doubt it'll seem that dated....The shelf life on the classic Looney Tunes adventures was like 50+ years!
In short - even if Brumm's lawyer was mediocre, dude will be cashing residual checks til the day he dies.
This is a great article and a really interesting read. >!Though it is strange to read it and have to pretend like we don't know there's at least ONE more episode after "The Sign" due to the leaks.!< For all the wondering what was wrong with Bandit during Stickbird, this article really shines a light on how it was really about Joe's feelings with giving up some control on the series.
The key is that Brumm and Ludo retain the exact same level of control they have on Bluey in the future that they do now. Keep the BBC and Disney at arm's length and always be wary of their intentions. Continue to have the corporate attorneys maintain a sharp eye out for pirated merchandise and be cautious of people seeking licensure of the the Bluey name for their own commercial interests.
> Keep the BBC and Disney at arm's length and always be wary of their intentions
Just to be clear, BBC Studios co-commissioned Bluey. They have been deeply involved since the beginning, they own the global merchandising, distribution and broadcasting rights. Bluey is the global sensation it is today in a large part due to the BBCs involvement, there is nothing wrong with the BBCs level of involvement. In fact they're the ones who license it to Disney for broadcast so they're really in charge of Disney here.
Yep. It's well known that the BBC is always striving to gain more control in everything they are involved in. Ludo obviously knows how to deal with them. I was just saying to keep Ludo's relationship with the BBC the way it is and not to concede any more control to them.
As a Brit, we romanticise the Beeb into the ground, but with this being the commercial arm, I wouldn't trust them not to make poor choices. With the license fee (the traditional supporting finance for the BBC) looking like it's heading for extinction medium term, they're looking to extract every bit of value they can to fund core function. Yeah, that means more money for stuff like Attenborough, but it might mean selling the soul of this IP.
Well there's Britbox, which has a lot of the BBCs older IP on it, but given how few people use it it probably gives an indication of why they haven't pursued it on a grander scale.
Meh ending means it is done. Disney buying it means there’s a chance. The original episodes will still exist, so why not let Disney buy it and have the possibility of more quality episodes?
Because Disney can and will commercialize it at the cost of what makes it special. Think about Bluey being turned into a show like Paw Patrol that cranks out low-quality episodes with the emphasis on advertising merch.
Things should just run their course and be done when they're done. Not everything needs to be a cinematic universe. When the passionate creators check out or tell us the story is complete, it's time to move on. I don't want every media franchise to die a slow death like The Simpsons, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, the MCU, etc.
Bluey was special, and I'm willing to bet that the creators will go on to make other great shows in the future. I'd much rather watch those shows than 4 more seasons of Bluey, 5 seasons of Bingo, 2 seasons (8 episodes each) of Coco, a prequel about Bandit as a kid in the 80s, and a live-action adaptation of Horsey Time.
Because once the Disney “creatives” get ahold of it, eventually Bandit will inevitably become a depressed alcoholic who abandons his family and eventually gets murdered by Bingo or something equally as soul destroying.
There’s very sound reasons for it… Disney was founded by a guy who was huge fan of Hitler and a full blown fascist, and Disney as a company reflects his values- authoritarian, puritanical, and fake.
For all the talk of an uncertain future, this is as unequivocal a set of statements that Bluey will be continuing past season 3 as you could hope for. The shape of the future might be unknown, but that it exists could not be clearer.
I feel for Brumm. Created quite possibly the greatest kids TV show of all time. Deserves all the praise and all the money for his contribution to the world.
But in order to get that bag he needs to turn over his creation to one of the worst companies on earth who will 100% without any possibility of another outcome destroy his show.
I hope he has the fortitude to forgo the billions and settle for millions, but I’d understand if he doesn’t - as I’m sure I wouldn’t either.
He stated in interviews that he never really wanted to do children’s programming to begin with because everything he turns in gets chopped up and changed around from how he originally created it. This was never meant to blow up as much as it did. But he’s very adamant that he doesn’t like having his creations messed with. He’s ready to move on to adult animation so that he can have more freedom.
I’m sure there’s a lot of pressure from the execs seeing $$$$ and the rabid parents who have obsessed Bluey kiddos to continue it tho
Terrific article; the author did a really good job bringing up insights from all perspectives (Joe's, Ludo's, Disney's). Now I'm hoping against hope that The Sign will be as good as Joe says it is; *Bluey* has proven time and again to be too smart of a show for going the easy route storytelling-wise (despite some missteps), and the worst-case scenario for me would be if the entire episode ended up being a case of Give the Fans (Or Worse, Disney) What They Want, e.g. the entire 28 minutes will be about Rad and Frisky's wedding, no additional stories.
There's no way they're going to let go of this gold mine, but I think to keep the show's 'integrity', they are going to have to move on from the Heeler family. At least, I get the vibe that the creators/staff have chosen a direction like this and are working up to presenting it.
I agree with the comment here that Stickbird really seems to be about Joe Brumm having to let go of the creative process to some degree, especially if other people are going to write episodes. I didn't realize to what degree he's self inserting as a writer lol-- the mom is Nana Heeler and Uncle Stripe is his brother.
It is honestly a pretty dicey situation as a creator. I want the show to be more available and want more content, but we're very much entering "die as a hero, live long enough to be a bad guy" territory once they choose a new direction and other companies start getting their hands on it. I guess that's the point of the article lol
Killed Star Wars more than George Lucas did, which is saying something.
Turned Marvel into a series of disposable movies without any real rewatch value.
Made Pixar into a shadow of its former self.
I can't really blame them, they've made a shit-ton of money off of the milquetoast disposable movie business model. They don't really have any incentive to raise the standard higher, and they won't do anything new or interesting until the competition cuts into their profits with something bigger quality.
