6 ms·

Bluey is the best children's cartoon of this generation. The art is a joy to see, being full of color and well-defined lines/objects, without being overwhelming

Bluey is the best children's cartoon of this generation. The art is a joy to see, being full of color and well-defined lines/objects, without being overwhelming. I sincerely appreciate the creator's resistance to engineer the show for maximum attention and, instead, focus on telling a good story with relatable characters. The show can move slowly when appropriate and isn't afraid to keep the scene mostly static. The music is great and well directed to capture meaningful emotional moments without being campy. The episode length of ~7 minutes is perfect, especially for families wanting to limit screen time, as it covers a quick breakfast/lunch (or laundry/dishes break) and provides a natural stopping point to move to the next activity. I can't praise it enough and just hope its success inspires more studios to avoid the brain-rot algorithmic-lead nonsense. My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon...

alias_neo 1y ago
> Bluey is the best children's cartoon of this generation Bluey is the best children's cartoon _for adults_ of this generation. Our kids are about the same age and age difference as Bluey/Bingo are portrayed, and I can't express how much relief it gives to watch it see your own life played out line for line. Some days, as a parent you wonder how (badly) you're doing, and Bluey takes some weight off as you realise (and talk to other parents about Bluey) that some things are just universal and you're possibly doing better than you think.
- bombcar 1y ago
  One of the things not talked (much) about is how families are much more isolated now - since the average person is from a two-child family, and has a two-child family, most of their peer group growing up and when they have kids is in the "same boat" so they don't really have insight and experience of what the youngest years brings. Even the basic idea of "kids like games, make things games" that permeates Bluey is likely unknown to many new parents.
  - simgt 1y ago
    I completely missed your point, I think. Do you mean that the current generation of young parents didn't experience enough things being games as kids themselves?
    - alias_neo 1y ago
      My interpretation was that we haven't experienced it as adults; We may have experienced it as children, but my experience (maybe not everybody's) is that I don't remember enough about being a young child to necessarily know the best way to approach things with my own children, and we haven't necessarily seen how others do it. I'm also much older (a decade) than my parents were when they had their first child.
      - bombcar 1y ago
        Oh that decade; man you feel that in your bones when you're pushing 40+ and the parents of your kindergartener's friends are barely 25 ...
        alias_neo 1y ago
        My wife tells me a story about a young lady in one of the baby groups who was looking for other mothers to get to know. She's a selfless woman my wife, and goes out of her way for anyone, but she felt bad that she just couldn't get a long with this young lady to the point where she'd exchange numbers and arrange to meet up for coffee or whatever; while the young lady was also feeling alienated from her childless friends. There were almost two decades between them and she just couldn't find anything to relate on and she felt really awkward; she still thinks about that occasionally and regrets not trying harder. I'm the voice of (un)reason and have to reign in her selflessness sometimes for her own wellbeing and had to convince her she had herself and a new born to take care of first and foremost.
        deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
- wolrah 1y ago
  > Bluey is the best children's cartoon _for adults_ of this generation. One of my regular hangouts often puts Bluey on one of their TVs and I know for a fact there have been multiple occasions where no one at the bar even has children but we're all sitting there drinking beers while watching the antics of a family of cartoon dogs.
  - alias_neo 1y ago
    I will happily watch Bluey (as will my wife) if it happens to be on and the kids aren't around, I can't say that for any other cartoon they watch, even ones I can appreciate for the educational value they provide the children (our daughter loves Octonauts and learning and telling us all about sea creatures).
    - radiofreeeuropa 1y ago
