Disney debuted the first teaser at D23, showing Bluey and Bingo playing Keepy Uppy in full CG. The series has always been 2D. The film opens in theaters August 6, 2027, and the animation change is the thing fans are actually discussing.
The first teaser for The Bluey Movie ran about 45 seconds at D23 on Friday night, and most of it was Bluey and Bingo trying to keep a red balloon off the ground.
Then the balloon hits the floor, pops, and the title appears.
It played to a packed Honda Center, where Disney handed the crowd balloons for a surprise game of Keepy Uppy. The teaser went online immediately afterward. The film opens exclusively in theaters on August 6, 2027.
What it mostly shows is not the story. It’s the animation.
The move from 2D to CG
Bluey the series is flat, hand-drawn, and deliberately simple. The film is fully CG.
The teaser is built around that change, using the show’s most recognizable game to introduce its biggest visual shift. Bluey and Bingo keep their familiar shapes and proportions, translated into three-dimensional models with added depth and texture rather than redesigned.
Australian studio Cosmic Dino Studio is handling the animation, having confirmed its involvement in early 2025.
Why the change is worth discussing
The concern circulating among fans is not reflexive, and it’s worth stating properly.
Bluey works partly because it looks like something a child could draw. Its emotional register is small by design, seven-minute episodes about imaginative games and a tired dad doing his best. Both the move to CG and the move to feature length push against that intimacy at the same time.
That said, the counterargument is visible right there in the teaser. The character designs survived the transition intact, and the studio appears to have prioritized recognition over reinvention. Creator Joe Brumm stepped away from the series to make this film, which is not the behavior of someone treating it casually.
Brumm has also said he enjoyed working on The Sign, the extended 2024 episode, which suggests the longer format is something he wanted rather than something the format demanded.
Who is actually making it
The credits stayed close to home, which matters for a show this specific.
Brumm writes and directs. Richard Jeffery, who directed across the series’ first three seasons, co-directs. Amber Naismith, whose background includes Happy Feet and The Lego Movie, produces. Series composer Joff Bush returns to score.
Melanie Zanetti and David McCormack are back as Chilli and Bandit.
The plot description is deliberately thin: one action-packed day during which a major surprise changes everything for Bluey and her family. Disney is not elaborating.
Disney is the distributor, not the owner
One detail in the announcement is doing more work than the trailer.
The film is produced by Ludo Studio in collaboration with BBC Studios, which finances and licenses it. Disney’s role is theatrical distribution.
That makes The Bluey Movie the first animated film based on a non-Disney cartoon that Walt Disney Studios has released. Previous Disney releases built on outside properties were live-action.
It also made Bluey one of the few things on the D23 slate that Disney does not own outright.
The commercial case for a theatrical release
The numbers behind the decision are genuinely unusual.
Bluey was the most-streamed program in the United States for the second consecutive year in 2025, across all categories including adult series and films, drawing 45.2 billion viewing minutes according to Nielsen. It was also the top children’s show on both CBeebies and Disney+ in the UK.
After its theatrical run, the film heads to Disney+ worldwide, and to ABC iview and ABC Kids in Australia.
A property performing at that level does not need to change anything to keep working. The switch to CG is a choice made from a position of strength rather than necessity, which is exactly why the reaction to it is worth paying attention to. The teaser was never going to settle it. That’s what the next one is for.
Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Cartoon Brew (August 2026), verified for the teaser debuting Friday at D23, the characters retaining their simple shapes translated into three-dimensional models, Disney’s one-action-packed-day plot description, the full creative credits, and Bluey being the most-streamed US program for a second consecutive year at 45.2 billion viewing minutes
Deadline (August 15, 2026), verified for the August 6, 2027 theatrical date, Melanie Zanetti and David McCormack reprising Chilli and Bandit, Joe Brumm writing and directing with Richard Jeffery, and the film being produced by Ludo Studio in collaboration with BBC Studios
Variety (2025), verified for the global theatrical release plan, the post-theatrical streaming arrangement across Disney+, ABC iview and ABC Kids, and Amber Naismith’s Happy Feet and Lego Movie credits alongside composer Joff Bush
mxdwn Movies (August 2026), verified for the teaser’s approximate 45-second runtime, the shift from the series’ 2D style to a fully CG approach, and the Keepy Uppy sequence ending with the balloon popping to reveal the title
High On Films (August 2026), verified for Cosmic Dino Studio handling the animation and confirming involvement in early 2025, and for this being the first animated film based on a non-Disney cartoon released by Walt Disney Pictures