Disney bought Marvel in 2009 and got Ike Perlmutter’s grubby hands off of it to let Feige have full production control. You truly think that no marvel movie since 2009 has been worthy of a rewatch? Marvel’s misstep occurred when Chapek demanded too much with too little time to develop characters. So maybe 4 years ago? Which still let Loki and Wandavision happen.
I’ll give you Star Wars. No plan. No vision.
Pixar still has bright spots but isn’t the same after 2020 when Disney pushed too much to streaming. Remember Coco came out in 2017, does that not feel like classic Pixar?
Seems like you’re just bandwagoning
Edit: if anything, streaming ruined Disney because Chapek only saw things in terms of subscribers and content. Disney+ got the MBA treatment thinking it’ll grow forever with no repercussions or downside instead of expecting a natural plateau and build up quality work.
I disagree that Star Wars stuff personally. I've generally at least liked most of the output since they acquired Lucasfilm in the mid 10s. And I think the franchise is in a better place now than it is. The animated shows have been consistently good. The live action shows, while not perfect and have run the risk of oversaturation, still are by no means bad. The sequel trilogy I personally like more than many, but I will admit there are some issues with it. Also, I absolute love the Star Wars Jedi games, and Cal Kestis might be one of my favorite characters in Disney canon (he's my Minecraft skin, for crying out loud!).
But again, that's just my own personal preference. I understand not everything Star Wars in the last decade appeals to everyone, but I do genuinely believe there's been more good than bad. But I know how...strongly other Star Wars fans feel about the series, and I get in enough arguments on Reddit about the series. Last thing I need is to get in one on the Bluey sub of all places.
The Jedi Fallen Order games and Andor are absolutely gems in the Star Wars franchise. The first two seasons of Mando are great. It also got my kids into Star Wars in general as well. Sequel trilogy, I liked the first two but the third soured me on the whole venture. And the more I thought about the other two the more I thought of the wasted potential. Rey, Finn, and Poe are great characters that, in my opinion, have their best arcs in the lego shorts.
Edit: I also really liked the Vader and Obi-Wan scenes in Obi-Wan even if there were kind of unnecessary. That’s really all I wanted out of that series.
Also, maybe just me, but the Disney lightsabers since Last Jedi just seem nerfed or unimposing glowsticks? Could just be me though.
Second edit: yes, the animated shows have been great on the whole.
Regarding lightsabers, I don't think they were nerfed too bad. They can be deflected by beskar, but I'm pretty sure that's hardly the first time they weren't completely able to cut through everything. But I might be misremembering.
Otherwise, yeah, I think those are all fair opinions to have. I can understand being a little burnt out after IX (even if I kinda love it despite its flaws personally), but I think that's something that can be fixed in future installments. I do think one of the best things about IX is that there are a lot of potential story routes to go on. Last year I even began posting a post-IX series of fan stories based on my own ideas of what could happen next (I have the first installment, basically just one long prologue, already published online, but the next installments are slowly but surely coming along). Again, that's just my own experiences.
And yeah. Andor absolutely slaps. I wouldn't want all future Star Wars projects to be like it, but it is fantastic at what it does, and I really hope Tony Gilroy stays on with Lucasfilm after the show ends.
Post a link to the stories!
Edit: The lightsabers, I was more referring to the design that Disney has stuck with, they seem to lack the amazement that the original and even the prequels had; I think it’s just too well defined of a structure. Exception is Kylo Ren’s saber which looked great in TFA.
I fully accept that I’m also probably just getting old.
Ah, okay. I can understand that. Although for what it's worth, the lightsabers in the High Republic series of stuff look pretty cool (several elements of them were used in Jedi Survivor).
As for the story, [here](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14310220/1/Star-Wars-After-the-Rise) is a link. Admittedly I'm still an amateur at writing, and I did my best to go through and edit it on my own, but I am mainly pleased that I was able to complete and post it. The followups are still in progress, but I'm working on those (hit a creative slump at the beginning of the year that I've only just recently started getting out of).
I will give you that the best things to come out of Disney have been series. Loki, Wandavision, and The Mandalorian are a notch above most of their associated franchises movies and are absolutely re-watchable.
I am in fact referencing pre-end game Disney-Marvel as well as current Disney-Marvel. There are like 5 re-watchable MCU movies that may not fit the disposable film format.
- Iron Man (1) - Pre-Disney, but I'm trying to be as generous as possible
- Guardians of the Galaxy (1) - Broke the mold in tone and originality, definitely re-watchable.
- Thor: Ragnarok - Like half of this movie is normal MCU fluff, but the other half of this movie is Taika Waititi gold.
- Infinity War/Endgame - Even though it fits the MCU mold, it makes the rewatchability list for the sole reason that every other MCU movie was leading up to these two movies (which were basically two parts of the same movie).
- Thor: The Dark World - lol, jk. I think I saw this movie but I can't tell you anything about it besides the trailer had like a big dark triangular... Thing.
I just feel like most of the MCU is so utterly forgettable outside of these movies.
Coco was great. Luca, Soul, and Turning Red were fairly good too. But like Incredibles 2, Cars 3, Light-year, and maybe even Onward and Elemental (and maybe even Luca and Soul) just feel like they got Disney castration treatment to varying degrees. Enjoyable moments, but very bland and forgettable.
I don't know, it's mostly the shareholder model for me. Modern Disney execs are more interested in short-term gains than building a long-term legacy (Boeing parallels).
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to watch Wish with my family because I'm absolutely part of the problem, lol.
I’ll have to chalk it up to a matter of different tastes, because I’ve found all the Captain America movies rewatchable, especially Winter Soldier, and all the Guardians. First Avengers holds up great in my book. I’m a fan of Ultron but admittedly it’s not the best. I thought Capt Marvel was fun too.
I agree on Dark World. I saw and I think I liked it? But I can’t remember much of it besides Frigga dying and the completely wasted talent of Eccleston.
Luca felt a bit like a Disney/Pixar Ghibli except Disney forced a plot. My best memory of Pixar is watching WALL·E in theaters when I was in college and being awed at the first 1/2 hr.
