“Bluey: The Sign” Success On Disney+ Could Result In A Feature Film
This coming Sunday, Disney+ is releasing a special episode of “Bluey”, called “The Sign”, which is going to be four times as long as a traditional episode.
Created and written by Joe Brumm, the series follows Bluey, a lovable and inexhaustible Blue Heeler dog who lives with her Mum, Dad, and little sister, Bingo. Bluey uses her limitless energy to play games that unfold in unpredictable and hilarious ways, bringing her family and the whole neighbourhood into her world of fun.
“The Sign” is the longest episode ever of the global hit TV show. Dave McCormack and Melanie Zanetti reprise their roles as the voices of Bandit and Chilli Heeler, and Patrick Brammall returns as the voice of Uncle Rad, Claudia O’Doherty as Frisky, alongside Megan Washington as Calypso, Myf Warhurst as Trixie, and Rose Byrne as Aunt Brandy. Making their “Bluey” voice debut, this special episode introduces Rove McManus, Deborah Mailman, Brendan Williams and Joel Edgerton.
The new extended episode has been directed by Richard Jeffery, and produced by Ludo Studio.
During a recent interview with Deadline, Joe Brumm revealed that if “The Sign” does well—which it should—since “Bluey” is the most watched show not just on Disney+ but across all streaming services, “Bluey” could make the leap to the bigger screen.
“I’m loving going longer on ‘The Sign’, and I’d love to try to go longer — I definitely would not rule that out. That’s why I’m very interested to see how The Sign goes down with the audience. Obviously it’s four times as long as a normal episode. Will the audience accept a stint with a longer story?”
“Bluey” has been a global phenomenon, and going from an 8-minute episode to a feature film would be a huge step, so in some ways, testing out if an audience is able to enjoy and accept a longer episode, does make sense.
No doubt, Disney would love to bring “Bluey” to the big screen if they feel there is a big enough market for it, though they probably also want to continue getting new episodes of the show, considering how successful it is.
Only this past week, it was revealed that Disney had repeatedly been trying to explore a buyout of “Bluey.” At one point before the show became a success, Disney had an opportunity to acquire the rights of the show from BBC Studios, who licensed it from Brisbane’s Ludo Studios, but passed. This will likely have resulted in the value of the buyout now going up considerably. Disney has also inquired about licensing the “Bluey” brand to utilise in its theme parks, but nothing yet has been confirmed.
“The Sign” is coming out on Sunday, 14th April 2024, where it will air first via ABC Kids in Australia and then roll out globally the same day across Disney+, Disney Junior and Disney Channel in all other available regions (with the exception of China and New Zealand).
The previous seasons of “Bluey” are available to stream now on Disney+.
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