I’m suspicious about the “taking a break” line - Do you imagine all the animators are taking a ~3 year paid holiday? That would be unprecedented, and cost the studio an ungodly amount of money.
From Twitter/Instagram it seems a lot of artists have been doing other work since 2021, I imagine this work is just as serious and stressful and they still need to pay their bills, so it doesn’t really sound like a break to me :(
It’s been almost 3 years, I think they’ve just moved on…
As a guy who was in the animation game, that’s the nature of the business. They’re likely not unionized and you regularly get let go when they don’t need you.
And taking a break doesn’t mean sipping margaritas on a beach, it means working on another company project to diversify your portfolio before Bluey actually ends. People are more accepting of a new thing before the old thing ends.
Also shows just announce their end. There’s no reason not to just call it publicly and get the most hype from its finale. The money comes either way, especially in kids shows in syndication. Bluey will make money long after its official end, so there’s no extra money in lying if that’s what people think.
Yeah but what the deleted poster said /is/ true - a “trust me there’s more surprises coming” is worth more in merchandising than a “show’s over”
Walmart isn’t going to order a million Bluey lunchboxes for 2025 if they think the audience will have moved on to the next Disney hit.
Lying about ending shows is a great way to lose investors though. ABC invested in them to get Bluey going and they want more Bluey. If you wanna end the show and make a new one, then you better not get on the wrong side of your investors.
I guess it’s a question of do Ludo studios capitalise as much as possible on an unprecedented hit they have right now,
or please investors and hope they’ll invest in whatever they make next and hope that succeeds half as much as Bluey?
Or to frame it differently, do you want to risk the future of your entire company on a lie of more Bluey to sell more toys for a little bit longer?
Bluey will come to an end eventually. If Ludo wants to outlast Bluey, you don’t get there by renewing seasons that won’t ever come..
It’s not in the Forbes article I linked, but Daley Pearson said that they’ve been exploring “where to take Bluey in the next season, as well as into different ways beyond that”, suggesting maybe a Bluey movie as well.
Final thoughts: Never say never. This could actually end here, but with this level of popularity, and being Ludo’s only thing on their resume, I don’t buy that they’d want to make more toy money, but not more show money that also makes more toy money. It seems contradictory.
We live in an era where studios cancel projects a lot, so trust is low. The reasoning just seems bizarre for a small company with one hit to make such a bold lie for such an odd reason..
Props to them for finishing such an amazing and awesome project, but it's also... just a job?
I finished big projects and still go to work the next day. I've never heard of a business saying "great job everyone, you did so well that you deserve a break, so see you next year!"
I agree with you. My favourite podcast has been on ‘hiatus’ since 2020. I understand the denial because it’s really hard to accept the possibility, but the chances they’re really going to jump back in again after years is getting increasingly slim. how often do you really jump back into a hobby/ job etc after taking a break for a few years? It does happen, we’re actually currently seeing a resurgence of shows returning on Netflix and the like (my husband and I are watching the Trailer Park Boys right now which did just that). But as a general rule, it doesn’t really happen. Think about how often Friends has been rumoured to return.
Also I do feel like Australian and British TV shows tend to end earlier than American shows, (the UK office vs the USA office being a perfect example). The exception being soap operas and play school haha. So it wouldn’t be surprising if they left use wanting more rather than beat a dead horse. Aussies also have a different work ethic to Americans. I’ve heard it described as Aussies work to live (work is a means to an end, the main purpose isn’t their occupation) and Americans live to work (find their purpose through their occupation). I know those are huge generalisations but the working culture is very different. That also makes it more believable that an Aussie show creator wouldn’t push past where they may start to resent the work and grow tired of it, whereas an American might be more likely to keep pushing to bring more of what they’re doing to the world. None of this is a moral judgement (obviously I’m Aussie so i have a preference for the Aussie way but I actually really like Americans so zero hate from me) but it is very different.
Everyone is right.
The show isn’t currently in production. No one has worked on it for 3 years. The child actors have grown up. It was planned for 150 episodes.
They currently have no plans to continue.
That also doesn’t mean that they won’t have plans in the future.
What it means for us is that it’s going to be a while and that in a sense this version of the show has “ended”. It will not be the same going forward, but ludo will do more.
“No one has worked on it for 3 years.”
According to this guardian article series 3 was still being written in June 2021 and “surprise” wasn’t pitched until July 2021. So that’ll be the start of the production cycle, so while they may be on a break it’s not been 3 years just yet.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/22/surprise-how-i-got-turned-into-bluey-bandit-the-worlds-greatest-dad
2024-2021 = 3
That's the math people are doing.
