Puppets is the twenty-ninth episode of the third season of Bluey.
Synopsis[]
Bluey and Bingo teach Unicorse good manners so he can ask Mum on a date, but things go awry when Unicorse eats a tick.
Unicorse returns to teach Bluey good table manners; the only problem is, Unicorse’s manners are even worse than Bluey’s![2]
But when Unicorse falls in love with Mum and wants to marry her, the kids teach Unicorse good manners so he can ask her out on a date.
After upping his game, Unicorse seems to be making an impression on Mum, but he blows it by eating a tick! The kids reveal to Unicorse that it’s not his fault because he’s only a puppet.
This revelation upsets Unicorse, who now feels like a nobody. So, the kids and Mum take turns controlling him, so he becomes a part of everybody.
Episode Recap[]
Bandit takes out Unicorse to teach Bluey not to chew with her mouth open. Unicorse has other ideas - he's decided to marry Chilli. He flirts with her, but she shuts him down. He looks like he's never cleaned his teeth, brushed his hair, or had a shower in his life.
Thoroughly shut down, Unicorse has a cry. Bandit is about to take off the puppet, but the kids beg him to keep going - so Unicorse gets a second wind, and decides he's not quitting until he and Chilli are together. Consequently, he's going to have to learn about "teeth combing and showuzz."
Unicorse attempts to use an electric toothbrush, spraying toothpaste all over the bathroom. He takes a shower, and acts as though the water is hurting him. Getting his hair combed also seems to be painful. Then, Bluey and Bingo try serving him a broccoli floret (Mum loves broccoli-eaters), and he retches. For motivation, Bluey and Bingo show him a photo of Mum, and this time, he's able to power through eating vegetables and hygiene.
After cleaning him up (and braiding his beard and putting a little bow-tie on him), the girls give him a pep talk to go talk to Chilli. He tries to impress her with his hygiene, and invites her to eat some "brocconi" with him. He's making some progress, until he decides to eat a tick from his own hair. Chilli flees the room, retching.
The girls blame Bandit for Unicorse's shortcomings. The girls try to convince Unicorse that he's a puppet under Bandit's control. It takes a while, but he eventually gets there. And then Bandit has one more thing to show him - their wedding photo.
Unicorse sulks on the front porch. Chilli and the girls join them. They pass Unicorse from one operator to another, and Chilli delivers a strange moral: "You know what's good about being no-one? You're everyone."
Later that night, Unicorse tucks Bluey in - and suggests the Bluey might also be a puppet, without knowing it. In Bluey's dream sequence, a human hand manipulates her rig in CelAction. Then, the scene that was just animated plays out: "Wow, that was a weird dream."
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- This episode has the third-longest interval before the title card appears, at two minutes and three seconds, being beaten by The Sign and Stories respectively.
- This is the first episode where Unicorse attempts to read the episode title card, though he is supposedly unable to.
- This is the second occurrence where the title card is not properly read, after Bus.
- A younger version of Chilli can be seen as a photo used to motivate Unicorse.
- A younger version of Bandit and Chilli can be seen in their wedding photo.
- Both are wearing their respective wedding attire.
- Joe Brumm makes a cameo as a hand controlling and moving Bluey.
- Joe Brumm does the key animation for that scene; he has stated[3] that it took about an hour and a half, shooting about one frame per second. Naomi Scutts finished the scene afterwards.
- He noted that it was frustrating to film, as he was using unfamiliar equipment (a Cintiq tablet) and had to sit very straight the entire time to keep his head out of the shot.
- This is the first time a human hand is seen in Bluey (TV series), or any sign of humans for that matter.
- This as well breaks the fourth wall.
- Bluey states that it was a weird dream.
- Joe Brumm does the key animation for that scene; he has stated[3] that it took about an hour and a half, shooting about one frame per second. Naomi Scutts finished the scene afterwards.
- The Disney version of this episode is censored - when Unicorse offers Chilli a sample of his chilli sauce stain, his line is changed from "Care for a lick?" to "Do ya wanna bit?". BBC, who uses a different version for some episodes and leases them to Disney, also uses this for their service CBeebies.