      I can't think of another cartoon targeted at that young an audience that I'd even consider sitting down and watching a half-dozen episodes of without a kid around, but I can imagine doing that with Bluey. Like I've for-sure left it running for multiple episodes after the kids left the room, and enjoyed it. Older-audience stuff like Avatar: The Last Airbender or Justice League Unlimited, oh yeah, for sure, but something specifically aimed at lower-grades elementary school kids? Nope, can't think of another, not even nostalgia shows from my own childhood. I'd maybe do an episode just like "oh wow, remember this?" but not a session watch.
- gopalv 1y ago
  > Bluey takes some weight off as you realise (and talk to other parents about Bluey) that some things are just universal and you're possibly doing better than you think. No question, the I can't count the number of times I've sent the "Baby Race" to other parents who ask me "When did your kid start to talk?" We watch the Bluey bike whenever the kids say "I can't do it!" or the Dad can't draw episode. Or the curry quest, when I had to travel for work (after all the pandemic "no work travel"). Bluey's dad is an inspiration, like the puppets episode is so funny & I keep saying "Bauxite" in random times without context.
  - jamiek88 1y ago
    I’m like that with the ‘unicourse’ puppet he has. Randomly saying ‘aaaaaaand whyshouldicare?’ tickles me!
- homefree 1y ago
  That's one criticism I've heard about it actually, but not sure how much it's actually true. Basically that people love Bluey because it appeals more to adults, but that may make it not as good as other shows for child development (which adults might find boring). I don't know that I buy that though, I think the shows that claim they're for child development but are insufferable to adults would be better of just skipped entirely, probably those skills are better learned from real life play and interaction than tv. Of course there's also the mad science of cocomelon and their 'distractatron' https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocomelon https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocome... - nothing can be worse than that.
metaltyphoon 1y ago
> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon... This, so, many, times :)
- bombcar 1y ago
  Why are you bawling your eyes out listening to Aussie music? Oh, just some real estate things ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ngwtA3WRK8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ngwtA3WRK8
greggsy 1y ago
My only complaint is the children’s bedtime story books are incredibly effective at delivering their core task - they deliberately draw the stories out so long that they put both parties asleep.
- x187463 1y ago
  We've acquired a handful of their books and they're just not great for reading to a toddler. The dialog is in speech bubbles, and the layout is more like an episode. I have to come up with filler text and structure on the fly. Give me a Franklin or Little Critter, any day.
joules77 1y ago
Writing and writers changing every few decade. Reacting to the output of the previous gen. Popular shows of 80-90s avoided trauma and ambiguity. Everything was simple and morally clear. Then there was a huge counter reaction overload where we got Anti-Heroes, Moral Ambiguity, Trauma, "Realism" etc in every other show. As viewers got tired and yearn for hope, faith, meaning, sincerity we got another wave (Ted Lasso, Reservation Dogs etc). Similar to the writing in Bluey they takes us back to Sincerity, but much smarter since they don't avoid Trauma. And show the viewer how healing and connection happens without power struggles. Its basically a response to cynicism and fatigue. With comfort and care.
- Cthulhu_ 1y ago
  > Popular shows of 80-90s avoided trauma and ambiguity. Everything was simple and morally clear. Popular western shows did; I've started watching the Gundam series, the first set started in '79 and while superficially it looks like your generic saturday morning cartoon, it starts off with trauma (many people killed) and while the villains are obviously evil - genocide, nazi ideologies ("sieg zeon"), etc - they also get more character development than what the protagonists get. The villains are the underdogs, only 1/30th the size of the "federation", and the good guys have a new set of superweapons that seems to win and kill their people on every occasion. There's two episodes where a "villain" character is introduced as a lover, ambitious military man, etc, then gets killed, his would-be wife killing herself in the next episode. Anyway, that's just recent experience, I'm sure if you revisit some of the 80's / 90's shows you'd see more trauma / ambiguity too. I'm thinking of the X-Men series for example.