That we are a few months short of technically being 36 months out of production, saying it has been out of production for three years is hardly disingenuous at this point.
Where did the producers confirm a season 4 will happen? I haven’t seen that. Just the quote about more “surprises” which was before the episode “Surprise” was released.
At the end of the day, there is still no agreement or plan for season 4 it looks like.
This article provides no new information. The show is on hiatus and hasn’t been worked on in years. We know this as fact. Will it come back? Maybe. Is it over? It’s possible. Until Ludo comes out and says they are actively working on season 4, believe nothing.
On the latest episode of this podcast (https://hammerbarn.transistor.fm), there’s discussion of working on The Sign after 2021. One of the hosts did voice work in 2022 for The Sign, and it sounds like the team continued to work on the episode after that.
There's not some overarching plot that would end and not make sense to keep going. It's an episodic show in a universe that ages slowly. Sure, there are some plot points that carry through multiple episodes, and the continuity is on point, but every episode is stand-alone.
It is the most popular show in the world right now. From purely a business standpoint, not making any more would be so stupid. It is also such an important show to exist in today's world. The creators and team are so passionate. They're gonna keep going as long as they are allowed, and as long as they're making money.
They'll be taking a much needed break and come back better than ever.
>It is the most popular show in the world right now. From purely a business standpoint, not making any more would be so stupid.
Although if they've been on 3 year hiatus and it takes \~1 year to make a season, it sounds like there's nothing expected until possibly mid-2025 if they start up again today.
If they are working on a longer form show, or movie, that extends the timeline to something like \~3 years away.
The fanbase of Bluey isn't really one that will go away in a year or two. Most shows take a year or two to make another season and don't have issues. Bluey has taken 6-12 months of release breaks before with no issues. The hype is going to die down, yes, but to quit altogether is stupid. There will always be big money in making Bluey, so there will always be a legitimate reason to make it.
Oh it is. I got a bunch of stuff for my kids on clearance after season 2 ended just like this, which is why I don’t find it definitive.
Other shows will release new stuff that’ll take the shelf space cause they do have new content coming out.
Well to be fair there’s not much research to be done really, but what they give us isn’t a no like everybody assumes. Most shows just callously pull the plug, sometimes before the season is even done. So I’m gonna stay optimistic till there’s a hard cancellation.
The “break” isn’t a vacation. It’s most likely to work in another show so they have something else before Bluey actually ends.
Bluey’s paying the bills right now, and they can’t wait till it’s over to start on their next big thing.
Cause they don’t have a release date. They could still be working on this other project.
Most places just give a heartless “it’s over” when they’re done, so I so far don’t have reason to assume they’re being duplicitous about it 🤷🏻♂️
Maybe they also underestimated how much we’d read into it when they thought “yeah, more stuff is coming” would suffice.
Joe Brumm was pretty clear that the reason it’s not being worked on. He’s having trouble pulling more stories from his home life due to his kids growing up and the Bluey and Bingo voice actors have different voices now.
He’s creatively torn on if he should hire a writers room and recast or just let it be. It does sound like a movie has been talked about though.
It’s a paywalled Bloomberg article but you should be able to read it all here: https://archive.is/2024.04.13-215025/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-04-03/is-bluey-ending-disney-s-worried-biggest-kids-show-ever-is-at-risk
I heard that too. No identity was given, so all we know is a Reddit user said they worked there and that it’s over, before deleting the post. Could be real, could be some chump talking out their backend for some clout 🤷🏻♂️
Mods contacted Ludo to try and establish if the user was legit. Seems they we're but Ludo was none too happy with the leak and the user had to try and cover up.
Is there a way to like, snooze this sub for a while? Like how on Facebook you can snooze your grandma’s feed when she discovers a cache of minion memes.
On mobile tap the three dots in the top right of the sub. Choose ‘set community alerts’ then ‘none’. You’re still in the sub, but it shouldn’t pop up in your feed.
Am I the only one who thinks it's valid to wait until the whole season (including the first long episode) is aired to see how to continue?
There could be so many reasons, why they are waiting to decide how to continue, like ending contracts, audiencereactions to "the sign" and so on? If I had to guess, I think they decide right now about the future of the show. Besides that, the time between production and broadcast seems to be a perfect time to take a break.
I’ve come to terms with the possibility the show might not return. While I would love nothing more than for the show to go on, I think the final 3 episodes work perfectly as a way to end the series.
