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Chilli Heeler

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"Wackadoo!" ― Chilli's catchphrase


Chilli Heeler (née Cattle) is a main character in Bluey.

Bluey.tv Description

Chilli is Bluey and Bingo's mum! She’s really good at teaching her girls about the world and how to navigate its challenges. She needs to remain level-headed when the Heeler house gets out of control or caught up in a new game!

But Mum can also be just as silly as Dad when it comes to playtime and she loves dancing around the house to her favourite song.

She often has a wry comment or a wise word for her kids, but she's just as comfortable throwing herself into a game with them. And she’s always able to see the humorous side of her and Bandit's missteps.

When she's not with Bingo, Bluey or Bandit, Chilli loves playing hockey, going on little adventures and spending time with Aunt Trixie and Frisky.

Madge is Chilli’s granny alter ego. She is friends with Rita, and dons similar attire to her fellow grannies – a green blanket is her shawl of choice.

She’s still sprightly enough to take public transport and waits happily with Rita for the express train, which takes her to her regular game of mahjong.

Her board game plans are scuppered, however, by a troublesome train passenger, who causes the train to whizz right by her – with one harried driver at the helm.

"After having the kids, Mum's recently gone back to her job working at Airport Security and juggles this with raising her two little kids. Mum often has a wry comment about the kids' antics or a kind word for an overwrought child, but she’s equally at home throwing herself into a game and always able to see the funny side."[1]

"After having the kids, Mum's recently gone back to her job working at Airport Security and juggles this with raising her two little pups. Mum often has a wry comment about the kids' antics or a kind word for an overwrought child, but she’s equally at home throwing herself into a game and always able to see the funny side."[2]

"After having the kids, Mum's recently gone back to her job working at Airport Security and juggles this with raising her two little pups. Mum often has a wry comment about the kids antics or a kind word for an overwrought child, but she’s equally at home throwing herself into a game and always able to see the funny side."[3]

"After having the kids, Mum's recently gone back to her job working at Airport Security and juggles this with raising her two little pups, which means sometimes she falls a bit short of what her other mother friends are able to pull off."[4]

Biography

Chilli is a member of the Heeler family. She's the wife of Bandit, the mother of Bluey and Bingo, the aunt of Muffin and Socks, the daughter-in-law of Bob and Nana, and the sister-in-law of Trixie, Rad, and Stripe. Her father is Mort, her mother is implied to have passed away, and her older sister is Brandy.

As a child, Chilli spent a lot of time playing in "the scrub" near her father’s home[5]. Her family would go on vacation at a caravan park, which is where Bandit would recall them as children. Chilli does not remember this, but admits it could be the case[6]. She and her sister Brandy would also entertain their mother with a dance they made up.[7] Chilli was very close to her mother, who encouraged her habit of drawing even when Chilli had a poor opinion of her own work.[8] As a teenager, Chilli became good friends with Frisky, both of them loving Brisbane and often visiting a lookout point above the city.[9]

In Chilli’s opinion, the first meeting between her and her future husband was at a party in London[10]. Chilli would later recall that Bandit had a finger up his nose when they first met[11]. The two began dating, and eventually went on a backpacking trip to Italy. While there, Bandit proposed to Chilli, and she accepted. The pair were later married.[12]

Among the guests at the wedding were Frisky, who would later become Bluey’s godmother, and Bandit's brother Rad. The venue included a pool, which Rad "probably" fell into[13]. Later, Chilli became pregnant, giving birth to Bluey.[14] Wendy, one of the Heelers’ neighbours, made five lasagnas for them around this time, a gesture that Chilli greatly appreciated.[15]

When Bluey was a baby, Chilli attended a mother's group, consisting of herself, Bella, Wendy, and Snickers' mother. When Bluey was the first of those mothers' babies to roll over but Judo was the first to sit up, Chilli became determined to get Bluey to walk before Judo. She failed, which made her worry that she was a bad mother, but Bella reassured her that she was "doing great". Bluey then learned to walk when trying to hug Chilli in the kitchen.[16]

Bingo, their youngest daughter, would be born a couple of years later.[17] Unfortunately, Chilli ended up becoming estranged from her sister Brandy, and the two of them would go four years without seeing each other. This proved so difficult for Chilli that she barely, if ever, even discussed Brandy with her own daughters. However, after advising Bluey during a spat between her and Bingo, Chilli found the courage to call Brandy and begin working to patch things up.