  - spbaar 1y ago
    That first run is pretty interesting because they clearly had the foresight to make things morally grey and the villians human. It's very clear they added some mustache twirling villiany to a few episodes as an afterthought. It's not even clear until like the last dozen episodes that Zeon is evil. I know Gundam quality is a huge spectrum, but the 'sloppiness' of moral ambiguity in the first one is pretty great. Way too often (Z Gundam) they just do a timeskip and say "what if the good guys became bad after they won?"
_mlbt 1y ago
I would argue it's the best children's cartoon ever. Also, as a dad, Bandit's character is so well written. I relate to him in every single episode that I've watched. Nearly every other dad character in children's programming is a flat, 2-dimensional, drooling idiot that nobody respects.
- bombcar 1y ago
  Even if Bluey was strange Australian propaganda to make fatherhood desirable and respectable, it still wins because it actually works at it. Avoiding the "dumb sitcom dad" has been done before a few times, and well (Bob Parr of Incredibles; Stoick the Vast of How to Train Your Dragon; King Fergus of Brave could be some examples) - but Bandit just is a dad; he's not perfect, he's not brilliant - but he's there (except when he has to leave) and he loves - his children, his wife, himself. And even though he says "I'm not taking advice from a cartoon dog" we all end up doing so.
  - lazyeye 1y ago
    How could making fatherhood desirable and respectable ever be considered "strange propaganda"? We live in very weird times indeed.
    - overfeed 1y ago
      > How could making fatherhood desirable and respectable ever be considered "strange propaganda"? Strange things are afoot in the "manosphere" - influencers & podcasters can push a lot of product around the idea of masculinity.
      - lazyeye 1y ago
        Yes very weird stuff, unlike the conventional narrative we've typically seen across the media which is that men are simple-minded buffoons incapable of boiling an egg. This is completely normal and good.
        1y ago
the_af 1y ago
Bluey is great, agreed. I'd say Bluey is a better Peppa Pig. Now, hear me out -- it's surprising how many gags meant for grownups are there in Peppa Pig (e.g. "one must become one with the mud" is not humor for kids), but the art is... well, it's intentionally flat and boring. But Bluey has a lot of the same kind of humor, with visually appealing characters and world.
- bombcar 1y ago
  Peppa Pig is more ... "cartoony" if I can use the term, whereas Bluey is more "real life" - and I don't think it is just the animation (rounded rects live!) - Bluey is established with a continuity and detail that makes it seem we're looking into a real world as opposed to vignettes created for our amusement.
  - the_af 1y ago
    Yes, agreed. Bluey is simply better in all ways. I meant to say Peppa is deceptively not crap, it just looks bad. But at moments it's hilarious. It is for younger kids though, who I think require less "continuity".
    - bombcar 1y ago
      Peppa Pig is really underserved by the art; it's a much better show than the better-animated Cocomelon, for example.
      - homefree 1y ago
        Cocomelon is particularly bad and weaponized intentionally against kid attention: https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocomelon https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocome...
- rkuykendall-com 1y ago
  The creator of Bluey worked as an animator on Peppa Pig and wanted to create something like that for his home.
rootforce 1y ago
Not just the best children's cartoon, but one of the best TV shows I've ever seen in terms of how close it comes to realizing its full potential. I have a hard time finding points to criticize.
ezekg 1y ago
> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon... You should try moving across the country with littles, after selling their childhood home, and then watching the finale...
nosignono 1y ago
> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon... Or maybe you should! Maybe we shouldn't be making people feel bad for being emotional! Maybe it's really successful art to be making so many people feel so strongly!
_carbyau_ 1y ago
> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon... Cricket. Every time. .. I love it.