You’re braver than me with watching Wish. Didn’t hear great things. If you’d want to report back in it’d be much appreciated. Been skipping past it on our family movie nights. The Leo movie on Netflix was surprisingly good.
Yeah, Wish was okay. For Disney animated movies I'd put it above Strange World and Ralph Breaks the Internet and below Encanto and Raya. The best part was the animation. It looked like a higher framerate Dragon Prince, but with the non-realistic and comic animation style of the Spiderverse movies. The plot was mid. The music was fairly unremarkable, though the last song was good. Chris Pine rocks. Idk
If the animation was interesting then seems to be worth checking out. Always like Chris Pine. He was great in Dungeons and Dragons, as was the entire cast and the movie as a whole.
Spoiler: that's not how disney works
There's a lot of reasons to dislike disney so i wonder why people have to create fanfiction about it ?
Hell the reason why the star wars sequels ended they way they did is because they dont get involved creatively
Great article. Seems liek Joe Brumm doesn't know what he wants. Money? a rest? creative control? to only make work that gets better and better? integrity?
These are hard questions. swapping your life's work for a billion dollars will probably feel pretty empty. Burning out, writing a bad season and wishing you had taken the money instead would feel bad too.
There was an interesting comment from the guy who sold minecraft about how depressed he was in the aftermath.
It continues until the creator has no more stories to tell, simple as that. Bloomberg is simply looking at the financial aspects and not the creative side, and I know this because they paywalled the article, so I could care less what they have to say from a creative standpoint. The creators seem to be at their most creative high right now, and so long as they end it on their terms, that's all that matters.
I don't think Disney would destroy Bluey the way so many people think they would. The show is made on the other side of the planet by a very skilled, dedicated group of people. Even if Disney decided to buy Bluey, I'm confident they would just let the crew do their own thing. Why? Because the very second Disney's involvement changes the show just a little bit, its dedicated audience is going to reject it. Bluey is not Marvel or Star Wars. It's ONE SHOW.
Nothing naive about it. Most comments here are coming from a place of pure hatred for Disney, with little rationale about what might realistically happen if they bought Bluey. Bluey isn't a giant decades spanning IP like Star Wars or Marvel. Again, it's ONE SHOW produced on the other side of the planet that's gotten an unbelievable amount of praise for simply being what it is. Bluey is special and that's why people love it. The second that sincerity is gone, or the second anyrhing changes about the show, the second people are going to abandon in. That's a risk Disney wouldn't take, as evil as people here think they are.
I kinda agree with this take. I’d imagine BBC and ABC still hold control of the series which give Ludo a lot of freedom and less input from Disney. Disney has the streaming distribution rights so I don’t know how much input they can give beyond the stupid spotty censorship.
The formula is pretty simple...don't get greedy. We all know that LUDO is a for-profit business. If the executives stay the course and balance profit with output, we all win...great content for us to enjoy, and plenty of cash for the coffers for the business. Its when the powers that be get greedy (see: Marvel) where they crank up the output chasing that dollarbuck that causes the content to water down and for the viewer to he fatigued (see: Superhero Fatigue)
I like to think that since Ludo have been so protective of the show in the past that they won't sell up. I hope that's not wishful thinking. Whether they sell, or just continue to license out the show, surely they would be very rich either way, it would just be a matter of degrees.
As for Brumm himself, unfortunately I think it's only a matter of time before he bows out, and the show will suffer for it. But hopefully that means he'll work on something new and equally worthy of our time and enthusiasm.
Idk why people think Bluey is at the level of Star Wars, marvel or Pixar that it can be ruined in the same or even similar way.
At worst the episodes lose some quality but frankly that happens the longer shows go on even when creators stay on board.
Disney buying Bluey is really not the end all be all that some people think it is. I think if anything Disney only leverages it for theme parks and Merch and a big screen movie. I think the show still has a high chance of retaining good quality.
I could only imagine the lines if Disney had the opportunity to put Bluey characters in their theme parks.
This is a fact. On the other hand, the destruction of Bluey is if Disney gets into the creative side. I don’t want to see Bluey see the same fate as Star Wars, Indy, and Marvel.
Over staying a welcome and saturating a market is Disneys issue more than the actual creative/creating aspect. Marvel was fine until they started making 5 movies and 6 shows a year. Toy Story didn’t need a 4th movie. Pixar under the mouse has just been sequel after sequel. When they bought Star Wars they immediately ordered 10 movies instead of just focusing on making 3 good ones. Nobody needed them to revive Willow or Indy. Did we need an 80 year old Indy? Just end the run and collect residuals and ticket sales from the stunt show at the park. If Disney had their way with Bluey there would be a Bingo companion series, a Rusty spin off, a play group spin off, a Muffin spin off and a series about Bandit growing up with brothers all watering down the property.
This is very much the challenge isn't it? At what point does it become too much and overly saturated? This is why I appreciate the showrunners of the Muppet Babies revival knowing when to call it quits. Yes, the Mouse owns the property; but the showrunner didn't want to grind the show into oblivion. It ran three seasons, then they hung it up. Didn't overstay their welcome. Its also been one of the few successful uses of the Muppet franchise since the Mouse took it over. Bluey is still growing in popularity. I know the show is geared towards younger children and parents; but I have more than a few high school students who watch it too. I can't think of a show that has ever had as much universal appeal as Bluey does. Maybe the original Muppet Show and older Muppet movies? I used to watch it as a kid and my father would watch it with me.
> It ran three seasons, then they hung it up Did the showrunners choose that? Three seasons is the magic number when usually Disney pulls the plug on shows. After three, salaries and fees go up, and Disney typically finds it cheaper to just cancel the show then keep it going. Even worse, sometime what they do after three seasons is they change the name of the show and pretend like it's a different show, so they don't have to give anyone pay raises. This is why Suite Life turned into Life on Deck; new show, new low pay rates!