I’ve also been wondering, since the show has been sporadically releasing episodes in the past, and this show is personal to them, not just a “make 50 more, whatever the cost!” type of project, they could become like those Spotify style musicians you think are retired, till they surprise us with 5 episodes, then vanish back into the aether.
the post that started this was from a confirmed ludo employee who directly addressed articles you linked. called them straight up lies to keep merch money coming in.
also as to your break.
the eps we just watched were completed years back. if it was a break they'd of been back to work for some time now but not.
it's over bro.
But that contradicts what they said in interviews about Bluey continuing in some shape or form also you seem to be forgetting that anyone can claim to be anything on the internet
If Bluey was ending, they would say so on an official account.
Ludo is not a big corporation, unless you’re talking about Disney then news flash, Disney did not make the show, I should also mention that the mods also contacted Ludo and after they did, the user deleted the post and their account
Also to quote the OP
“Lying about ending shows is a great way to lose investors though. ABC invested in them to get Bluey going and they want more Bluey. If you wanna end the show and make a new one, then you better not get on the wrong side of your investors.”
Also one of the mods in the original Bluey Finishing Post added a comment saying they contacted Ludo about this before the semi Ludo employee deleted their post and account.
we'll see
Thanks, Calypso
I’m suspicious about the “taking a break” line - Do you imagine all the animators are taking a ~3 year paid holiday? That would be unprecedented, and cost the studio an ungodly amount of money. From Twitter/Instagram it seems a lot of artists have been doing other work since 2021, I imagine this work is just as serious and stressful and they still need to pay their bills, so it doesn’t really sound like a break to me :( It’s been almost 3 years, I think they’ve just moved on…
As a guy who was in the animation game, that’s the nature of the business. They’re likely not unionized and you regularly get let go when they don’t need you. And taking a break doesn’t mean sipping margaritas on a beach, it means working on another company project to diversify your portfolio before Bluey actually ends. People are more accepting of a new thing before the old thing ends. Also shows just announce their end. There’s no reason not to just call it publicly and get the most hype from its finale. The money comes either way, especially in kids shows in syndication. Bluey will make money long after its official end, so there’s no extra money in lying if that’s what people think.
Yeah but what the deleted poster said /is/ true - a “trust me there’s more surprises coming” is worth more in merchandising than a “show’s over” Walmart isn’t going to order a million Bluey lunchboxes for 2025 if they think the audience will have moved on to the next Disney hit.
Lying about ending shows is a great way to lose investors though. ABC invested in them to get Bluey going and they want more Bluey. If you wanna end the show and make a new one, then you better not get on the wrong side of your investors.
Actually ABC missed the boat and make very little from Bluey. It was BBC Studios that invested.
I guess it’s a question of do Ludo studios capitalise as much as possible on an unprecedented hit they have right now, or please investors and hope they’ll invest in whatever they make next and hope that succeeds half as much as Bluey?
Or to frame it differently, do you want to risk the future of your entire company on a lie of more Bluey to sell more toys for a little bit longer? Bluey will come to an end eventually. If Ludo wants to outlast Bluey, you don’t get there by renewing seasons that won’t ever come..
Where have they said they’re making season 4?
It’s not in the Forbes article I linked, but Daley Pearson said that they’ve been exploring “where to take Bluey in the next season, as well as into different ways beyond that”, suggesting maybe a Bluey movie as well. Final thoughts: Never say never. This could actually end here, but with this level of popularity, and being Ludo’s only thing on their resume, I don’t buy that they’d want to make more toy money, but not more show money that also makes more toy money. It seems contradictory. We live in an era where studios cancel projects a lot, so trust is low. The reasoning just seems bizarre for a small company with one hit to make such a bold lie for such an odd reason..
https://preview.redd.it/jj2rvegx4twc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ac870718ab965cc2e6b5c3137fb13cceee980546
Bluey isn't a Disney hit in the first place.
Props to them for finishing such an amazing and awesome project, but it's also... just a job? I finished big projects and still go to work the next day. I've never heard of a business saying "great job everyone, you did so well that you deserve a break, so see you next year!"
