Hello Internet! Welcome to Film Theory, The show that clearly has issues when it comes
to kids shows about dogs.Today we’re covering my new favorite show. I mean,
my son's new favorite show, Bluey. For those of you who don't have a family member in the single
digits in the House, Bluey is an animated TV series following the everyday adventures
of a family of dogs named the Heelers. You've got Bluey, her little sister Bingo,
their mum Chilli and their father Bandit. Most episodes revolve around the imagination
games they play with mom and dad being absolute S-tier parents by fully committing to the bit,
pretending to be a sheep, a whale, a bus that's racing out of control.
And because it's a show from Australia, you also get fun lines like this.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that I've now adopted “ah biscuits” into my daily vocabulary.
All right, so I got to come clean here. I watch more of the show than Ollie does. He'll go to
bed and I'll watch, like, another episode or two because each one is 8 minutes. And they're also
heartwarming that you just feel good watching it. It’s a nice way to end the day. But you know what
that means? Me liking a show, plus it having an uplifting message? that only results in one thing,
me having to tear it down with a dark, twisted theory. Call it a sign of respect,
the Theorist seal of approval. But this time someone actually beat me to the punch. Currently,
there's a popular fan theory circulating that Bluey takes place in a post-human apocalypse,
as the theory goes, humans were somehow wiped out and after thousands of years,
dogs evolved to become the dominant species. This initially doesn't seem that far fetched.
At first glance, the world of Bluey does feel very human. With the big difference
here being that it's controlled by dogs. And this honestly aligns with other theories we've done
in the past with franchises like Cars. But here on this channel we deal with theories,
not hypotheses. What do you think this is? Film Baseless Speculation? which
means that we're going to need some evidence. That's right! Today we're doing ourselves a MORTY.
Is there enough evidence to prove that Bluey’s world is set in the post-apocalypse?
Or is the dog domination actually telling us something else about this very family friendly,
fictional world? To begin with, let's break down some of the key pieces of
evidence given for the post-apocalypse theory. Number one, in Season one Episode
13 Spy Games Bluey's little sister Bingo sings the nursery rhyme One Man Went to Mow
Notice here that the lyrics of the song are “one man and his dog went to mow a meadow”. This
implies that at some point in this universe, humans were present and that there's some
distinction between men and dogs. Point number two, all the technology is the same. Cars,
laptops, tablets, phones. This technology was left behind by the humans. And once
the dogs figured out how to make it work, they then started using it for themselves.
If this technology had truly originated in the dog based society, it would look
different because dogs aren't naturally bipedal. But the fact that they're in this world seems to
suggest that the dogs evolved in a way that allowed them to use human technology rather
than developing it for themselves. Point number three, the dogs? they still seem
to be transitioning. In the season one episode BBQ, we meet Bluey’s cousin Socks. And unlike
all the other characters who walk and talk like humans, Socks is still very much a dog.
Socks mostly communicates through barking. She pants. She leaves her tongue hanging out. She
sits on all fours. She sometimes even growls at people and bites. Now, you might assume
that this is just how baby dogs work in this world, but that isn't necessarily the case.
In a Season two episode, we see Bluey and her friends as babies learning to toddle
around on two feet and vocalize like humans. This implies then, that dog society is still
going through a transitional period where some dogs are still starting as dogs, but others
are closer in genetic makeup to the bipedal humanlike dogs that the series is known for.
We even see this sort of transitional behavior coming from Bingo in season one, Episode 17.
Speaking of evolving, point number four, the dogs eat chocolate.
This is important because chocolate is toxic to dogs. Chocolate contains a chemical called
theobromine, which dogs can't metabolize. Again, as the theory goes, dogs left to their own devices
wouldn't evolve to make and consume chocolate, something that's naturally toxic to them. Instead
this is clearly something that humans made first, and then the dogs when they inherited the Earth,
eventually gained the appropriate genes to consume. Point number five, There's a dog
army. In season two an entire episode is dedicated to the dog Rusty playing an imaginary army game.
Rusty's father is a military man and he's trained a son. Throughout the episode, we hear all about
drill sergeants and soldiers and privates. This tells us that the dogs are familiar with man
made military structures and the concept of war itself. Making matters even more interesting,
Rusty and his dad are a breed of dog known as a kelpie. In Australia, one of the most famous war
heroes ever was a kelpie dog named Gunner, who became famous during World War IIfor his ability
to alert allied forces to approaching Japanese aircraft. Because of his keen sense of hearing,
he was able to differentiate between Australian aircraft and Japanese aircraft.
Barking when the Axis powers were coming. As such, he was able to save hundreds of lives
across 60 attempted air raids. In short, not only do militaries exist in the world of Bluey,
but the dog breeds that were selected by humans to be used during wartime efforts are continuing to
do that after human societies collapsed. And finally point number six, there are leashes.
