The BBC has announced their plans to turn Bluey, the world’s top children’s TV programme, into an all-encompassing “lifestyle brand” for all ages.
The popularity of the Emmy-winning cartoon, about an Australian blue heeler dog, has resulted in a raft of merchandise available for fan to buy, such as Bluey-themed paddling pools, tents and hot water bottles, as well as traditional offerings including lunch boxes, pyjamas, books and toys.
Bluey, produced by Ludo Studio in Australia, debuted in 2018 and has since become one of the most adored shows on television.
The show’s success has proved to be fruitful in the retail sector – BBC Studios made a record £2.16bn in sales from commercial operations last year across brand deals and themed products.
Suzy Raia, the head of global consumer products at BBC Studios, told The Guardian of plans to make Bluey a “generation-defining brand for children and then families today”.
“We want to be No 1 in preschool, which we’re well on our way to achieving,” said Raia. “We have so much more to do in terms of growing in the adult space and thinking about what those adult purchasers are open to.”
Raia added that from a retail standpoint, the BBC’s global consumer division was generating about $3.6bn (£2.7bn) in global retail sales across their entire portfolio, with Bluey accounting for a big proportion of those sales.
Bluey has already been turned into an immersive theatre production, called Bluey’s World, in Queensland, Australia. The franchise will arrive on the big screen in 2027 with its first film, Bluey the Movie, made by BBC Studios and Disney.
In the US, Bluey was the most watched show across all genres in 2024, while its music is also popular with more than 1 billion streams at the time of writing.
Bluey’s official social media channels now have more than 21 million subscribers, with a total of 13 billion lifetime views.
Raia said of Bluey’s internet success: “Within seven months, we had a million TikTok subscribers. That was a moment where we were really able to find the fans that are not purely preschool – young adult audiences and teens really started to get this exposure.”
The forthcoming film will follow the adventures of Bluey, alongside her mum, dad and her little sister, Bingo. Series creator Joe Brumm will write and direct the film, with a voice cast led by the series regulars, including Melanie Zanetti and David McCormack.