Credit: Ludo StudioBluey is known for tackling some heavy topics, presenting them in a way its young audience can understand, and sparking a dialogue with their parents on the subjects. But while matters of death, depression, and emotional regulation are something most people can discuss openly, things get a little hairy when religion is brought into the mix.
Disney has come under some heavy fire for “indoctrinating” kids with some of the studio’s most recent materials, such as Florida residents accusing one K-8 teacher of brainwashing her students after showing them Strange World (2022), but surely our beloved Bluey is safe. It’s all longdogs and Keepy Uppy until someone takes issue with the hidden meaning of “Flatpack.”
The debate between evolution and creationism dates back decades, but it seems like Bluey and Bingo are throwing their furry hats in the ring as one episode from season 2 illustrates the origin of life on earth as a game of make-believe with cardboard, bubble wrap, and advice from a cartoon dog. With so many episodes falling under the knife in recent reports, could this one be next?
Bluey: Dogs and Dinosaurs
As Chilli and Bandit wrestle with putting together a porch swing, their pups play pretend using the discarded bits of cardboard, plastic, and bubble wrap to build a pretend planet. That’s all standard-issue Bluey fare, but more eagle-eyed viewers will be able to catch on to the bigger narrative at work.
As the parents discard more bits and boxes from Hammerbarn, Bluey and Bingo’s game literally evolves. The girls go from pretending to be fish in a pond to frogs, lizards, monkeys, and “cave dogs” until they finally become bipedal builders of a cardboard civilization. As cute as that all sounds, it’s the ending that truly brings the idea home.
The girls’ game was physically shaped by the parent’s actions in the background, proving once again that Bandit and Chilli are far from the two-dimensional parent archetypes seen in other kids’ shows. The pups also noticed this, as the parents are depicted as Zeus-esque gods in one of their crayon cave drawings, and the subtext continues further.
As Bluey and Bingo act out the narrative they’ve created, both of their characters age. As Bingo’s evolves from baby fish to adult builder, so does Bluey’s evolve into an elderly maternal figure. However, when Bingo steps into her cardboard spaceship, Mum and Dad invite their daughter to join them on the porch swing as the sun sets (mimicking Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam as she ascends), to which Bandit remarks, “This is Heaven!”
While this episode hardly feels like it’s pitching some sort of agenda or trying to warp our minds with subliminal messaging, it’s easy to understand how something hinting at hot-button issues like religious allegory might face some serious scrutiny. That said, if Walt Disney could get away with depicting a much more graphic take on evolution with the “Rite of Spring” sequence in Fantasia (1940), there’s no reason Bluey can’t playfully represent it in a cartoon art form.
Do you think Bluey is teaching kids evolution? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!