alias_neo 1y ago

> Bluey is the best children's cartoon of this generation Bluey is the best children's cartoon _for adults_ of this generation. Our kids are about the same age and age difference as Bluey/Bingo are portrayed, and I can't express how much relief it gives to watch it see your own life played out line for line. Some days, as a parent you wonder how (badly) you're doing, and Bluey takes some weight off as you realise (and talk to other parents about Bluey) that some things are just universal and you're possibly doing better than you think.

bombcar 1y ago
One of the things not talked (much) about is how families are much more isolated now - since the average person is from a two-child family, and has a two-child family, most of their peer group growing up and when they have kids is in the "same boat" so they don't really have insight and experience of what the youngest years brings. Even the basic idea of "kids like games, make things games" that permeates Bluey is likely unknown to many new parents.
- simgt 1y ago
  I completely missed your point, I think. Do you mean that the current generation of young parents didn't experience enough things being games as kids themselves?
  - alias_neo 1y ago
    My interpretation was that we haven't experienced it as adults; We may have experienced it as children, but my experience (maybe not everybody's) is that I don't remember enough about being a young child to necessarily know the best way to approach things with my own children, and we haven't necessarily seen how others do it. I'm also much older (a decade) than my parents were when they had their first child.
    - bombcar 1y ago
      Oh that decade; man you feel that in your bones when you're pushing 40+ and the parents of your kindergartener's friends are barely 25 ...
      - alias_neo 1y ago
        My wife tells me a story about a young lady in one of the baby groups who was looking for other mothers to get to know. She's a selfless woman my wife, and goes out of her way for anyone, but she felt bad that she just couldn't get a long with this young lady to the point where she'd exchange numbers and arrange to meet up for coffee or whatever; while the young lady was also feeling alienated from her childless friends. There were almost two decades between them and she just couldn't find anything to relate on and she felt really awkward; she still thinks about that occasionally and regrets not trying harder. I'm the voice of (un)reason and have to reign in her selflessness sometimes for her own wellbeing and had to convince her she had herself and a new born to take care of first and foremost.
        deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
wolrah 1y ago
> Bluey is the best children's cartoon _for adults_ of this generation. One of my regular hangouts often puts Bluey on one of their TVs and I know for a fact there have been multiple occasions where no one at the bar even has children but we're all sitting there drinking beers while watching the antics of a family of cartoon dogs.
- alias_neo 1y ago
  I will happily watch Bluey (as will my wife) if it happens to be on and the kids aren't around, I can't say that for any other cartoon they watch, even ones I can appreciate for the educational value they provide the children (our daughter loves Octonauts and learning and telling us all about sea creatures).
  - radiofreeeuropa 1y ago
    I can't think of another cartoon targeted at that young an audience that I'd even consider sitting down and watching a half-dozen episodes of without a kid around, but I can imagine doing that with Bluey. Like I've for-sure left it running for multiple episodes after the kids left the room, and enjoyed it. Older-audience stuff like Avatar: The Last Airbender or Justice League Unlimited, oh yeah, for sure, but something specifically aimed at lower-grades elementary school kids? Nope, can't think of another, not even nostalgia shows from my own childhood. I'd maybe do an episode just like "oh wow, remember this?" but not a session watch.
gopalv 1y ago
> Bluey takes some weight off as you realise (and talk to other parents about Bluey) that some things are just universal and you're possibly doing better than you think. No question, the I can't count the number of times I've sent the "Baby Race" to other parents who ask me "When did your kid start to talk?" We watch the Bluey bike whenever the kids say "I can't do it!" or the Dad can't draw episode. Or the curry quest, when I had to travel for work (after all the pandemic "no work travel"). Bluey's dad is an inspiration, like the puppets episode is so funny & I keep saying "Bauxite" in random times without context.
- jamiek88 1y ago
  I’m like that with the ‘unicourse’ puppet he has. Randomly saying ‘aaaaaaand whyshouldicare?’ tickles me!
homefree 1y ago
That's one criticism I've heard about it actually, but not sure how much it's actually true. Basically that people love Bluey because it appeals more to adults, but that may make it not as good as other shows for child development (which adults might find boring). I don't know that I buy that though, I think the shows that claim they're for child development but are insufferable to adults would be better of just skipped entirely, probably those skills are better learned from real life play and interaction than tv. Of course there's also the mad science of cocomelon and their 'distractatron' https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocomelon https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocome... - nothing can be worse than that.

metaltyphoon 1y ago

> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon... This, so, many, times :)

bombcar 1y ago
Why are you bawling your eyes out listening to Aussie music? Oh, just some real estate things ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ngwtA3WRK8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ngwtA3WRK8

greggsy 1y ago

My only complaint is the children’s bedtime story books are incredibly effective at delivering their core task - they deliberately draw the stories out so long that they put both parties asleep.

x187463 1y ago
We've acquired a handful of their books and they're just not great for reading to a toddler. The dialog is in speech bubbles, and the layout is more like an episode. I have to come up with filler text and structure on the fly. Give me a Franklin or Little Critter, any day.

joules77 1y ago

Writing and writers changing every few decade. Reacting to the output of the previous gen. Popular shows of 80-90s avoided trauma and ambiguity. Everything was simple and morally clear. Then there was a huge counter reaction overload where we got Anti-Heroes, Moral Ambiguity, Trauma, "Realism" etc in every other show. As viewers got tired and yearn for hope, faith, meaning, sincerity we got another wave (Ted Lasso, Reservation Dogs etc). Similar to the writing in Bluey they takes us back to Sincerity, but much smarter since they don't avoid Trauma. And show the viewer how healing and connection happens without power struggles. Its basically a response to cynicism and fatigue. With comfort and care.