At various points throughout the show we see characters either using leashes or advertisements
for leashes in the world around them. If this is a world without humans, why would they exist? Why
would dogs create leashes for themselves? And why would dogs be accustomed to using them? The
only possible explanation, according to the theories, is that humans made them and then
left them behind when they became extinct. But the technology still lingers on to this
very day. Overall, there seems to be a lot of evidence in support of this theory. A
lot. But before we start breaking down the evidence, I needed to do one thing for me.
I needed to go down to the comments and let me know what kid's IP you want me to cover next.
Right now I'm working on a magic school bus episode, but I'm between shows right now and
I could use something new to watch. Thank you for all your suggestions. My nightly
entertainment binges appreciate the good work that you're doing. So now that we know our evidence,
let's break it down, weakest to strongest. First, the leashes. Look carefully at how the leashes
are being used in this universe. They're being used to keep track
of small children. Guess what other civilization self-designed leashes to keep track of their small
children? Us. Humans. Treating our small, young ones like untrained animals that need to be tied
up is just a touchstone of any civilized society. Clearly. So, while on the surface it seems like
compelling evidence. In reality, it just makes humans closer to dogs than we care to admit.
Speaking of silly things that us elevated humans do, we also eat foods that are meant to be toxic
to us. For instance, the cassava. It’s a starchy root vegetable from South America
that contains compounds that break down into cyanide when consumed. But humans figured out
ways to prepare the dish so it could be safe to eat. You also might be familiar with Fugu,
the poisonous pufferfish that has to be specially prepared so its neurotoxins don't kill you.
That's another one that some people are just dumb enough to eat. Intelligent creatures are just
programmed to find ways to use the resources that exist around them. So it's no surprise
that the dog society of Bluey would figure out nontoxic chocolate solutions, just like
humans did for our food. Now let's talk about those lyrics, One man and his dog went to mow.
This one is starting to get into some tricky territory. The idea here is because Bingo says
“man”, it means that humans existed at some point in history. And secondly, she specifies
“and his dog”. Therefore, the man must be a human and the dog must be a dog. It’s a pretty open
and shut case, right? Well, I don't think so. If you look at how the characters of the show
use language, I don't think this is necessarily true. Throughout Bluey, various characters are
constantly saying "man" to each other. It's just a part of their natural language.
So the lyric that says that one man went to mow could still be talking about a dog. But
then what would differentiate the “and his dog” bit? Well, I think in the Bluey-verse calling
someone a dog is just how you refer to your kids. In Season one, Episode 32 Bluey makes
a video where she wishes for a baby.But notice the way that she talks about it.
In the world of Bluey, traditional dog words seem to be reserved for younger kids who still act like
dogs. So in Bingo’s song, it's literally “the man” is the adult dog and “his dog” is the man's kid.
But then what about the fact that the dogs have adopted the technology that we humans left behind?
Honestly, that just isn't feasible. The theory says that there was a human apocalypse and that
thousands of years later, dogs then evolved into the bipedal creatures that we see in the
world. The fact of the matter is that our human technology wouldn't last that long. For instance,
a printed circuit board like the ones that are used in your smart devices,
it only has a lifespan of 15 to 20 years, which for us isn't that bad.
But if these dogs evolved many, many years after the human extinction, then those circuit boards
would have degraded by the time they figured out what they were. The battery in laptops?
Same thing. Eventually it'll just go flat and never be able to recharge. Could they have been
inspired by some human tech? Sure. But are they the same devices that the dogs evolved to use?
No, definitely not. Speaking of evolution, let's actually dig deeper into that. As the
post-apocalypse theory goes, Bluey and the gang are bipedal because they evolved to
copy humans. Except humans are far from the only bipedal creatures out there. In fact,
in the episode Flatpack, we watch Bluey and Bingo play their way through the entire evolutionary
chain of this world. Yep, that's right. All the evidence that we need to prove this one is just
right there in a single episode. In it, they go from fish to frog to lizard to dinosaur,
and eventually monkeys into cave dogs. This right here, this is where they learn to be
bipedal from their previous form, the monkey. Notice that there's not a human in sight here.
But then why would a dog go bipedal in the first place? Well, this is actually just a
natural progression for many advanced animals. Studies show that humans adopted walking on
two feet as opposed to four because it uses 75% less energy. That right there,
it’s probably the reason why the Bluey-verse walks upright. And that's not all. There's
another major linchpin for debunking this piece of evidence, and it's not coming from the show.
Instead, it's coming from Facebook. Yeah, apparently that website, it's still around.
Honestly, I'm just as surprised as you are. Maybe this is what the Zuck had planned all
along. Anyway, it's on Facebook that the Bluey team uploaded a short video that's
only available in Australia. So I went undercover Down Under to see what this video was all about.
And boy, does it tell us a lot. In it, Bluey’s dad Bandit is giving a report to
his fellow archeologists. Yeah. In case you didn't know, Bluey’s dad is an archeologist.