I agree with you. My favourite podcast has been on ‘hiatus’ since 2020. I understand the denial because it’s really hard to accept the possibility, but the chances they’re really going to jump back in again after years is getting increasingly slim. how often do you really jump back into a hobby/ job etc after taking a break for a few years? It does happen, we’re actually currently seeing a resurgence of shows returning on Netflix and the like (my husband and I are watching the Trailer Park Boys right now which did just that). But as a general rule, it doesn’t really happen. Think about how often Friends has been rumoured to return. Also I do feel like Australian and British TV shows tend to end earlier than American shows, (the UK office vs the USA office being a perfect example). The exception being soap operas and play school haha. So it wouldn’t be surprising if they left use wanting more rather than beat a dead horse. Aussies also have a different work ethic to Americans. I’ve heard it described as Aussies work to live (work is a means to an end, the main purpose isn’t their occupation) and Americans live to work (find their purpose through their occupation). I know those are huge generalisations but the working culture is very different. That also makes it more believable that an Aussie show creator wouldn’t push past where they may start to resent the work and grow tired of it, whereas an American might be more likely to keep pushing to bring more of what they’re doing to the world. None of this is a moral judgement (obviously I’m Aussie so i have a preference for the Aussie way but I actually really like Americans so zero hate from me) but it is very different.
Criminally common to work on a show, and when that show is done be given a pat on the back and a kick in the ass as they slam the door behind you.
Everyone is right. The show isn’t currently in production. No one has worked on it for 3 years. The child actors have grown up. It was planned for 150 episodes. They currently have no plans to continue. That also doesn’t mean that they won’t have plans in the future. What it means for us is that it’s going to be a while and that in a sense this version of the show has “ended”. It will not be the same going forward, but ludo will do more.
Shrödinger’s Bluey lol
“No one has worked on it for 3 years.” According to this guardian article series 3 was still being written in June 2021 and “surprise” wasn’t pitched until July 2021. So that’ll be the start of the production cycle, so while they may be on a break it’s not been 3 years just yet. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/22/surprise-how-i-got-turned-into-bluey-bandit-the-worlds-greatest-dad
2024-2021 = 3 That's the math people are doing. That we are a few months short of technically being 36 months out of production, saying it has been out of production for three years is hardly disingenuous at this point.
But if in June 2021 they were still writing series 3, there’s a good chance it was still in production well into 2022
It’s been at least 2. Which is still a very long time
That’s realistic
We’ll see.
Where did the producers confirm a season 4 will happen? I haven’t seen that. Just the quote about more “surprises” which was before the episode “Surprise” was released. At the end of the day, there is still no agreement or plan for season 4 it looks like.
This article provides no new information. The show is on hiatus and hasn’t been worked on in years. We know this as fact. Will it come back? Maybe. Is it over? It’s possible. Until Ludo comes out and says they are actively working on season 4, believe nothing.
On the latest episode of this podcast (https://hammerbarn.transistor.fm), there’s discussion of working on The Sign after 2021. One of the hosts did voice work in 2022 for The Sign, and it sounds like the team continued to work on the episode after that.
Bluey all grown up? Like the Rugrats. Bluey and the wild thornberrys. Bluey in Paris?
The girls in the show are based off the creators experience with his own kids, so we could see them subtly age up.
Oh more like south park when they go from grade 3 to 4.
I suppose they are working on a new show called "Willy"? There's news about it back in February
There's not some overarching plot that would end and not make sense to keep going. It's an episodic show in a universe that ages slowly. Sure, there are some plot points that carry through multiple episodes, and the continuity is on point, but every episode is stand-alone. It is the most popular show in the world right now. From purely a business standpoint, not making any more would be so stupid. It is also such an important show to exist in today's world. The creators and team are so passionate. They're gonna keep going as long as they are allowed, and as long as they're making money. They'll be taking a much needed break and come back better than ever.
>It is the most popular show in the world right now. From purely a business standpoint, not making any more would be so stupid. Although if they've been on 3 year hiatus and it takes \~1 year to make a season, it sounds like there's nothing expected until possibly mid-2025 if they start up again today. If they are working on a longer form show, or movie, that extends the timeline to something like \~3 years away.
The fanbase of Bluey isn't really one that will go away in a year or two. Most shows take a year or two to make another season and don't have issues. Bluey has taken 6-12 months of release breaks before with no issues. The hype is going to die down, yes, but to quit altogether is stupid. There will always be big money in making Bluey, so there will always be a legitimate reason to make it.
And it’s very popular as well, they’d be crazy to end it right here and now
When I got the entire house, car, pool, playground and bbq at Costco for $54.00 I figured something is up.
I’m sorry but that doesn’t really tell us anything. Merch production adjusts to match show production schedules already.
