If you haven’t sobbed through at least one Bluey episode, I have nothing but respect for you.
I’ve never really spent much time to sit down and think about why every episode is a hammer(barn)-blow to the heart – probably because I barely get time to think about what to eat for dinner, let alone the motives of Bluey’s production team.
Which is why this video from dad Michael Vaughn (known as @worldshaker on social media) stopped me in my tracks.
Vaughn pretends to be an executive from Disney talking to one of Bluey’s producers (also played by himself) about the hit children’s TV show and what each episode is about.
If you haven’t seen the show, it follows the adventures of a lovable and inexhaustible Blue Heeler puppy who lives with her dad, mum and little sister, Bingo. It showcases the joyful simplicity that can be found in families, by bringing to life how children learn and grow through play.
It’s also emotional. Like, cry-like-a-baby-into-your-tea levels of emotion.
“I was just looking through the episode titles and I was hoping you could give me a quick synopsis of some of these,” says Vaughn, as the Disney exec. “Let’s start with camping, that sounds fun.”
Cue: Vaughn as the faux producer explaining what camping is really about. “Ah so that episode is about the loss of a childhood friendship and whether or not it will ever come back,” he says.
Then they discuss another episode, titled ‘Baby Race’. (Honestly, I dare you to go on YouTube and watch that one without bawling.)
Bluey-producer-Vaughn says: “It’s a story of a mother struggling with all the comparisons that she makes to other parents out there and, in the meantime, she’s accidentally ignoring her brand new baby who is constantly reaching out and trying to get some kind of attention or affection – and really, the breaking point for her is when a more experienced mother comes to visit her and reassures her that she’s doing great.”
Well, you can’t argue with that – his synopsis video has prompted hundreds of comments from parents who not only love the show, but were hit inexplicably hard in the feels by some of the themes it explores.
Discussing the episode titled ‘Onesies’, which touches on the experience of infertility, a parent responded: “I watched it with all three of my kiddos and my nine-year-old understood it completely and said ‘Mommy… it’s about how she can’t have a baby… that’s really sad… are you ok??’
“NO, I was NOT ok, it took me years to have my children and I was sobbing while holding them watching that episode lol.”
A mum said of the same episode: “I was told for years I couldn’t have kids and now I have three little ones. Told myself I wouldn’t cry. Nope! I was sobbing during that episode!”
Another parent revealed they first came across ‘Baby Race’ in a five-minute stories book and “absolutely bawled”.
“And I still cried several times after reading it. Then I watched the episode and still cried. Sigh. That hit waaaay too close to home,” they added.
There were also some parents who shared how the show has helped their own children deal with difficult themes that have happened in their own lives.
One mum revealed: “Bluey has helped my three children (ages 30, 27, 12) with the unexpected loss of their father!!”
But mostly, parents took the opportunity to say how much they love the show, how it’s great for both adults and kids, and how much it makes them cry – which is, well, a lot.