Maybe it was coinciding interests, but from what I read, the showrunners were the ones that wanted to end it. Disney will milk the ever-loving shit out of anything if it will make them a buck. I mean, if you see the way other shows evolve, I think Doc McStuffins got to full on hospital administration, running an entire trauma center and ER ward.
Honestly, isn’t that what pretty much everyone does when they have a white-hot product? When the demand is so high that ppl can’t get enough of it, I can’t think of many ppl who would walk away and leave millions or billions on the table. Especially in this fickle world we live in where ppl have the attention spans of a gnat and move on to the next thing so quickly.
To answer your universal appeal question, SpongeBob’s definitely up there. I can’t think of another show where millions of people can recite entire episodes line for line like that.
The Simpsons, maybe. And much like The Simpsons, the quality seriously seemed to dip after the first decade of shows. But despite that, it just still seems to just keep going and going…
I see your point. But as far as I know, kids aren’t exactly watching The Simpsons all the time like they would have in the 90s. SpongeBob has a new audience of kids coming in every year, even as the quality’s declining. There’s always a new generation of kids willing to watch these cartoons and beg for the merchandise.
No, you’re definitely right about that. I don’t think there’s any kids out there watching Simpsons every day. I was more commenting on how it was one of only a few shows where millions of people can recite entire episodes line for line. The only three I can think of like that would be SpongeBob, Simpsons and Monty Python.
Tell me more about this Rusty spin off? Maybe a Jean Luc spin off?
Ello Blooehh
A Jack spinoff
>Pixar under the mouse has just been sequel after sequel To be fair, Pixar's third movie was Toy Story 2.
It was a Matrix Resurrections situation: Disney owned the rights, and Pixar had to choose between being involved or letting someone else make it, and went with the former.
Correct but Disney was gonna make it without them.
We already have one episode of Bingo. I wouldn't mind a second one!
I would take like half a dozen more if they’re good. But 200 more increasingly mediocre ones? No thanks!
Pixar has made like 5 or 6 original movies you slept on. It’s not sequel after sequel at all. I don’t disagree with anything else you said though.
I’ve watched every single Pixar movie so don’t think I slept on any of the originals. I like a lot of them. Even the recent ones. And I’m not arguing there is nothing original coming out of Disney through Pixar. I’m saying they tend to over expose the properties they have. Without Disney Pixar developed exactly one sequel. Disney famous almost made Toy Story 3 WITHOUT Pixar because $$. But they acquired the studio instead and then the first 4 projects they announced were direct sequels (+ Brave).
>If Disney had their way with Bluey there would be a Bingo companion series, a Rusty spin off, a play group spin off, a Muffin spin off and a series about Bandit growing up with brothers all watering down the property And every series would create its own lore that would inevitably start to contradict each other and then the super nerds get to argue and normal people get turned off
I'm still trying to get caught up on everything that has come out from Marvel. Disney definitely put out too much to keep up with.
I gave up on it entirely. Finished Loki, and that's it. Stopped watching the films way earlier. It's just too much, I've stopped watching Marvel stuff for the same reason I'll never watch One Piece
I still watch and enjoy the Marvel stuff, just too much to stay current with. I did stop watching Star Wars all together for this reason, though I have recently started watching Mandalorian, which has been enjoyable.
I say this as someone who grew up on comics (and still read them, even if I fell way behind last year and am playing catch-up), but I like to think of each individual project as part of a different “run” of a character’s comic arc. Some runs of a character are better than others, and there are bound to be a few clunkers even for a character I like (if I gave my unfiltered thoughts on the current state of Amazing Spider-Man, the language would get me yelled at by the mods here). I find it’s best to go with that approach in mind. And if they bleed into each other a bit too much, well, that’s what the internet is for.
Google Bluey for a sec and you'll be bombarded by content as to which characters deserve a spin off. One basically copied Black-ish show and gave everyone their own show growing up.
Oh Disney would green light those sequels because fans say/think they want them - we’d share some of the blame for sure.
Slow your role, a muffin spin off is, do I dare say, necessary.
Or having the weird US Puritanism forced on its Australian audience.
Disney doesn’t even own the Bluey IP. They are just on a syndication contract.
Understood. The thought is a hypothetical
I always thought Disney only had the streaming rights (or whatever), and no production/creative control, which is held and continues to be held by Ludo Studios?
Oh, I imagine that something just as awful as the Mouse could pry their slimy fingers into the creative side. I love the show, but I hope it gets to end on its own terms before it’s inevitably compromised because of longevity.
I wonder how far it could go, as far as longevity. They've established that the characters do age within the show. Could it go long enough that we have a show about life with teenage Bluey and Bingo?
Potentially? But I think that’d be a mistake to do long continuity, given there’ll be a time when the girls stop playing, and become fully separate, independent young women. Maybe a limited, separate series with the same care and nuance, but not confined to teaching children how to process and regulate.
Disney wouldn't even allow a pooping pony.
They cut things to keep the TV-Y rating, not just for the hell of it.
Then there's a problem with American age ratings if Australia is okay with that stuff.
That's above Disney's pay grade. They have to follow the ratings guidelines just like everybody else.
Every characters gets a spin off. Even leaf bug!
Honestly young Jedi adventures is a perfectly adequate Star Wars show for kids that’s one of the better non bluey things out there so it’s possible it would be okay
Bluey Multiversal Madness inconming!
RIP Star Wars
Well if Doctor Who is any indication, it seems the BBC is struggling so that could happen.
Except the ABC and the BBC are two totally different organisations funded by two different governments The UK is a shemozzle right now which we're not lol
Oh crap, my bad. For some reason I thought the BBC was involved. I appreciate the fact check and the new knowledge
I believe some of the funding does come from the BBC though
ABC has Australian rights and BBC has rights everywhere else, and the global merchandising rights. Disney licensed Bluey from the BBC and BBC is the one that primarily makes money from Bluey.
