Australian animated sensation “Bluey” has arrived at Disneyland, and the anthropomorphic canine with pastel hair comes ready to play. And dance. And to compete with some “barking ships”.
Walt Disney Co. first teased that Blue Heeler pup and his little sister Bingo would arrive at the Anaheim theme park in 2024. Bluey is now the star of a takeover centered around the park's Fantasyland Theater show, which officially opened Sunday.
Two shows, games and spontaneous dance parties are the hallmark of the experience, as Disneyland's live entertainment team sought to translate the particular appeal of the broadcast-based program to the real world.
“Bluey” works because it charms both children and adults, emphasizing both the parents' imaginative skills and Bluey's playful spirit. Although it only lasts about seven minutes, each central episode of “Bluey” unfolds patiently, often focused on fantasy, wonder and childlike ingenuity. Subtle life lessons, such as cooperation, understanding one's own self-worth, overcoming fear of the unknown, and much more, pepper seemingly simple scenarios.
In many episodes, Bluey's mom (Chilli) and dad (Bandit) indulge their daughters' penchant for playing pretend, to the point that a friend of mine with a little girl joked that she needed to watch the show to learn how to be a better mother.
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I made it to “Bluey's Best Day!” as a columnist without children and yet I came away delighted with what the Disneyland live entertainment team, led by Susana Tubert, had come up with. It's a little silly and cheesy, yes, but it manages to vary the pace and can even strike a chord by showing the bond between brothers.
Theme park fare, especially when aimed at a preschool group, tends to resort to high-energy, photo-based treatments, and while there's a lot of amplified silliness here, “Bluey's Best Day!” understands that this is not why the series was the most watched program in 2025, according to data from the research firm Nielsen.
Two main programs are presented in the experience and some regular customers of “Bluey” appear. The overbearing, bratty hand puppet Unicorse, for example, plays a key role in launching each performance. Designed to play continuously throughout the day, with breaks for Bluey and Bingo to appear on stage and dance or play with the youngsters, each has a slightly different tone and feel.
One emphasizes an adventure story, the themes of which encourage Bluey to show some bravery and dispel stereotypes. The other has a lighter touch, with some of the show's softer, almost ballad-like songs, like “Rain (Boldly in the Pretend),” highlighted, seeking to emphasize the bond between Bluey and Bingo. Here I thought of Bluey's most tender moments, those, for example, that emphasize being comfortable with aging and letting go.
“Bluey's best day ever!” features live music, puppets and dance sessions.
(Mark Potts/Los Angeles Times)
“We tried to tap into the humor, the play (shared play), and some of the deeper experiences that these characters go through,” Tubert says. “At the end of the second show, you'll see a moment that's really beautiful. It's a tribute to brotherhood and how these two characters of Bluey and Bingo connect with each other.”
While one can sit in the stands at Fantasyland Theater and simply enjoy the two shows, there are many moments meant to get the audience moving. The dances, for example, can imitate animal behaviors or reference popular moments from the series, such as making grandmothers floss their teeth.
A nod to attention-seeking fairies (here, less Tinker Bell and more a metaphor for getting noticed) inspires a “Riverdance”-like breakdown. The brass-heavy five-piece band gets a workout when Chattermax, Bluey's uncontrollable toy, has a cameo. The squawking toy can test even Bluey's patience.
Throughout, the performers walk a line between teaching the crowd the maneuvers and losing themselves in the moment. The challenge for Disney choreographer Taylor Worden was to create dance moves that also served as a stimulus for the audience.
Spin, for example, like a flower in the wind, or lightly snap your fingers to remember the sound of rain. Jump with your hands in front of you as if you were driving a car down a rocky street, or place your hand above your head and try to perform a graceful ballerina-inspired spin.
“It was really letting go of all those technical things that I had learned and letting that inner child out,” Worden says. “As imaginative as Bluey and Bingo are, I wanted to focus on that. I want everyone to enjoy, have fun and play. Play is at the forefront of everything. It's very easy to get used to our ways, and even as an adult, it's very difficult to play nowadays. It's been a great experience to get to a childlike state.”
“Bluey's best day ever!” references many showbiz moments from the series, including one with nods to fairies.
(Mark Potts/Los Angeles Times)
However, there's more to “Bluey's Best Day Ever!” than the two performances. The Fantasyland Theater has been outfitted with pop-up installations. Some are purely photo ops, as a chance for little ones to take a class photo with Bluey and her friends, while others aim to inspire exploration, such as a mini gnome village or fairy garden.
All in all, the feeling is something of a carnival, like hanging out with Bluey and Bingo at a backyard barbecue. The theater's walk-in food showcase serves pizza-inspired baked potatoes, a colorful chocolate pretzel meant to mimic an asparagus pretzel wand and more.
There is also a place to race some “barking boats”. In the show, Barky Boats is a game that takes place in a small stream with tree bark, but there is no water here. Instead, find a track in a corner above the seating area, where one can race wooden blocks with wheels (think Pinewood Derby) down a track painted to imitate a canal. Throughout the theater, colors are spring-like and muted, slightly bright pastels and storybook-inspired. Even the dance costumes adopt this soft, crayon-like color palette.
“Bluey's best day ever!” at Disneyland Resort invites public participation.
(Mark Potts/Los Angeles Times)
“The color palette matches the set perfectly,” says Trevor Rush, director of costume design and development. “A lot of pastel colors. 'Bluey,' that world, focuses a lot on that primal world. You won't see a lot of black represented.”
“Bluey's best day ever!” It does not currently have an end date, but is expected to be a Disneyland staple during the spring and summer seasons, with times currently scheduled for late morning and early afternoon hours. For Tubert, who has extensive theater experience, “Bluey's best day!” is meant to highlight the theme park as a place of play, where one can be a little silly and maybe even a little vulnerable.
“There is a safe, non-judgmental space we have created at 'Bluey's Best Day!' That invites everyone to feel uninhibited and to feel the joy of fun,” says Tubert.