This eventually led to Brandy coming to visit Chilli and her family. Chilli was overjoyed to see Brandy, and happily commented on Brandy’s resemblance to Bingo, though she soon saw that Brandy was left somewhat uncomfortable. However, the sisters’ efforts to reconnect were somewhat hampered by Bluey and Bingo’s separate reactions to the gift of some onesies. Bingo, displaying somewhat bizarre but not unprecedented behavior, began acting like the cheetah her onesie had been modeled on.

After Bluey, who had ended up with a zebra onesie, noted that she had changed favorite animals from zebras to cheetahs, Chilli noted with some edge that this had occurred around the same time Brandy had cut off contact with them. Brandy decided to leave, and Chilli quickly apologized and tried to discourage this. After Brandy was attacked by Bingo, Bluey was able to ask Chilli, in a private moment, about her sister. Chilli explained that there was something Brandy deeply wanted, but couldn’t have, which was the reason for her distancing herself from them. The two then went to check on Brandy, only for Chilli to be attacked.

Lying on the ground with Brandy as Bingo pursued Bluey, Chilli and her sister finally had the chance to chat. Brandy apologized for her distance, and expressed the hope that she would, after all, be “okay”. They then went to Bluey’s aid, distracting Bingo by performing the dance they’d made up for their mum.[18][7]

On another occasion, Chilli and Bandit arranged with her old friend Frisky, whom they had named Bluey’s godmother, to come and babysit the girls while they had a night out. At the last minute, however, Bandit’s brother Rad contacted them and offered to babysit. By her own word, Chilli sent Frisky a text to inform her of this development. When Rad arrived, Chilli informed him that Bluey was not enthusiastic about being put to bed by a babysitter.

Frisky then arrived, and after questioning whether she and Radley had met before Chilli explained the situation and voiced the assumption that Frisky hadn’t received her text. However, at Bingo’s suggestion Frisky and Rad agreed to babysit together. With the matter resolved, Chilli and Bandit left for their night out.[13]

Under construction

After Bandit received a job offer that would require moving to another city, he and Chilli discussed the matter. Though Chilli herself was reluctant to leave Brisbane, she agreed to put their house up for sale. She did her best to convince Bluey, and herself, that it would be a good thing for the family. At the same time, the family was preparing to help with Rad and Frisky’s wedding.

Frisky was vocal in opposing Chilli and Bandit’s move, only for Stripe to note that he believed Frisky herself would be moving after she got married. Upon getting confirmation that this was Rad’s expectation, Frisky declared that the wedding was off and furiously drove off in a huff. Chilli, determined not to let her friend make a mistake she’d regret, organized continued wedding preparations before taking off in pursuit of Frisky with her daughters and nieces in tow.

After a furious search that included a brief police encounter, a phone call with Rad, and a restroom stop, Chilli was ready to admit defeat. However, when she had to stop the car to let out a stowaway butterfly, she spotted a sign for her and Frisky’s old favorite lookout. Chilli swiftly drove there with the girls and they happily cheered when they found Frisky. In the ensuing conversation, Chilli admitted her own misgivings about moving, but refuted Frisky’s suggestion that Bandit had forced her into it.

Rad then arrived looking for Frisky himself, and Chilli left the two alone for a conversation that soon saw them reconciled. Everyone returned to the house for the wedding, and Chilli happily greeted her sister Brandy, now several months pregnant, as a guest. At the wedding dinner, Rad and Frisky surprised everyone with the news that they would, in fact, be staying in Brisbane. This led to another conversation between Chilli and Frisky about Chilli’s move, but Chilli decided to put the matter aside and enjoy the evening.

Soon enough, Chilli and Bandit received word that their house had been sold. Bandit, by this point, was questioning the decision himself, but Chilli supported him. She also faced the challenge of helping Bingo understand that they were moving, which she had not previously been aware of. The family continued preparations for their move and were soon piling into the car to leave their house.