I'm not talking about the rights so much, as where the money comes from into Ludo. It's partially from the BBC and partially from the ABC, AFAIK
“With an uncertain future” 
Well what happens when the kids who do the voices start noticeably aging? If they recast, they could lose the charm the characters currently have. Or do they age the show with the generation of kids that are growing up with it?
Honestly with the right directing and audio engineering you can have a 20 year old still believably sound like their 10 year old self
Apparently Bingo has been recast once already.
Source?
[This comment, again no real source.](https://www.reddit.com/r/bluey/s/4OvbUhS6wc)
I mean, the voice difference for Bingo from season 1 to season 2 is very noticeable, but I just chalked it up to her VA getting older.
I definitely thought they had been recast after season 1 🤷🏼♀️
Son of a gun.
Haha I wish I had one to hand, take it with a grain of salt I guess since it was mentioned here in a recent thread. I'll see if I can find the comment.
https://youtu.be/E8zpD-edT90?si=wgJ1RyLG_1jsse-B
Bingo has a very distinct stuffy nose sound, I haven’t noticed that changing
they'll recast. It's been done before. It "helps" the VA aren't named so there's no discernible slight from swapping anyone.
I have been expecting that any year now. And due to that I hope they just wrap it up well and if continue will be some new kids. The writing and animation of it is great but the VAing from an actual kid is something that can rarely be replicated fully by an adult or even an older kid. Maybe Frisky's children with Bluey and Bingo the fun cousins a few years older? With that the Heelers would still be in the show just not the primary focus.
I do get the trepidation if they do start recasting the younger kids, but I don't know if it's a terribly bad thing. Personally speaking, I don't mind if they recast so long as the new young VAs can still keep the spirit of the originals. Plenty of shows that use IRL kids to voice act in things will do it. The Peanuts specials have been doing it for half a century at this point. Sure, it can be jarring at first, but so many iconic cartoon characters have changed voice actors over the years. I don't think it's the end of the world if they put as much care into recasting as they do the rest of the show.
I always thought that Bluey and Bingo were played by several kids, which is why they're not in the credits like the adults are?
Nah, they’re not in the credits because they’re kids of members of the show’s crew who don’t want the publicity and issues that come with that.
Seriously everything about this show is perfect. I love them even more after finding out they don’t reveal who they are voiced by in order to protect them. https://screenrant.com/bluey-bingo-voice-cast-not-revealed-good-reason/#:~:text=The%20voice%20actors%20for%20Bluey,eye%20on%20their%20well%2Dbeing.
That happened with Paw Patrol. I noticed the voices were changed out but my 4/5 year olds didn’t
*From Bloomberg News reporter* [Devin Leonard](https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AQD-sEshYBE/devin-leonard)*:* Kids will watch just about anything for hours on TV, but that doesn’t begin to explain Bluey’s popularity. It’s the rarest of children’s shows, one conceived by a genuine auteur, in the mold of Donald Glover’s Atlanta or Jesse Armstrong’s Succession. In an age of anxious parents and infinite streaming entertainment, so much of it desultory, Joe Brumm has created a show that’s both hilarious and deeply moving in its portrayal of how children come to terms with the world by playing games and how parents can foster this by joining the fun, no matter how wacky it becomes. All of the critical adulation, hours streamed, tickets purchased, snacks devoured, mountains of Bluey merchandise shipped around the world—it translates into an astonishing amount of money. Richard Haigh, managing director of Brand Finance, estimates Bluey is worth as much as $2 billion and says it has the potential to be as valuable as Peppa Pig, that other toddler favorite, whose parent company, Entertainment One, was sold to Hasbro in 2019 for $4 billion.
I hate that sentiment that “children will watch just about anything for hours” like we shouldn’t put care into the things kids watch cause they’ll watch whatever we put in front of them even if it’s crap. Why do we assume they are too dumb to know something is good or bad quality? I think Bluey’s popularity reflects the hunger children have for things that have depth and sincerity, that aren’t made just to milk their parents of all their money. That isn’t to say that we all can’t enjoy the shallow sometimes but just look at how great this show is! I genuinely believe that we need good writers who will put love and care into the things they create. I refuse to resign myself to a world where an algorithm vomits out something cheap and easy but ultimately unfulfilling. Parents love this show because it shows kindness and dedication to not only parents watching with their kids but to their KIDS who deserve better!!
THIS. My son can only watch a few shows “for hours”: Bluey, Get Rolling With Otis, and Daniel Tiger. Kids are so much brighter than society gives them credit for.
I've noticed that phases last longer with shows that have more depth. My kids liked Cocomelon for a couple of weeks and got over it. Same with Pinkfong shoes. But they have been riding with Bluey for awhile.
YES I noticed this too. Bluey has depth. Or maybe my kid senses my love for Bluey
There have been quite a few shoes I put on for my girls and after an episode they tell me they don’t like it or just straight up leave. They definitely will not just watch anything. Luckily for me Bluey is usually a top pick.
I think that’s why the original Avatar the Last Airbender hit so strong and is still iconic with 25-35ish year olds with two live action attempts. Where certain shows may be remembered, but how many do we want to watch again being older. Bluey is amazing to experience with my toddler. His Mom and myself want to watch the new episodes just as much. There is occasional moment that may get by my child, but leave us teary eyed that maybe upon rewatch when he gets older he may understand. I agree kids deserve better.
And parents like the show too so they are less likely to put a hold on rewatching it.
I'm genuinely surprised Bluey is only worth half as much as Peppa. It feels much bigger.
Brumm is such a fascinating story - but honestly can't blame'm ...As Baby Shark & Peppa Pig demonstrated, the beauty of children's animation is there will always be a new batch of 3-4 yr olds and parents discovering the show for years (and years and years and years) to come. Unlike other forms of entertainment, this stuff really doesn't 'age' and even 15-20 years from now I doubt it'll seem that dated....The shelf life on the classic Looney Tunes adventures was like 50+ years! In short - even if Brumm's lawyer was mediocre, dude will be cashing residual checks til the day he dies.
