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The lovable Heeler family that hails from Australia has recently debuted ‘Bluey Shorts’ on Disney+.
Aptly named ‘minisodes’ – season 1 includes 20 episodes that are each 3-5 minutes long; and three episodes that are 15 minutes long and are a compilation of the shows that preceded it (e.g. Episode 8 is composed of shows 1-7).
In watching these little ‘Bluey Bursts’ as I’d like to describe them, it’s no wonder that parents can also relate to this show as much as their tiny tots. The collection of shorts is equal parts heartwarming and hilarious, with teachable moments peppered throughout.
The first episode ‘Burger Dog’ sees Bandit Heeler AKA Dad contending with his kids Bluey and Bingo – who ask him to listen to an ‘annoying’ song on his phone. It’s very much a ‘we’ve all been there’ kind of moment for parents, complete with the eye-twitching and hitting your limit when your kiddos ask you to listen to a blasphemous musical ear-worm for the 100th time. 4/5
The second episode quite literally made me (unexpectedly) laugh out loud when Dad (Bandit) tries to connect with customer service (or a lack thereof) to fix his robot ‘Bingo 3000’ – also serving as the title of this episode. I was more impressed that they were able to garner a belly-busting chuckle out of me only 1 minute into this 4-minute episode. It’s truly a testament to the show’s good writing, cutely drawn art, and sound effects/mannerisms on display. 5/5
Episode 3 was cute and relatable in its premise with Muffin (the rambunctious little cousin of Bluey and Bingo) doing a toy unboxing on social media but things quickly go awry when the packaging and toy itself do not cooperate when they are filming. The culmination of the parents’s (Stripe – Dad; Trixie – Mum) frustration and Muffin’s reactions all set to with great comedic timing, is just a win in my books; it’s a sassy tongue-in-cheek commentary about kids who do these sorts of real-life reviews on YouTube. 4/5
Episode 4, ‘Letter’, involves Bluey and Bingo visiting Nana where she finds their Dad’s (Bandit) story that he wrote when he was a little boy. She proceeds to read it to them – complete with exaggerating his spelling and grammatical mistakes. I thought this episode was a bit cruel as Nana intentionally ‘misread’ the letter for some cheap laughs. This was all supposed to build up to a punchline when Bandit arrived but it was a miss for me. This was also an episode I wasn’t a fan and I felt it was too mean-spirited. 2/5
Hungry is the name in episode 5 and Dad (Bandit) is ravenous so he decides to ‘eat’ one of his kids. There are a lot of inside jokes exchanged between him and Mum (Chilli): “The last time you ate a kid, you were up all night” – also alluding to the inevitability of aging, not being able to eat whatever you want any more, and needing to be more mindful of one’s diet – but sometimes still having a moment of weakness… and caving to cravings. Involving the kids was an endearing way to bring levity into serious topics like health 3.5/5
(The) Three Pigs (Episode 6) is when Dad (Bandit) tells Bluey and Bingo a bedtime story but ad-libs and rambles his way through it with his signature goofball demeanor as he retells a classic tale. It’s another one that doesn’t quite land because the rambling is intense and while the parents could find this episode amusing, it would all go over a child’s head. 2/5
Episode 7 is Animals – and sees Mum (Chilli) animate the story of safari animals dancing and prancing on her daughter Bingo. The playtime is so pure, and sweet, and Bingo’s laugh is adorable. 4/5
Episode 8 is a compilation that ‘collects’ episodes 1-7.
Overall – it’s a pretty strong start for this series and I would recommend it – but advise that some episodes (like Three Pigs) are skippable. The others have a nice takeaway message and/or form of entertainment that both kids and adults can enjoy. Bonus: because the shows are very short, it’s a great way to appease their ‘Bluey fix’ while minimizing screen time for little ones.