Bandit Heeler

Bandit Heeler
Bluey character
An anthropomorphic cartoon dog with mostly blueish grey fur with a dark blue fur pattern on his head that resembles a bandit's mask. Silver hairs can be seen all over the dark blue areas of his fur as well as on his face around his mouth similar to facial hair, indicating middle age.
Bandit as he appears in the series
First appearance
"Magic Xylophone" (2018)
Created byJoe Brumm
Voiced byDavid McCormack
In-universe information
Full nameBandit Custard Heeler
SpeciesAustralian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler)
GenderMale
OccupationArchaeologist
Family
  • Bob Heeler (father)
  • Chris Heeler (mother)
  • Radley Heeler (older brother)
  • Stripe Heeler (younger brother)
SpouseChilli Heeler
Children
  • Bluey Heeler (elder daughter)
  • Bingo Heeler (younger daughter)
Relatives
  • Frisky Heeler (sister-in-law)
  • Trixie Heeler (sister-in-law)
  • Muffin Heeler (niece)
  • Socks Heeler (niece)
  • Mort Cattle (father-in-law)
  • Chilli's Mum (mother-in-law, deceased)
  • Brandy Cattle (sister-in-law)
  • Unnamed future grandchild
HomeBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
NationalityAustralian

Bandit Custard Heeler (born 25 October 1978) is a main character in the Australian preschool animated television series Bluey, created by Joe Brumm. Employed as an archaeologist, he enjoys playing with his daughters, Bluey and Bingo, and takes seriously any role he is assigned in a game they devise despite often being seen as reluctant to play along. He often teaches life lessons to his daughters while he plays with them, but this strains his public relationship with them in some episodes. Bandit has been acclaimed as a positive father figure by many parents and critics.

Character biography

Bandit Custard Heeler was born on 25 October 1978.[1] He is the younger brother of Radley Heeler and the older brother of Stripe Heeler, all sons of Bob and Chris Heeler.[2] He claims that he first met his wife Chilli while on holiday as a child, but Chilli has no memory of this meeting and believes that she and Bandit first met at a party in London.[3]

Bandit and Chilli's first child, Bluey, was born at some later time; their second child, Bingo, was born two years after Bluey.[4] At an unknown point, Bandit and Chilli had a miscarriage.[5]

Years later, Bandit received a job offer that would pay more but require him and his family to move away from Queensland. Believing this would allow him to give his daughters a better life, he put the family's house up for sale. Eventually he realised that his family did not want to move, and having been told the buyers pulled out, changed his mind and withdrew the house from sale.[6]

Character highlights

Much of the series' humour revolves around his relationship with his daughters,[7] whom he continually implores to come up with new games to play with him.[8] He enjoys watching cricket[9] and playing squash and touch football.

He has a habit of making "dad jokes" in front of his children. He often is seen reading the newspaper and has a habit of using child-friendly expletives, most of which relate to food.[10] He is also frequently seen doing housework[11] and has a doctorate in archaeology.[12] [a]

Development

Bandit was based on Brumm's own life; he modeled the character after a Blue Heeler owned by a friend of his father, and, as with the character, was the middle child in his family tree. The character's occupation was partly influenced by one of his brothers, Adam, who was an archeologist in his own right,[13] and had been involved in the discovery of fossilised remains of Homo floresiensis,[14] which he nicknamed "The Hobbit" at a Queensland university. The Heelers, including Bandit, are presented as a nuclear family, with him serving as one of the show's two working parents (his wife Chilli is employed as an airport security guard).[15] Bandit's middle name, Custard,[1] originates from the band of the same name, of which his voice actor David McCormack is a part of.

Voice

In all English dubs of the series, Bandit is voiced by Australian performer/musician David McCormack, who was initially approached to read what he assumed would be merely "a couple of lines", through his Sonar Sounds studio, only to voice the character for the entirety of the pilot and subsequently throughout the series. McCormack, who was raised in Brisbane (where Bluey is based), is a noted alternative rock musician and soundtrack composer for a number of Australian Broadcasting Corporation shows, including Redfern Now. McCormack performs his voice work for the series remotely in Sydney, and his voice recordings are then sent to the production company in Brisbane. He does not hear any other voice actors or view footage while recording, and does not alter his own voice to produce Bandit's dialogue.[16][17]

A project to present five episodes[b] of Bluey in an Australian Indigenous language, Yolŋu Matha,[19] was announced to be complete on 17 June 2026. Dimathaya Burarrwanga, a founding member of the band King Stingray, voices Bandit in the episodes, which were released at the beginning of NAIDOC Week on 5 July 2026 on ABC iview[18] and screened at the Garma Festival in August 2026.[20]

Appearances

Bandit has appeared in most of the episodes of Bluey that have aired during its run, and has appeared in most merchandise related to the series. He was the subject of three books: My Dad Is Awesome, The Big Blue Guy's Book of Dad Goals, and an entry in the Bluey: Little Library series. He also appears in the stage show Bluey's Big Play,[21][22] as well as Bluey: The Videogame[23][24] and Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen.