Cthulhu_ 1y ago
> Popular shows of 80-90s avoided trauma and ambiguity. Everything was simple and morally clear. Popular western shows did; I've started watching the Gundam series, the first set started in '79 and while superficially it looks like your generic saturday morning cartoon, it starts off with trauma (many people killed) and while the villains are obviously evil - genocide, nazi ideologies ("sieg zeon"), etc - they also get more character development than what the protagonists get. The villains are the underdogs, only 1/30th the size of the "federation", and the good guys have a new set of superweapons that seems to win and kill their people on every occasion. There's two episodes where a "villain" character is introduced as a lover, ambitious military man, etc, then gets killed, his would-be wife killing herself in the next episode. Anyway, that's just recent experience, I'm sure if you revisit some of the 80's / 90's shows you'd see more trauma / ambiguity too. I'm thinking of the X-Men series for example.
- spbaar 1y ago
  That first run is pretty interesting because they clearly had the foresight to make things morally grey and the villians human. It's very clear they added some mustache twirling villiany to a few episodes as an afterthought. It's not even clear until like the last dozen episodes that Zeon is evil. I know Gundam quality is a huge spectrum, but the 'sloppiness' of moral ambiguity in the first one is pretty great. Way too often (Z Gundam) they just do a timeskip and say "what if the good guys became bad after they won?"

_mlbt 1y ago

I would argue it's the best children's cartoon ever. Also, as a dad, Bandit's character is so well written. I relate to him in every single episode that I've watched. Nearly every other dad character in children's programming is a flat, 2-dimensional, drooling idiot that nobody respects.

bombcar 1y ago
Even if Bluey was strange Australian propaganda to make fatherhood desirable and respectable, it still wins because it actually works at it. Avoiding the "dumb sitcom dad" has been done before a few times, and well (Bob Parr of Incredibles; Stoick the Vast of How to Train Your Dragon; King Fergus of Brave could be some examples) - but Bandit just is a dad; he's not perfect, he's not brilliant - but he's there (except when he has to leave) and he loves - his children, his wife, himself. And even though he says "I'm not taking advice from a cartoon dog" we all end up doing so.
- lazyeye 1y ago
  How could making fatherhood desirable and respectable ever be considered "strange propaganda"? We live in very weird times indeed.
  - overfeed 1y ago
    > How could making fatherhood desirable and respectable ever be considered "strange propaganda"? Strange things are afoot in the "manosphere" - influencers & podcasters can push a lot of product around the idea of masculinity.
    - lazyeye 1y ago
      Yes very weird stuff, unlike the conventional narrative we've typically seen across the media which is that men are simple-minded buffoons incapable of boiling an egg. This is completely normal and good.
      - 1y ago

the_af 1y ago

Bluey is great, agreed. I'd say Bluey is a better Peppa Pig. Now, hear me out -- it's surprising how many gags meant for grownups are there in Peppa Pig (e.g. "one must become one with the mud" is not humor for kids), but the art is... well, it's intentionally flat and boring. But Bluey has a lot of the same kind of humor, with visually appealing characters and world.

bombcar 1y ago
Peppa Pig is more ... "cartoony" if I can use the term, whereas Bluey is more "real life" - and I don't think it is just the animation (rounded rects live!) - Bluey is established with a continuity and detail that makes it seem we're looking into a real world as opposed to vignettes created for our amusement.
- the_af 1y ago
  Yes, agreed. Bluey is simply better in all ways. I meant to say Peppa is deceptively not crap, it just looks bad. But at moments it's hilarious. It is for younger kids though, who I think require less "continuity".
  - bombcar 1y ago
    Peppa Pig is really underserved by the art; it's a much better show than the better-animated Cocomelon, for example.
    - homefree 1y ago
      Cocomelon is particularly bad and weaponized intentionally against kid attention: https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocomelon https://www.readtrung.com/p/why-i-love-bluey-and-hate-cocome...
rkuykendall-com 1y ago
The creator of Bluey worked as an animator on Peppa Pig and wanted to create something like that for his home.

rootforce 1y ago

Not just the best children's cartoon, but one of the best TV shows I've ever seen in terms of how close it comes to realizing its full potential. I have a hard time finding points to criticize.

ezekg 1y ago

> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon... You should try moving across the country with littles, after selling their childhood home, and then watching the finale...

nosignono 1y ago

> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon... Or maybe you should! Maybe we shouldn't be making people feel bad for being emotional! Maybe it's really successful art to be making so many people feel so strongly!

_carbyau_ 1y ago

> My only complaint is that I am a grown-ass man and shouldn't be tearing up every other episode of a children's cartoon... Cricket. Every time. .. I love it.