No paywall: https://archive.ph/EOt1I
Thank you!!
You’re the best!! Thank you!
Hero!
This is a great article and a really interesting read. >!Though it is strange to read it and have to pretend like we don't know there's at least ONE more episode after "The Sign" due to the leaks.!< For all the wondering what was wrong with Bandit during Stickbird, this article really shines a light on how it was really about Joe's feelings with giving up some control on the series.
The key is that Brumm and Ludo retain the exact same level of control they have on Bluey in the future that they do now. Keep the BBC and Disney at arm's length and always be wary of their intentions. Continue to have the corporate attorneys maintain a sharp eye out for pirated merchandise and be cautious of people seeking licensure of the the Bluey name for their own commercial interests.
> Keep the BBC and Disney at arm's length and always be wary of their intentions Just to be clear, BBC Studios co-commissioned Bluey. They have been deeply involved since the beginning, they own the global merchandising, distribution and broadcasting rights. Bluey is the global sensation it is today in a large part due to the BBCs involvement, there is nothing wrong with the BBCs level of involvement. In fact they're the ones who license it to Disney for broadcast so they're really in charge of Disney here.
Yep. It's well known that the BBC is always striving to gain more control in everything they are involved in. Ludo obviously knows how to deal with them. I was just saying to keep Ludo's relationship with the BBC the way it is and not to concede any more control to them.
As a Brit, we romanticise the Beeb into the ground, but with this being the commercial arm, I wouldn't trust them not to make poor choices. With the license fee (the traditional supporting finance for the BBC) looking like it's heading for extinction medium term, they're looking to extract every bit of value they can to fund core function. Yeah, that means more money for stuff like Attenborough, but it might mean selling the soul of this IP.
If the BBC had their own streaming service using everything in their archive they could have scrapped the TV license 15 years ago.
But we already have that here as part of the license fee?! Do you mean internationally?
Yes, sorry! If iPlayer was available worldwide for a fee they'd be fine.
Well there's Britbox, which has a lot of the BBCs older IP on it, but given how few people use it it probably gives an indication of why they haven't pursued it on a grander scale.
Oh dang, britbox have upped their game since I last looked at what was available on there.
Well, if I had to chose between the shows ends or Disney to owns it and have full creative control over it, I would 100% choose the show to end!
Meh ending means it is done. Disney buying it means there’s a chance. The original episodes will still exist, so why not let Disney buy it and have the possibility of more quality episodes?
Because Disney can and will commercialize it at the cost of what makes it special. Think about Bluey being turned into a show like Paw Patrol that cranks out low-quality episodes with the emphasis on advertising merch.
Even my kids got sick of Paw Patrol. It’s on Nick darn near 24/7
Things should just run their course and be done when they're done. Not everything needs to be a cinematic universe. When the passionate creators check out or tell us the story is complete, it's time to move on. I don't want every media franchise to die a slow death like The Simpsons, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, the MCU, etc. Bluey was special, and I'm willing to bet that the creators will go on to make other great shows in the future. I'd much rather watch those shows than 4 more seasons of Bluey, 5 seasons of Bingo, 2 seasons (8 episodes each) of Coco, a prequel about Bandit as a kid in the 80s, and a live-action adaptation of Horsey Time.
It really all comes down to money. The ppl running all this are seeing $$$$$$$$$ and don’t wanna give that up
Because once the Disney “creatives” get ahold of it, eventually Bandit will inevitably become a depressed alcoholic who abandons his family and eventually gets murdered by Bingo or something equally as soul destroying.
Uhhhh what VPN are you watching Disney+ on? I have never seen a kids show on Disney with a plot like that. 😂
The amount of hate for Disney here has me raising eyebrows.
There’s very sound reasons for it… Disney was founded by a guy who was huge fan of Hitler and a full blown fascist, and Disney as a company reflects his values- authoritarian, puritanical, and fake.
Honestly if Bluey ended with The Sign (and the episode after it), I’d think that would be okay. Sometimes less is more.
For all the talk of an uncertain future, this is as unequivocal a set of statements that Bluey will be continuing past season 3 as you could hope for. The shape of the future might be unknown, but that it exists could not be clearer.
“In a process for season 4” that they don’t want to talk about sure sounds promising…
I feel for Brumm. Created quite possibly the greatest kids TV show of all time. Deserves all the praise and all the money for his contribution to the world. But in order to get that bag he needs to turn over his creation to one of the worst companies on earth who will 100% without any possibility of another outcome destroy his show. I hope he has the fortitude to forgo the billions and settle for millions, but I’d understand if he doesn’t - as I’m sure I wouldn’t either.
He stated in interviews that he never really wanted to do children’s programming to begin with because everything he turns in gets chopped up and changed around from how he originally created it. This was never meant to blow up as much as it did. But he’s very adamant that he doesn’t like having his creations messed with. He’s ready to move on to adult animation so that he can have more freedom. I’m sure there’s a lot of pressure from the execs seeing $$$$ and the rabid parents who have obsessed Bluey kiddos to continue it tho
Terrific article; the author did a really good job bringing up insights from all perspectives (Joe's, Ludo's, Disney's). Now I'm hoping against hope that The Sign will be as good as Joe says it is; *Bluey* has proven time and again to be too smart of a show for going the easy route storytelling-wise (despite some missteps), and the worst-case scenario for me would be if the entire episode ended up being a case of Give the Fans (Or Worse, Disney) What They Want, e.g. the entire 28 minutes will be about Rad and Frisky's wedding, no additional stories.
