Following the adventures of six-year-old Bluey, her sister Bingo, and her parents Bandit and Chilli, ABC’s Bluey continues to hit new heights. With its third season having launched in November, the show is currently the #1 children’s program in Australia and the highest rated program in the history of ABC Kids.
Mediaweek spoke to the voice behind Bandit Heeler, Dave McCormack, about the Emmy and AACTA winning series.
Dave McCormack
With new episodes airing each day until December 16, McCormack says he’s glad to see the third season of Bluey go out into the world.
“I’m always happy when they’re done and out the door. It’s quite the thrill for me to actually see the episodes as well, I’m just as impressed as everyone else that the episodes turn out so good. I’m very happy that they’re out there, they’ve done such a great job, these Bluey creators.”
The team behind Bluey is Brisbane’s Ludo Studios.
“I’m sure behind the scenes when they’re doing the writing and animating it they must put in so much thought and time into keeping the show successful, but luckily for me, I get the easy bit! I get the scripts that are so funny and fun to do, I do my bit and then I just go ‘bye!’. They have to do all the hard work.
“I’m based in Sydney and they’re all in Brisbane. So I do my voice bits remotely via Skype, with Joe [Brumm] who writes and directs most of it. I don’t know what they’re doing up there, but they’re doing a very good job.”
Appealing to All Ages
Bluey might be for kids, but it’s a show that has worked its way into the hearts of parents as well. McCormack says he loves the reactions the show gets across all ages.
“Obviously, the show is aimed at a certain age group, but stories and the writing make it so that a parent can watch it and really enjoy it. I’ve heard of parents sitting down with the young ones and bingeing a couple of episodes, then the young ones leave and the parents find they’ve watched two or three episodes by themselves without the kids. It’s so relatable and it’s so honest, and it’s got a really good heart to it.”
Telling Australian Stories
There aren’t too many children’s shows that are as unambiguously Australian as Bluey. McCormack says it’s incredibly important for Australian kids to see their own experiences reflected back at them on their screens.
“When you become a parent, suddenly there’s this whole world of kids’ entertainment that’s revealed to you that you’ve not been aware of before. Lots of it is from the United States and less so from the UK. There are some legendary Australian shows like The Wiggles and Play School, which is great, but it’s really good to have a funny, warm, entertaining children’s show, made in Australia featuring scenes from my hometown of Brisbane, with an Australian accent front and centre. I’m pretty proud of that, actually. I’m proud that a show made in Brisbane can be popular and loved throughout the whole entire world.”
Looking Ahead
As the third season of Bluey is received with open arms, McCormack has some suggestions for the future.
“What I hope is that they keep doing shows as long as it’s enjoyable and making people happy. Actually, you know what I would like to do? I’d like to become an animated version of my real-life self that goes into the show and meets Bandit. Worlds collide, real world Dave McCormack goes into Bluey to meet animated Bandit Heeler!”
Other Projects
It’s not just Bluey keeping McCormack busy, with the Custard frontman also taking on some behind-the-scenes work.
“I’ve been doing music for TV shows – recently, I did one for Channel Nine called Doctor Doctor, and there’s one for Paramount+ called Five Bedrooms. Then there’s another show I’m doing the music on called Troppo which is a new series starting on the ABC, which should be cool. So that’s been keeping me pretty busy throughout lockdown. I’ve done a couple of television, commercial voiceovers which is a whole new world, I didn’t even know that world existed! So I’ve been pretty busy.”
Bluey airs on ABC every day at 8.00am and 6:20pm, and anytime on the ABC Kids app or iview