Lifestyle Entertainment

20 things you didn't know

about 'Bluey'
This will make you want to re-watch all the eps,
stat.

Josephine Agostino

6 min read June 3, 2021 - 11:05AM

The ABC Kids show is a winner for parents and little ones
alike.

Who is Bandit’s secret family member? And

which real-life people inspire our favourite
episodes? Even the most diehard fans will go
wackadoo over these discoveries!

Now that we’re at the halfway mark of season

two, Bluey fans haven’t stopped dissecting and
comparing how it stacks up to season one so far. 

Whatever side of Lucky’s fence you sit on, what

we are convinced of is that the more we watch
those beautifully crafted seven-minute episodes,
there is SO much we missed the first time
around.  If you have a squealing, giggling toddler
drowning out all the show’s little nuances, then
chances are, there’s a whole world of stuff that’s
gone over your head.

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20 things you didn't know about 'Bluey'

These two are couple goals. Image: LUDO Studio.

Read this - it's gotta be done 

So as real-life diehard fans, we’ve put together a
list of 20 things we bet you didn’t know about
our favourite cartoon of all time. 

1 - Bluey first came to life in 2016, in a one-

minute pilot episode made in the creator's spare
time. While network bosses loved it, the clip
never got to air. “It just had some dangerous stuff
in it,” Bluey creator Joe Brumm told The Saturday
Paper. “Bandit was pushing Bluey and she
wanted to go all the way around on a swing, so
she ends up doing a full 360 degrees. It was just
unsafe. You could never put that on kids TV.” 

2 - Joe Brumm is the second eldest in a family of

three boys (like Bandit). Joe’s older brother is
Professor Adam Brumm, who has been involved
in archeological discoveries such as the fossilised
remains of Homo Floresiensis (the 'Hobbit'). And
it was actually him who nicknamed it at a
Queensland university. As we know, Bandit is an
archaeologist, so that’s where that inspo comes
from.

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3 - Uncle Stripe - who is Bandit’s younger

brother and the dad of muffin and Socks - is
voiced by Dan Brumm, Joe’s younger brother,
who is also the sound designer on Bluey.
Meanwhile, Nana (Bandit’s mum) is played by
Chris Brumm, who is yep, you guessed it: Joe’s
mum.

bluey

Bandit and his family are based on real life people.

Image: LUDO Studio.

Wackadoo, there are dogs hiding

everywhere
4 - Dance Mode features a celeb appearance from
the Blue Wiggle Anthony Field. But there’s
another voice that you may not have picked:
Australian-British actor Rupert Degas, who plays
the role of the yes/no button. He was the voice of
‘Scrambler’ in Bob the Builder from 2002 to 2011.
He’s also been in Thomas & Friends and The
Adventures of Blinky Bill. 

5 - There is a long sausage-type dog called 'long

dog' hidden in many episodes. In Charades, it’s
hidden in the knitting on the couch. Long dog
was designed by one of the background artists in
series one, and the pup also turns up in some of
the books. 

6 - Brisbane landmarks as Queen Street Mall and

Southbank -  and not so recognisable places such
as toilet blocks and shopfronts - feature in
several episodes. In Piggyback, the Heelers take a
trip up the Queensland coast where Noosa’s Big
Pelican makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it
appearance. 

bluey

Can't wait till we can visit this for real. Source:

Facebook.

7 - In season two, Bingo’s car seat has changed.

In season one, she was in a lap-sash seat and
Bluey creators received feedback from fans
saying she wasn’t big enough for that, so now
she’s in a four-point harness seat. 

8 - In Hammerbarn, Chilli is humming the Bluey

theme song as she wanders through the garden
centre. In fact whenever you hear Mum or Dad
humming, it's always the theme tune.

bluey

Bluey and Bingo get their DIY on at Hammerbarn.

Image: LUDO Studio.

9 - In Dance Mode, at the top of the Busker’s hat,

there is a five dollar note with a tooth fairy
sticker still on it from the episode Markets. It's
actually the same Busker from that episode and
voiced by the show's Brisbane based composer,
Joff Bush. For real life. 

RELATED:  How Bluey is getting families through

lockdown

It's for real life 

10 - If you look closely, there’s a mystery dog in
the family portrait behind Nana’s couch in
Charades. There’s Nana, Bob, Bandit, brother
Stripe and their families. Fans are hedging their
bets that Bandit has another brother we haven’t
met yet.

11 - Bluey attends a school that focuses on the

importance of play. Joe Brumm has spoken of
how important play has been to his own
children's development, so there is a chance that
this has been an inspiration for Bluey’s school. 

12 - One of our favourite characters, Lucky’s dad,

actually has a name. It’s Pat! 

13 -Do the characters age? Well, they sort of do.

Bluey’s friend Chloe has her seventh birthday in
Featherwand, but the birthday party was more
for story purposes. Fans have also noticed the
voices of Bluey and Bingo - whose identities are
kept confidential but are rumoured to be
children of the production team - are sounding
older since season one. However the creators
aren't intentionally ageing up the characters, the
intention is for them to stay the same age.

14 - Joe Brumm writes most of the episodes and

much of it is drawn from his own childhood and
raising his children - right down to Bandit not
having time to play touch footy with his mates.
Now that his children are older, Brumm has said
he’s finally gotten back into touch football each
Thursday lunchtime with some of his colleagues. 

15 - Bluey’s friend Chloe lives at 26 Nudgee

Road. If you look this up, this is an actual address
in the Brisbane suburb of Hamilton - and it’s an
antique store. This address was picked at
random by the writer and the producers made
contact with the owners to check they were
happy to have their address referenced. Fifteen
thousand dollars in cash has been hidden
somewhere within the store. Okay, that last part
is a LUDO joke, but the rest is a legit fact. 

Joining the magical pieces of the

puzzle 
16 - The title credits are Bandit, Chilli, Bluey and
Bingo playing the game of musical statues, which
sees everyone dance and be silly to music and
when it stops, they have to be still, and the player
who moves first is out. 

17 -In Hammerbarn, Bingo talks about her garden

gnome husband named ‘Hecuba’, which is
actually the name of a queen in Greek
mythology. There is also a reference to
'Telemachus', the central character in Homer’s
Odyssey, in the episode, Hospital. However this is
a from an 80's cartoon called Ulysses Set In Space,
and Ulysses borrows from the Odyssey.

20 things you didn't know about 'Bluey'

Bandit puts up with a few pokes and prods in

Hospital.  Image: LUDO Studio.

RELATED: The mum who made her son an epic

Bluey playhouse.

18 - There are episode crossovers between each

season. One of the most obvious is the
appearance of ‘chutney chimp wrapping paper’ in
Featherwand, which we hadn’t seen since
Takeaway in season one. 

19 - The voice of Bandit, Dave McCormack, has

never been to LUDO Studio, where Bluey is
made (now everyone is working from home
during the pandemic of course). He hasn’t even
met his on-screen wife Chilli, who is played by
Brisbane-born actor Melanie Zanetti. Both
record their parts from voice-over studios in
different states and sometimes in different
countries as Melanie's recent roles has meant
she has been filming in the US for the best part of
this series, and the producers put it all together
in the edit suite in Brisbane. 

20 - There has been much debate over whether

Nana buys or makes her own ice blocks for Bluey
and Bingo. Yes, we can confirm they are home
made, and the LUDO team confirms that the only
ingredient is freshly squeezed orange juice. 

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This article was first published in April 2020 and

updated in June 2021.

Read related topics: Bluey

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