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How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

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Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#341
One thing we've been unable to figure out: is the phrase "for real life" (seemingly a portmanteau of "for real" and "in real life") a phrase that is used in Australia, or is it a Bluey-specific neologism?

Hopefully some HNers down under can enlighten us!

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#342
post #111
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is the point, no? That Bluey is not the average " audiovisual dreck ".

By the previous commenters opinion I assume it is. The point being to have people interact with the world instead of passively accepting high levels of stimulation for doing nothing. I believe it’s healthier for all humans of any age to engage with the input->output model of the world.

Nope, it stands out among kids shows, which are typically a wasteland of formulaic stories that amount to nothing and require no introspective thinking.

One thing I think that illustrates this is that my daughter will often have questions for me after watching Bluey. Like actual meaningful questions about life or how the world works. If she’s watching TOTS, she’s just sitting there mouth agape and maybe getting bored enough to just walk out of the room.

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve seen the episode many times, but I don’t get what’s the blindside? Are you referring to how it references the fact that parents will eventually leave their kids when they die? That’s only mentioned indirectly by the mom, no? Is there a deeper story that I am missing?

The blindside being the unique tone of the episode, compared to what came before it. It still has silliness and is a fun watch. Some things that I think make it hit differently: * The house and most scenes are dimly lit * You see the family in various stages of sleep * The musical score has some intense crescendo * The vulnerability it shows It's a small glimpse of night time in a house with a child that is still tra…

> Having had kids, that weight being lifted as they finally "get it" is a unique feeling of bittersweet relief.

Every milestone your kid reaches marks the end of their previous self and we grieve never getting to see that little person again.

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are cartoon physics insulting kids intelligence? Tom coming back 1 second after being blown up with dynamite makes sense? Maybe these kinds of cartoons are bad according to you. There it research that kids are more interested in stuff which is surprising (fixation period, ...) because that builds a model of how the world works, not the easily predicted stuff.

> Are cartoon physics insulting kids intelligence? dclowd9901 already said the issue is when it's "just lazy storytelling". Pixar shows you can tell great stories with cartoon physics. You don't eat only sugar. You don't eat only carbs. You don't eat only protein. Your body needs a mix. Many people want their kids to have a healthy diet. Saying Nutella is a "sometimes food" is not the same as saying Nutella is "bad",…

Yep, exactly. And I should mention the show _does_ take some liberties with the plot vis a vis skimming over a lot of the setup of the stories. Try to imagine the amount of time the kids and adults would have to take to set up certain activities they do that we never see. I can scarcely imagine my daughters having the patience to go through with that much setup before actually getting to play.

But it’s all in service of telling a fun, unique story, so it gets a pass.

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#348
post #324

Here's a somewhat embarrassing admission: I never appreciated Holst's "The Planets" until I saw it used (particularly "Jupiter") in a Bluey episode.

Jupiter is a masterpiece. Mars is fine. Honestly the rest of the Planets Suite is kind of a pass unless you're studying music. Of course Jupiter is the one they remix ("arrange"?) in Bluey.

Yeah, I think that part of my problem is I often heard people talk about Mars, so I tried to use that as my entrypoint into the suite, and to my ear Jupiter is much better.

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve seen the episode many times, but I don’t get what’s the blindside? Are you referring to how it references the fact that parents will eventually leave their kids when they die? That’s only mentioned indirectly by the mom, no? Is there a deeper story that I am missing?

The blindside being the unique tone of the episode, compared to what came before it. It still has silliness and is a fun watch. Some things that I think make it hit differently: * The house and most scenes are dimly lit * You see the family in various stages of sleep * The musical score has some intense crescendo * The vulnerability it shows It's a small glimpse of night time in a house with a child that is still tra…

It's definitely an episode that stands out, that's true. My daughter wants to watch it every day.

Re: How Australia’s ‘Bluey’ conquered children’s entertainment

#350
post #245

Bluey blew me away when I saw it with my daughter. It's sweet, positive, emotional, well written. It's not the slightest bit cynical, handles every issue with tact, doesn't contain heavy handed messaging and has traditional values. It also has a very positive two parent dynamic. This is an absolute unicorn of a show. Note: my usage of "traditional values" is not meant to evoke anything political or intended to be int…

It also sets the bar very high for parents.

Is that a bad thing? (I'm a parent and I love it)
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