Reception

Bandit has been praised as a positive father figure and commended for his patient nature, openness in demonstrating his love for his wife and daughters, his willingness to help out with housework, and the frequency with which he engages in play with his children.[11] Jennifer McClellan of USA Today described Bandit as "sarcastic, sympathetic and silly".[25] Philippa Chandler of The Guardian described the character as "laconic, playful and certainly more emotionally intelligent than, say, Peppa Pig’s hapless dad".[7] Doug Hendrie of The Sydney Morning Herald claimed that Bandit was designed to improve Australian dads.[26] Amanda Hess, writing for The New York Times, opined that Bandit is "not only a good father — he is a fantasy, one crafted to appeal to adults as much as to children."[27] Writing for The Conversation, Kate Cantrell and David Burton criticized the character for occasionally bullying the children and acting like a larrikin.[28]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Bandit's description on the official website for the short "Archaeology" lists him as "Dr. Bandit Heeler," and he is referred to as such in the short before giving a presentation related to the field.
  2. ↑ "The Creek", "The Beach", "Sleepytime", "Grandad", and "Rug Island" - chosen "because of their connections to family and Country".[18]

References

  1. 1 2 Kenney, Jamie (14 October 2024). "Bandit's Middle Name Is A Minisode Easter Egg & An IRL Homage". romper.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  2. ↑ Barker, Stephen; Miller, Abigail (29 February 2024). "Bluey's Heeler Family Tree Explained: How The Characters Are Related". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 22 August 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Kaplowitz, Matthew (7 November 2023). "The Weirdest Bluey Fan Theory Is Basically An Unmade Rom-Com". fatherly.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  4. ↑ Regalia, Liz (17 July 2026). "Is Bluey a Boy or Girl? Discover Fun and Unexpected Facts About the Show". parents.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Sudario, Erielle (23 May 2023). "Children's TV hit 'Bluey' gets referenced in a book about miscarriages". wegotthiscovered.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  6. ↑ Walter, Meg (15 April 2024). "Why the season finale of 'Bluey' might leave you in tears". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 21 August 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  7. 1 2 Chandler, Philippa (21 November 2018). "Bluey: how Australia fell in love with a cartoon blue heeler puppy and her family". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  8. ↑ Collins, Simon (26 March 2019). "Fun tales ABC Kids series Bluey lapped up". PerthNow. Seven West Media. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  9. ↑ "Bandit - Bluey.tv". bluey.tv. Archived from the original on 25 May 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  10. ↑ Kenney, Jamie (17 June 2021). "Exclusive: Watch Bluey's Bandit Break Down How To Not Swear In Front Of The Kids". romper.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  11. 1 2 Hiatt, Bethany (5 March 2019). "Bluey, the cartoon pup your kids just can't get enough of". The West Australian. Seven West Media. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  12. ↑ "Archaeology - Bluey.tv". bluey.tv. Archived from the original on 13 May 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Dow, Steve (11 April 2020). "Bluey creator Joe Brumm's dog days". The Saturday Paper. Schwartz Publishing. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  14. ↑ Sutikna, Thomas; Tocheri, Matthew W.; Morwood, Michael J.; Saptomo, E. Wahyu; Jatmiko; Awe, Rokus Due; Wasisto, Sri; Westaway, Kira E.; Aubert, Maxime; Li, Bo; Zhao, Jian-xin; Storey, Michael; Alloway, Brent V.; Morley, Mike W.; Meijer, Hanneke J. M.; van den Bergh, Gerrit D.; Grün, Rainer; Dosseto, Anthony; Brumm, Adam; Jungers, William L.; Roberts, Richard G. (30 March 2016). "Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia". Nature. 532 (7599): 366–369. Bibcode:2016Natur.532..366S. doi:10.1038/nature17179. hdl:2292/34938. PMID 27027286. S2CID 4469009. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  15. ↑ Reiha, Amy (4 September 2018). "Bluey set to nuzzle her way into the hearts of Aussie preschoolers this October". ABC TV Publicity. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  16. ↑ Stafford, Andrew (16 May 2019). "Custard's Dave McCormack on voicing Bluey's dad: 'I'm popular at school drop-off time'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  17. ↑ "The Bluey phenomenon: Bandit Heeler voice actor reveals all about playing arguably the world's greatest dad". Sky News. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  18. 1 2 Boltje, Stephanie (17 June 2026). "Bluey translated into an Indigenous language for the first time". ABC News. Archived from the original on 17 June 2026. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  19. ↑ Brennan, Dechlan (17 June 2026). "Bluey translated into Yolŋu Matha for landmark NAIDOC Week initiative". National Indigenous Times. Archived from the original on 18 June 2026. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  20. ↑ Rowe, Peter (17 June 2026). "Bluey Premieres in Yolŋu Matha for NAIDOC 2026". First Nations News. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  21. ↑ "Beloved Bluey hits the road". The West Australian. Seven West Media. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  22. ↑ Reed, Jason (22 December 2020). "Bluey's Big Play Review – Magical Adaptation Brings Unbridled Joy to Kids (and Parents)". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  23. ↑ Harmon, Steph (19 July 2023). "Bluey: The Videogame in the works, according to evidence dug up by online sleuths". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  24. ↑ Ankers-Range, Adele (19 September 2023). "First Ever Bluey Video Game Launches This November". IGN. Ziff Davis.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  25. ↑ McClellan, Jennifer (21 October 2019). "Finally! Bluey on Disney is a show kids can watch on repeat without driving parents crazy". USA Today. Gannett. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  26. ↑ Hendrie, Doug (3 September 2022). "'I wish you were like Bluey's dad. He's much funnier than you'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  27. ↑ Hess, Amanda (18 December 2023). "The Fantasy of the Fun TV Dad". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  28. ↑ Burton, David; Cantrell, Kate (10 June 2022). "Everyone loves Bandit from Bluey – but is he a lovable larrikin, or just a bad dad?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
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