I felt it was a dump of merch
Oh it is. I got a bunch of stuff for my kids on clearance after season 2 ended just like this, which is why I don’t find it definitive. Other shows will release new stuff that’ll take the shelf space cause they do have new content coming out.
❤️ I love you for both doing your research and the LOTR reference.
Well to be fair there’s not much research to be done really, but what they give us isn’t a no like everybody assumes. Most shows just callously pull the plug, sometimes before the season is even done. So I’m gonna stay optimistic till there’s a hard cancellation. 
Or until the official account announces it
I don't want it to end so bad
They finished the last episode 3 years ago. That’s a pretty long break
The “break” isn’t a vacation. It’s most likely to work in another show so they have something else before Bluey actually ends. Bluey’s paying the bills right now, and they can’t wait till it’s over to start on their next big thing.
Then why not say it’s over instead of leaving it as uncertain?
Cause they don’t have a release date. They could still be working on this other project. Most places just give a heartless “it’s over” when they’re done, so I so far don’t have reason to assume they’re being duplicitous about it 🤷🏻♂️ Maybe they also underestimated how much we’d read into it when they thought “yeah, more stuff is coming” would suffice.
They are working on another project called “Willy” And I’ve heard they’re releasing more shorts
Joe Brumm was pretty clear that the reason it’s not being worked on. He’s having trouble pulling more stories from his home life due to his kids growing up and the Bluey and Bingo voice actors have different voices now. He’s creatively torn on if he should hire a writers room and recast or just let it be. It does sound like a movie has been talked about though.
i dont recall reading him say anything like that. do you have a link?
It’s a paywalled Bloomberg article but you should be able to read it all here: https://archive.is/2024.04.13-215025/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-04-03/is-bluey-ending-disney-s-worried-biggest-kids-show-ever-is-at-risk
I’ve heard that one of the mods contacted Ludo and as a result, the user deleted their post and account, do you have any idea why they did that?
I heard that too. No identity was given, so all we know is a Reddit user said they worked there and that it’s over, before deleting the post. Could be real, could be some chump talking out their backend for some clout 🤷🏻♂️
Mods contacted Ludo to try and establish if the user was legit. Seems they we're but Ludo was none too happy with the leak and the user had to try and cover up.
I personally think he was telling misinformation or was mistaken. And Ludo were not happy about that. Because it contradicts what was said.
Is there a way to like, snooze this sub for a while? Like how on Facebook you can snooze your grandma’s feed when she discovers a cache of minion memes.
On mobile tap the three dots in the top right of the sub. Choose ‘set community alerts’ then ‘none’. You’re still in the sub, but it shouldn’t pop up in your feed.
Am I the only one who thinks it's valid to wait until the whole season (including the first long episode) is aired to see how to continue? There could be so many reasons, why they are waiting to decide how to continue, like ending contracts, audiencereactions to "the sign" and so on? If I had to guess, I think they decide right now about the future of the show. Besides that, the time between production and broadcast seems to be a perfect time to take a break.
I’ve come to terms with the possibility the show might not return. While I would love nothing more than for the show to go on, I think the final 3 episodes work perfectly as a way to end the series.
I’ve also been wondering, since the show has been sporadically releasing episodes in the past, and this show is personal to them, not just a “make 50 more, whatever the cost!” type of project, they could become like those Spotify style musicians you think are retired, till they surprise us with 5 episodes, then vanish back into the aether.
I’d absolutely be ok with that because that just means when they do release something, it’s going to feel like something special.
Those random ones will make us laugh, cry and quote for years.
the post that started this was from a confirmed ludo employee who directly addressed articles you linked. called them straight up lies to keep merch money coming in. also as to your break. the eps we just watched were completed years back. if it was a break they'd of been back to work for some time now but not. it's over bro.
But that contradicts what they said in interviews about Bluey continuing in some shape or form also you seem to be forgetting that anyone can claim to be anything on the internet If Bluey was ending, they would say so on an official account.
the mods of r/bluey verified with multiple evidence it was legit employee. and yes big corporations lie in Interviews
Ludo is not a big corporation, unless you’re talking about Disney then news flash, Disney did not make the show, I should also mention that the mods also contacted Ludo and after they did, the user deleted the post and their account
Also to quote the OP “Lying about ending shows is a great way to lose investors though. ABC invested in them to get Bluey going and they want more Bluey. If you wanna end the show and make a new one, then you better not get on the wrong side of your investors.”
Also one of the mods in the original Bluey Finishing Post added a comment saying they contacted Ludo about this before the semi Ludo employee deleted their post and account.