Just at that moment, however, Bandit received a call from their realtor, Bucky Dunstan, with good news that the buyers had backed out, and had bought a different house. As Chilli watched, Bandit walked to the For Sale sign, removed the sold sticker, and then ripped the sign itself from the ground and threw it down. Recognizing that this meant that he, too, wanted to stay, Chilli tackled him to the ground, sobbing with joy. The family then reentered their house, enjoying it all over again in spite of their missing furniture.[9]

The house would remain Chilli’s home even after both Bluey and Bingo reached adulthood and Chilli became a grandmother. One day, Bluey surprised Chilli by paying a visit, and the two chatted about the house and its near-selling years earlier.[19]

Appearance

Chilli is a Red Heeler with cream, light orange and brown fur. She has cream feet, hands, tail spots, back spots, chest, muzzle and eyebrows, light orange legs, arms, tail, torso and head, brown outer ears and right head and light brown inner ears. She also has a dark brown nose.

In future depictions, Chilli wears glasses. [20]

2017 Appearance

She has an identical look to her 2018 Appearance, but her brown marking is on the opposite side.

Personality

Chilli is a caring and comforting mother. Like her husband, she will fully commit to any games that her daughters set up, acting as a balance to their often-chaotic nature. However, she isn't afraid to tell her family off when they do something she thinks is wrong, such as buying a dance mode off your youngest daughter or not wanting to help her put up the hat rack after it falls, giving them a "death stare" along the way; all done out of the kindness of her heart, in particular when her father, who just had heartworm, decided to partake in intensive activities.

Absences

Episodes

Shorts

Nicknames

The following is a list of Nicknames used for or by Chilli throughout the series.

Nickname Episode
Pavlova Work
Lady Gaberdine Zoo
Chilli Dog Library
Charise Trains
Madge
Sharon Swim School
Monique Ghostbasket

