Brief - The Hustle

Adults are obsessed with a preschooler cartoon

Written by Sara Friedman | Jan 26, 2023 7:47:28 AM

Oh, to be wearing pajamas and sitting cross-legged in front of the TV on a Sunday morning, housing cereal straight from the box without a care in the world.

That childhood nostalgia is hard to shake, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the newest internet obsession is “Bluey,” a cartoon about a family of dogs that’s made for preschoolers.

The show, which premiered in Australia in 2018 and came to Disney+ in 2020, has the five-and-way-up crowd in a chokehold, according to Wired.

Not just for kids:

  • Its official TikTok account has 1.6m followers.
  • Its subreddit has 78k+ subscribers; its Facebook group has 178k+.
  • Its official YouTube channel has 2m+ subscribers, and this video alone has 10m views.

“Bluey” has been Australia’s No. 1 children’s series since launching and won an International Emmy Award in 2020. Each episode takes 4-5 months and 50-60 people to produce.

Are the adults okay?

Listen — times have been tough. Stressors, from the pandemic to the economy, have pushed people to find new ways to escape. And if your coping mechanism of choice is cartoon dogs, it could be worse.

Plus, many parents feel “Bluey” offers an accurate portrayal of raising kids, and, as a bonus, doesn’t make them want to rip their ears off.