Who is Bandit’s secret family member? And which real-life people inspire our favourite episodes? Even the most diehard fans will go wackadoo over these discoveries!

Now that we’re at the halfway mark of season two, Bluey fans haven’t stopped dissecting and comparing how it stacks up to season one so far.

Whatever side of Lucky’s fence you sit on, what we are convinced of is that the more we watch those beautifully crafted seven-minute episodes, there is SO much we missed the first time around. If you have a squealing, giggling toddler drowning out all the show’s little nuances, then chances are, there’s a whole world of stuff that’s gone over your head.

These two are couple goals. Image: LUDO Studio

Read this - it's gotta be done

So as real-life diehard fans, we’ve put together a list of 20 things we bet you didn’t know about our favourite cartoon of all time.

Bluey first came to life in 2016, in a one-minute pilot episode made in the creator's spare time. While network bosses loved it, the clip never got to air. “It just had some dangerous stuff in it,” Bluey creator Joe Brumm told The Saturday Paper. “Bandit was pushing Bluey and she wanted to go all the way around on a swing, so she ends up doing a full 360 degrees. It was just unsafe. You could never put that on kids TV.” Joe Brumm is the second eldest in a family of three boys (like Bandit). Joe’s older brother is Professor Adam Brumm, who has been involved in archeological discoveries such as the fossilised remains of Homo Floresiensis (the 'Hobbit'). And it was actually him who nicknamed it at a Queensland university. As we know, Bandit is an archaeologist, so that’s where that inspo comes from. Uncle Stripe - who is Bandit’s younger brother and the dad of muffin and Socks - is voiced by Dan Brumm, Joe’s younger brother, who is also the sound designer on Bluey. Meanwhile, Nana (Bandit’s mum) is played by Chris Brumm, who is yep, you guessed it: Joe’s mum.

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Bandit and his family are based on real life people. Image: LUDO Studio

Wackadoo, there are dogs hiding everywhere

4. Dance Mode features a celeb appearance from the Blue Wiggle Anthony Field. But there’s another voice that you may not have picked: Australian-British actor Rupert Degas, who plays the role of the yes/no button. He was the voice of ‘Scrambler’ in Bob the Builder from 2002 to 2011. He’s also been in Thomas & Friends and The Adventures of Blinky Bill.

5. There is a long sausage-type dog called 'long dog' hidden in many episodes. In Charades, it’s hidden in the knitting on the couch. Long dog was designed by one of the background artists in series one, and the pup also turns up in some of the books.

6. Brisbane landmarks as Queen Street Mall and Southbank - and not so recognisable places such as toilet blocks and shopfronts - feature in several episodes. In Piggyback, the Heelers take a trip up the Queensland coast where Noosa’s Big Pelican makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance.

Can't wait till we can visit this for real. Source: Facebook

7. In season two, Bingo’s car seat has changed. In season one, she was in a lap-sash seat and Bluey creators received feedback from fans saying she wasn’t big enough for that, so now she’s in a four-point harness seat.

8. In Hammerbarn, Chilli is humming the Bluey theme song as she wanders through the garden centre. In fact whenever you hear Mum or Dad humming, it's always the theme tune.

Bluey and Bingo get their DIY on at Hammerbarn. Image: LUDO Studio

9. In Dance Mode, at the top of the Busker’s hat, there is a five dollar note with a tooth fairy sticker still on it from the episode Markets. It's actually the same Busker from that episode and voiced by the show's Brisbane based composer, Joff Bush. For real life.

There are some good things about living in iso at least: namely, more time to enjoy our favourite Heelers. Read how Bluey is getting families through lockdown and the mum who made her son an epic Bluey playhouse.

It's for real life

10. If you look closely, there’s a mystery dog in the family portrait behind Nana’s couch in Charades. There’s Nana, Bob, Bandit, brother Stripe and their families. Fans are hedging their bets that Bandit has another brother we haven’t met yet.

11. Bluey attends a school that focuses on the importance of play. Joe Brumm has spoken of how important play has been to his own children's development, so there is a chance that this has been an inspiration for Bluey’s school.

12. One of our favourite characters, Lucky’s dad, actually has a name. It’s Pat!

13. Do the characters age? Well, they sort of do. Bluey’s friend Chloe has her seventh birthday in Featherwand, but the birthday party was more for story purposes. Fans have also noticed the voices of Bluey and Bingo - whose identities are kept confidential but are rumoured to be children of the production team - are sounding older since season one. However the creators aren't intentionally ageing up the characters, the intention is for them to stay the same age.

14. Joe Brumm writes most of the episodes and much of it is drawn from his own childhood and raising his children - right down to Bandit not having time to play touch footy with his mates. Now that his children are older, Brumm has said he’s finally gotten back into touch football each Thursday lunchtime with some of his colleagues.

15. Bluey’s friend Chloe lives at 26 Nudgee Road. If you look this up, this is an actual address in the Brisbane suburb of Hamilton - and it’s an antique store. This address was picked at random by the writer and the producers made contact with the owners to check they were happy to have their address referenced. Fifteen thousand dollars in cash has been hidden somewhere within the store. Okay, that last part is a LUDO joke, but the rest is a legit fact.

Brissy's Queen Street Mall. Source: LUDO Studio / Facebook

Joining the magical pieces of the puzzle

16. The title credits are Bandit, Chilli, Bluey and Bingo playing the game of musical statues, which sees everyone dance and be silly to music and when it stops, they have to be still, and the player who moves first is out.

17. In Hammerbarn, Bingo talks about her garden gnome husband named ‘Hecuba’, which is actually the name of a queen in Greek mythology. There is also a reference to 'Telemachus', the central character in Homer’s Odyssey, in the episode, Hospital. However this is a from an 80's cartoon called Ulysses Set In Space, and Ulysses borrows from the Odyssey.

Bandit puts up with a few pokes and prods in Hospital. Image: LUDO Studio

18. There are episode crossovers between each season. One of the most obvious is the appearance of ‘chutney chimp wrapping paper’ in Featherwand, which we hadn’t seen since Takeaway in season one.

19. The voice of Bandit, Dave McCormack, has never been to LUDO Studio, where Bluey is made (now everyone is working from home during the pandemic of course). He hasn’t even met his on-screen wife Chilli, who is played by Brisbane-born actor Melanie Zanetti. Both record their parts from voice-over studios in different states and sometimes in different countries as Melanie's recent roles has meant she has been filming in the US for the best part of this series, and the producers put it all together in the edit suite in Brisbane.

20. There has been much debate over whether Nana buys or makes her own ice blocks for Bluey and Bingo. Yes, we can confirm they are home made, and the LUDO team confirms that the only ingredient is freshly squeezed orange juice.