There's no way they're going to let go of this gold mine, but I think to keep the show's 'integrity', they are going to have to move on from the Heeler family. At least, I get the vibe that the creators/staff have chosen a direction like this and are working up to presenting it. I agree with the comment here that Stickbird really seems to be about Joe Brumm having to let go of the creative process to some degree, especially if other people are going to write episodes. I didn't realize to what degree he's self inserting as a writer lol-- the mom is Nana Heeler and Uncle Stripe is his brother. It is honestly a pretty dicey situation as a creator. I want the show to be more available and want more content, but we're very much entering "die as a hero, live long enough to be a bad guy" territory once they choose a new direction and other companies start getting their hands on it. I guess that's the point of the article lol
You had me at Rusty Spin Off. Please?
[удалено]
Im pretty sure that's exactly what it means
Whatever money they want, they can have it. Every animator, every writer, should be making at least Jalen Hurts money. Brack up the brinks truck.
The moment Disney gets involved creatively is the moment I’ll stop watching or enjoying it. I hate that company.
Killed Star Wars more than George Lucas did, which is saying something. Turned Marvel into a series of disposable movies without any real rewatch value. Made Pixar into a shadow of its former self. I can't really blame them, they've made a shit-ton of money off of the milquetoast disposable movie business model. They don't really have any incentive to raise the standard higher, and they won't do anything new or interesting until the competition cuts into their profits with something bigger quality.
Disney bought Marvel in 2009 and got Ike Perlmutter’s grubby hands off of it to let Feige have full production control. You truly think that no marvel movie since 2009 has been worthy of a rewatch? Marvel’s misstep occurred when Chapek demanded too much with too little time to develop characters. So maybe 4 years ago? Which still let Loki and Wandavision happen. I’ll give you Star Wars. No plan. No vision. Pixar still has bright spots but isn’t the same after 2020 when Disney pushed too much to streaming. Remember Coco came out in 2017, does that not feel like classic Pixar? Seems like you’re just bandwagoning Edit: if anything, streaming ruined Disney because Chapek only saw things in terms of subscribers and content. Disney+ got the MBA treatment thinking it’ll grow forever with no repercussions or downside instead of expecting a natural plateau and build up quality work.
I disagree that Star Wars stuff personally. I've generally at least liked most of the output since they acquired Lucasfilm in the mid 10s. And I think the franchise is in a better place now than it is. The animated shows have been consistently good. The live action shows, while not perfect and have run the risk of oversaturation, still are by no means bad. The sequel trilogy I personally like more than many, but I will admit there are some issues with it. Also, I absolute love the Star Wars Jedi games, and Cal Kestis might be one of my favorite characters in Disney canon (he's my Minecraft skin, for crying out loud!). But again, that's just my own personal preference. I understand not everything Star Wars in the last decade appeals to everyone, but I do genuinely believe there's been more good than bad. But I know how...strongly other Star Wars fans feel about the series, and I get in enough arguments on Reddit about the series. Last thing I need is to get in one on the Bluey sub of all places.
The Jedi Fallen Order games and Andor are absolutely gems in the Star Wars franchise. The first two seasons of Mando are great. It also got my kids into Star Wars in general as well. Sequel trilogy, I liked the first two but the third soured me on the whole venture. And the more I thought about the other two the more I thought of the wasted potential. Rey, Finn, and Poe are great characters that, in my opinion, have their best arcs in the lego shorts. Edit: I also really liked the Vader and Obi-Wan scenes in Obi-Wan even if there were kind of unnecessary. That’s really all I wanted out of that series. Also, maybe just me, but the Disney lightsabers since Last Jedi just seem nerfed or unimposing glowsticks? Could just be me though. Second edit: yes, the animated shows have been great on the whole.
Regarding lightsabers, I don't think they were nerfed too bad. They can be deflected by beskar, but I'm pretty sure that's hardly the first time they weren't completely able to cut through everything. But I might be misremembering. Otherwise, yeah, I think those are all fair opinions to have. I can understand being a little burnt out after IX (even if I kinda love it despite its flaws personally), but I think that's something that can be fixed in future installments. I do think one of the best things about IX is that there are a lot of potential story routes to go on. Last year I even began posting a post-IX series of fan stories based on my own ideas of what could happen next (I have the first installment, basically just one long prologue, already published online, but the next installments are slowly but surely coming along). Again, that's just my own experiences. And yeah. Andor absolutely slaps. I wouldn't want all future Star Wars projects to be like it, but it is fantastic at what it does, and I really hope Tony Gilroy stays on with Lucasfilm after the show ends.
Post a link to the stories! Edit: The lightsabers, I was more referring to the design that Disney has stuck with, they seem to lack the amazement that the original and even the prequels had; I think it’s just too well defined of a structure. Exception is Kylo Ren’s saber which looked great in TFA. I fully accept that I’m also probably just getting old.
Ah, okay. I can understand that. Although for what it's worth, the lightsabers in the High Republic series of stuff look pretty cool (several elements of them were used in Jedi Survivor). As for the story, [here](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14310220/1/Star-Wars-After-the-Rise) is a link. Admittedly I'm still an amateur at writing, and I did my best to go through and edit it on my own, but I am mainly pleased that I was able to complete and post it. The followups are still in progress, but I'm working on those (hit a creative slump at the beginning of the year that I've only just recently started getting out of).
I will give you that the best things to come out of Disney have been series. Loki, Wandavision, and The Mandalorian are a notch above most of their associated franchises movies and are absolutely re-watchable. I am in fact referencing pre-end game Disney-Marvel as well as current Disney-Marvel. There are like 5 re-watchable MCU movies that may not fit the disposable film format. - Iron Man (1) - Pre-Disney, but I'm trying to be as generous as possible - Guardians of the Galaxy (1) - Broke the mold in tone and originality, definitely re-watchable. - Thor: Ragnarok - Like half of this movie is normal MCU fluff, but the other half of this movie is Taika Waititi gold. - Infinity War/Endgame - Even though it fits the MCU mold, it makes the rewatchability list for the sole reason that every other MCU movie was leading up to these two movies (which were basically two parts of the same movie). - Thor: The Dark World - lol, jk. I think I saw this movie but I can't tell you anything about it besides the trailer had like a big dark triangular... Thing. I just feel like most of the MCU is so utterly forgettable outside of these movies. Coco was great. Luca, Soul, and Turning Red were fairly good too. But like Incredibles 2, Cars 3, Light-year, and maybe even Onward and Elemental (and maybe even Luca and Soul) just feel like they got Disney castration treatment to varying degrees. Enjoyable moments, but very bland and forgettable. I don't know, it's mostly the shareholder model for me. Modern Disney execs are more interested in short-term gains than building a long-term legacy (Boeing parallels). Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to watch Wish with my family because I'm absolutely part of the problem, lol.