Trivia

  • Chilli plays field hockey with her sister-in-law and excels to the point of winning awards.
  • Chilli loves a good problem, as shown and explained in "Bingo" when she was fixing the toilet.
  • Chilli has the most episode absences out of the immediate Heeler Family.
  • Younger versions of Chilli can be seen in Grandad, Baby Race and Dragon.
    • If Bandit is correct on how the two first met, a kid version of Chilli can also be seen in Fairytale.
      • If his version is indeed correct, Chilli was a fan of She-Ra as seen by the costume she wore in the aforementioned episode.
        • A few posts from the official Disney Junior Instagram account suggest that it really was her.[21][22]
      • Also, if his version is correct, then Chilli is either the same age as Bandit or slightly younger (possibly between Bandit's and Stripe's age).
  • She is the only member of the show's main family whose first name does not start with a B.
  • She is named after food, just like with Muffin, Coco, Honey and Snickers. Specifically, she is named after the hot-tasting spicy vegetable of the same name; the Chilli Pepper.
  • In Sticky Gecko, Queens, Grandad, Perfect, and Rain; Chilli displays a “very angry face”.
    • This indicates that Chilli is especially annoyed or irritated.
      • In Sticky Gecko, Chilli was assumed to say, "Damn it. Really stuck!" as she struggles to free the titular toy using a Chattermax. This has since been attributed to a captioning error, with the actual line being "This thing is really stuck!".
      • The episode Tradies implies that Chilli tends to swear (albeit off-screen) when agitated.
  • In Bin Night, she reveals that when they are little, heelers are a bit stubby, but tough.
  • In Library, Stripe reveals his nickname for her: Chilli Dog.
    • Interestingly, Chilli's nickname "Madge" is the same as her coworker Madge. It's possible that this inspired Chilli to use Madge as her nickname in Trains.
  • In the Weekend Pilot, she is at one point drawn without her brown fur patch on her face. Despite this, her pilot design did have the brown patch.
  • Chilli is voiced by Australian actress, model, artist, journalist, and performer Melanie Zanetti.
  • Her maiden name is Cattle.
    • While not stated directly, her sister's Brandy's name was credited as 'Cattle' by Nick Rees, in a promotional poster for the episode Onesies.[23] It was unclear at the time whether this was canon, as well as being unclear if 'Cattle' was her maiden or married name.
    • Bluey.tv now lists Mort's last name as 'Cattle', confirming that it would be Chilli's maiden name.[24]
      • This also means that Brandy is single as of the events of Onesies, or else retained her maiden name after marriage.
  • She seems to enjoy eating sardines, as revealed in Smoochy Kiss.
  • Her job as airport security might be a reference to sniffer dogs, and she may probably even be one working on customs.
  • Chilli is known to frequently hum the show's theme song, doing so across multiple episodes.
  • She has an aversion to certain toilet-related words: in "Dunny", she wants her daughters to say, "toilet" instead of "dunny" (claiming that if they used the term "dunny", others wouldn't see the Heelers as "nice"), while in "Family Meeting", she wants them to say, "fluffy" or "fluff" instead of "fart".
  • Chilli is talented at drawing, especially horses, all because her mother motivated her to keep practicing, as revealed in "Dragon".
    • The episode also confirms that her mum had passed prior to the events of the series.
    • The episode marks her mum's first speaking appearance, having been pictured in "Obstacle Course".
  • In the Japanese dub, Bluey and Bingo refer to Chilli as "Mama" instead of "Mum."
  • Joe Brumm has confirmed that Chilli had a miscarriage[25]:
    • "The Show indeed does point at Chilli having a miscarriage. In fact, this is what the episode is about essentially, Chilli is passing down her method of coping to Bingo."
      • In the interview, Joe Brumm said that the person he based this episode on had to keep going for the sake of her other children.
        • The discussion of "keeping their options open" in Perfect and keeping the bedroom baby-ready in Bedroom may indicate that Bandit and Chilli continued trying for another child after Bingo but were unsuccessful.
        • The symbolism of the unhatched Mercury in Sleepytime, with Bluey hatching from Venus and Bingo from the Earth matches this timeline.
  • Chilli's design changed slightly in season three - the spot between her right shoulder and muzzle is gone (though it appeared one final time in Sheep Dog).
    • This makes her (currently) the only one of the four main characters to have their design modified during the show's run.
  • "Perfect" reveals that, unlike Bandit, she is open to having a third kid.
    • In "Surprise!", there are many family pictures in the future that only depict Bluey and Bingo, likely indicating that Chilli and Bandit eventually decided to stick to only having two children.
  • Despite constantly making her girls eat healthy food, Chilli is not above junk food. In Whale Watching, Bandit implies that Chilli once ate 5 bags of chips in a day.
  • The flash-forward in "Surprise!" shows Chilli with a significant change in looks. She wears glasses, and has more defined dimples. Her fur also seems to be a little more shaggy than during the present of the series.
    • The photo on the wall, also depicts Bluey's graduation photo. In it, Chilli can be seen wearing glasses, meaning that sometime within the next 11 years, Chilli's eyesight will start to worsen.
    • it is revealed in Dragon that her mother passed away

Gallery

See Chilli Heeler/Gallery

References

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210517183215/https://www.bluey.tv/characters/
  2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200507004719/https://www.bluey.tv/characters/
  3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20191203024914/https://www.bluey.tv/characters/
  4. ↑ Not captured by the wayback machine. https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/a-rare-bluey-blunder-chilli-isnt-falling-short-because-she-returned-to-work/
  5. ↑ Grandad
  6. ↑ Fairytale
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Onesies
  8. ↑ Dragon
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Sign
  10. ↑ The Show
  11. ↑ The Magic Xylophone
  12. ↑ The Show
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Double Babysitter
  14. ↑ The Show
  15. ↑ Sticky Gecko
  16. ↑ Baby Race
  17. ↑ Yoga Ball
  18. ↑ Bluey's Big Play
  19. ↑ Surprise!
  20. ↑ Tortoiseshell frames in the flash-forward in Surprise!, and the graduation photo from the same episode shows her wearing light blue frames.
  21. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C662sJhN1xf/?igsh=c3l4cTdxODh1aDQ2
  22. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C_UM0b3KbUV/?igsh=MWU1Zm1meWo0MmhybQ==
  23. ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/N1ckBee5/status/1537639499391348736
  24. ↑ https://www.bluey.tv/characters/grandad/
  25. ↑ Oderberg, Isabelle. Hard to Bear: Investigating the science and silence of miscarriage, pp 47-48. ISBN 9781761152160
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