'Bluey' to Cut Episodes in New Development

Last week, many Bluey fans were vocally displeased as the new minisodes failed to live up to many of their expectations. While they were reassured that there was a purpose in the brevity of the miniseries, it might have actually set a problematic standard for season 4.

Bluey with Headphones on — Credit: bluey.tv/Ludo

One thing Bluey fans can depend on is that there will (eventually) be a fourth season, but it might not be in the way viewers are used to. However, they might be getting fewer episodes than they first expected.

It’s been established that Bluey creator Joe Brumm expressed interest in extending the episodes’ runtimes, going from the typical 7 minutes to the possibility of half-hour-long entries, as seen with the highly anticipated episode “The Sign.” While that sounds like a perfectly logical step for the series, viewers might have to sacrifice half a season for it to work.

A Shorter Season for Bluey

A cartoon image of Bluey, a blue dog with black ears and a mask, looking surprised while tiptoeing across stepping stones in a creek surrounded by foliage. — Credit: Ludo Studios

Inside the Magic previously covered how the new Bluey miniseries left some fans feeling cheated, as both the length of the episodes and the number of entries in the first portion of the miniseries left much to be desired.

The report shared,

“The consensus of the audience responses covered in the video all seem to follow one specific train of thought. Ludo (and Disney, to some extent) are making viewers wait almost a year for short, “mediocre” episodes, and they feel like they’re getting short-changed.”

However, it was also established that the miniseries is simply an effort by Ludo Studio to tide fans over until the producers end their hiatus and return full force for bigger and better Bluey. That said, “bigger and better Bluey” is going to take a great deal more time than the length fans have seen before.

Joe Brumm and Heelers — Credit: Inside the Magic

When asked by Deadline about how he felt about longer runtimes in preparation for “The Sign,” Joe Brumm shared how this was essentially a test run for a longer format for the beloved animated series.

The creator stated,

“I’m loving going longer on ‘The Sign,’ and I’d love to try to go longer — I definitely would not rule that out,” he said. “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?”

Naturally, the audience did more than accept the “stint,” and it might be the case that the next season extends all its episodes to that length. Still, it will come at a cost to the fans.

Is Less More?

Three cartoon dogs, a brown and white dog named Bluey, a black and white dog, and a red dog, stand on a wooden platform in a grassy field with a clear sky. — Credit: Ludo Studios

Logic dictates that it’s far easier to create a seven-minute-long episode than one that’s 28-30 minutes long, right? If it takes the animators a solid month just to bring Bluey, Bingo, and the rest of her friends to life for that long, extending the process means viewers might have to wait a long while between season installments.

This could mean that season four will shrink from the usual 50+ episodes per season to 25 or even less to compensate for the extra hours in the creation process. In short, it’s a matter of quality over quantity.

It should be thoroughly understood that this is all pure speculation, and we can only infer based on what Ludo Studios and those involved with Bluey’s production team previously stated. Even so, the evidence speaks for itself.

Do you think we’ll get longer episodes but shorter seasons? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!