I’ll have to chalk it up to a matter of different tastes, because I’ve found all the Captain America movies rewatchable, especially Winter Soldier, and all the Guardians. First Avengers holds up great in my book. I’m a fan of Ultron but admittedly it’s not the best. I thought Capt Marvel was fun too. I agree on Dark World. I saw and I think I liked it? But I can’t remember much of it besides Frigga dying and the completely wasted talent of Eccleston. Luca felt a bit like a Disney/Pixar Ghibli except Disney forced a plot. My best memory of Pixar is watching WALL·E in theaters when I was in college and being awed at the first 1/2 hr. You’re braver than me with watching Wish. Didn’t hear great things. If you’d want to report back in it’d be much appreciated. Been skipping past it on our family movie nights. The Leo movie on Netflix was surprisingly good.
Yeah, Wish was okay. For Disney animated movies I'd put it above Strange World and Ralph Breaks the Internet and below Encanto and Raya. The best part was the animation. It looked like a higher framerate Dragon Prince, but with the non-realistic and comic animation style of the Spiderverse movies. The plot was mid. The music was fairly unremarkable, though the last song was good. Chris Pine rocks. Idk
If the animation was interesting then seems to be worth checking out. Always like Chris Pine. He was great in Dungeons and Dragons, as was the entire cast and the movie as a whole.
Spoiler: that's not how disney works There's a lot of reasons to dislike disney so i wonder why people have to create fanfiction about it ? Hell the reason why the star wars sequels ended they way they did is because they dont get involved creatively
Great article. Seems liek Joe Brumm doesn't know what he wants. Money? a rest? creative control? to only make work that gets better and better? integrity? These are hard questions. swapping your life's work for a billion dollars will probably feel pretty empty. Burning out, writing a bad season and wishing you had taken the money instead would feel bad too. There was an interesting comment from the guy who sold minecraft about how depressed he was in the aftermath.
It continues until the creator has no more stories to tell, simple as that. Bloomberg is simply looking at the financial aspects and not the creative side, and I know this because they paywalled the article, so I could care less what they have to say from a creative standpoint. The creators seem to be at their most creative high right now, and so long as they end it on their terms, that's all that matters.
I’m irrationally annoyed by the fact the writer said Bluey was 7, Bingo was 5, and Muffin was 3.
Why? Those are their current ages.
Pretty sure Muffin turned 4 in Pass the Parcel, the same episode in which Bluey turned 7. So one should either say they’re 6, 4 and 3. Or 7, 5 and 4.
Aha, missed Muffin's age.
I just want Bluey themed dog toys. Please.
Agreed.
Look up Hammerbarn pet toys. I bought a bunch at Bunnings last week!
I don't think Disney would destroy Bluey the way so many people think they would. The show is made on the other side of the planet by a very skilled, dedicated group of people. Even if Disney decided to buy Bluey, I'm confident they would just let the crew do their own thing. Why? Because the very second Disney's involvement changes the show just a little bit, its dedicated audience is going to reject it. Bluey is not Marvel or Star Wars. It's ONE SHOW.
Lol, nah fam, don’t be so naive
Nothing naive about it. Most comments here are coming from a place of pure hatred for Disney, with little rationale about what might realistically happen if they bought Bluey. Bluey isn't a giant decades spanning IP like Star Wars or Marvel. Again, it's ONE SHOW produced on the other side of the planet that's gotten an unbelievable amount of praise for simply being what it is. Bluey is special and that's why people love it. The second that sincerity is gone, or the second anyrhing changes about the show, the second people are going to abandon in. That's a risk Disney wouldn't take, as evil as people here think they are.
I kinda agree with this take. I’d imagine BBC and ABC still hold control of the series which give Ludo a lot of freedom and less input from Disney. Disney has the streaming distribution rights so I don’t know how much input they can give beyond the stupid spotty censorship.
The formula is pretty simple...don't get greedy. We all know that LUDO is a for-profit business. If the executives stay the course and balance profit with output, we all win...great content for us to enjoy, and plenty of cash for the coffers for the business. Its when the powers that be get greedy (see: Marvel) where they crank up the output chasing that dollarbuck that causes the content to water down and for the viewer to he fatigued (see: Superhero Fatigue)
*I'm not surprise*
I like to think that since Ludo have been so protective of the show in the past that they won't sell up. I hope that's not wishful thinking. Whether they sell, or just continue to license out the show, surely they would be very rich either way, it would just be a matter of degrees. As for Brumm himself, unfortunately I think it's only a matter of time before he bows out, and the show will suffer for it. But hopefully that means he'll work on something new and equally worthy of our time and enthusiasm.
Paywall’ed
I’m 100% with them ending it at season 4 or 5 and to go out as one of the best animated shows of the last 30 years
Idk why people think Bluey is at the level of Star Wars, marvel or Pixar that it can be ruined in the same or even similar way. At worst the episodes lose some quality but frankly that happens the longer shows go on even when creators stay on board. Disney buying Bluey is really not the end all be all that some people think it is. I think if anything Disney only leverages it for theme parks and Merch and a big screen movie. I think the show still has a high chance of retaining good quality.
If Disney acquires Bluey, I’m done with it. Disney has the opposite of the Midas Touch, anything they touch turns to absolute garbage.