Which is funny because dogs dig for bones. Galaxy brained decisions by the people who
wrote the show. It’s why I love it. Anyway, in his report, he reveals his latest discovery.
Not only is this a huge reveal, it also gives us a timeline of events. He states that it's
4 million years old. But then, wouldn't that just prove that humans were extinct years ago?
No. And for one key reason, plate tectonics. plate tectonics is the theory that the Earth's
outermost layer or lithosphere is made up of several giant plates that rest on top of a
partially molten layer of rock that slowly moves. Each year, these plates travel between two and 15
centimeters. What that means is that bit by bit, the continents we know today are slowly changing
shape and will continue to change across time. Millions of years from now, they're going to look
completely different. But herein lies our big reveal. You see in bluey’s world the continents
are exactly the same as ours right now. In one of the best episodes of the series,
Sleepy Time, Bingo has a dream where she travels through the stars and we get to see Earth looking
exactly the way that it looks right now. If this was indeed roughly 4 million years
after the human apocalypse, the Earth should be looking completely different. In short,
for as fun as the blue apocalypse theory is, evidence just doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
However, I see this internet theory and I raise it a new one. Not only can I definitively prove
that this is indeed a separate universe, it's going to change the way that you view
our universe forever. In the episode Tradies, we see Bandit's Home Office,
and because Bandit's an archeologist, there are lots of historic photos all around the room, but
there's one in particular that stands out, this picture of a wild boar with two paw prints on it.
This right here, that's a real image from our world. It's actually the first known
cave painting thought to be made 45,500 years ago in Indonesia. Except Bandit's
copy has itself one key difference: there are paw prints instead of handprints. This
outright proves that the Bluey-verse parallels our own. And the historic parallels don't stop
there either. There's also an image of Egyptian hieroglyphics, but with dogs instead of people.
And it's not just in Bandit's office either. These similarities go all the way down to their
money. The Tooth Fairy leaves Bluey five bucks in Market, and we get a close look at the note.
A corgi in pearls on the front. Now put that next to our image of the Australian dollar
bill. And you see the similarities. The corgi represents Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of state
for Australia at the time the episode was made. So history is unfolding exactly the same as it
is in our world. This is absolutely a parallel timeline, but not only does this make the most
sense, it's also going to change the way that you view the Bluey-verse forever. Here's why. I kinda
glossed over this fact earlier, but now it's time to focus on it. In that Flat Pack episode,
we saw that monkeys evolved into dogs. That seems crazy, right? Like why? What
evolutionary benefit made monkeys turn into dogs rather than humans? Someone better call Charles
Dogwin! Am I right? Dogwin.. instead of Dar… Okay, yeah. What would cause monkeys to evolve
into dogs? Well, for one, dogs have a better sense of smell. 10,000 times better, in fact. But
they're also far better at hearing than we are. Not only are dogs able to hear up to 65 kilohertz,
while humans can only hear up to 20. But dogs have twice the amount of hearing muscles, meaning that
they're able to pinpoint the source of a sound far more accurately than monkeys. As if that
wasn't enough, dogs also have reflexes that are 25% faster than humans, which means that they're
practically watching us move in slow motion. So already you can start to see why these little
guys are the goodest of boys and why humans would trust them so much. But then why would
a monkey evolve to have these skills over human abilities? Surely humans are smarter than dogs,
even these highly developed dogs, right? Well, not necessarily. Dogs are able to understand reasoning
and logic similar to how a human toddler does. They're able to think and create new ideas. This
is something called inferential reasoning, picking up on context clues to help create
a decision. If you had two cups upside down with a treat and one and you pointed to the
one with the treat in it, dogs will use that cue to turn over the cup that you pointed to.
Chimps, meanwhile, will ignore that clue completely. And this is where it appears that
dogs are more intelligent than monkeys. On top of that, dogs are also better able to read facial
expressions than a monkey. So dogs aren't stupid. In fact, far from it. They're using inferential
reasoning and emotional intelligence far more than our monkey predecessors. So really, in the end,
the bluey post-apocalypse theory is debunked and what we're really seeing here in the show is a
more perfect world where monkeys didn't evolve into hairless apes, but instead evolved into the
truly superior being, highly evolved dogs. Kind of makes you wonder whether our real
world here is truly the darkest timeline. But hey! That's just a theory. A FILM THEORY! aaaaaand cut.
And hey, if you're in the mood for more dark theories about children's shows starring Blue
Dogs, it’s a very specific content category, click the box on the left to watch our episode
about how Blue from Blue's Clues is secretly an alien. Or if you're interested in dogs but
don't care about their relative color, check out the video on the right where we talk about Paw
Patrol and Ryder's secret conspiracy. One final reminder to leave your favorite children's show
down in the comments below so I can do an episode about it. And as always, I'll see you next week.