Wackadoo!
Wackadoo! Everyone’s favourite cartoon, Bluey, is back with a brand-new episode called The Sign. But this is no ordinary Bluey episode: it’s 28-minutes long! For real life! Kidzone chatted to Melanie Zanetti – the voice of Chilli – all about her favourite Bluey moments.
Kidzone: Let’s start at the beginning – how did you get the role of Chilli?
Melanie: I was doing some voice-over work and I was using the studio of Dan Brumm who plays Stripe and does the sound for Bluey. We were working on something super boring, but he said, “You've got a really great voice. My brother's making this animation. It's already cast. But do you want to chuck down some vocals? There could be new characters later.”
I said “Definitely!” He’d shown me the very basic animatics and I’d already fallen in love. I was like, “This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m obsessed.”
They still held auditions for about three months and then they came back and said I was right all along. One of the producers a couple of years later said the reason I was chosen was they couldn’t find the same warmth in anyone else’s voice for Chilli.
Do the actors record the voices all together, or separately?
We do record separately. What's amazing is I can do it anywhere in the world. I'm also a live-person actor so I can record wherever I'm working. I've recorded Bluey in Australia, Los Angeles, upstate New York, Latvia, Florence. Chilli's done the world tour!
Is it tricky acting with just your voice?
The scripts are written so well that I find playing Chilli really easy. I think what people don't realise when you're acting just with your voice is that anything that the character is doing, you're also doing. So, if Chilli is picking up Bluey or Bingo, I'm picking them up. If Chilli is running, I'm running on the spot. If you were to look in the studio and watch me, you'd go, “That person looks ridiculous!” But you do that so that vocally it sounds right. You have to actually physically do all the things as well.
Bluey has had a lot of amazing celebrity guests lend their voices (such as Hamish Blake, Natalie Portman, Anthony Field, Robert Irwin, Rose Byrne and Leigh Sales to name a few). Which celebrity would you love to see on Bluey?
Any celebrity who is obsessed with the show. I want a super fan. I want it to be someone who really wants to be on it.
Do you ever get recognised by your voice?
Never! Dave (McCormack, who plays Bandit) gets recognised all the time because his voice is so distinct.
Do you have a favourite episode of Bluey?
Sleepytime is my favourite episode. The messaging is so beautiful, I sobbed when I first saw it. I still cry. It was one of the longest episodes to make because the animation was a bit more complex. I just think all of the elements are so beautiful.
Apart from Chilli, do you have a favourite character?
I have a joint favourite: my two children, Bingo and Bluey. They're both so funny and so brilliant. They’re just wonderful.
In this new 28-minute episode, The Sign, Chilli has a big role and a lot of screentime. What was it like making an episode that was four times longer than usual?
The biggest thing was being able to have a character journey that goes longer than seven minutes. With 28 minutes you can explore things with more nuance and more deeply and show a situation from lots of different perspectives. I think that's really exciting.
Without giving away any spoilers, what do you hope viewers take away from this special episode?
I hope they take away that by staying open and present to what's happening, there's always a way of working through things. And that way, things just might work out more wonderfully than our wildest imaginings.
What’s the best thing about working on Bluey?
The best thing is that I get to work on a production that is putting so much good out into the world.
The Sign premieres on Sunday 14 April at 8.00 a.m. on ABC Kids and ABC iview.
Do you have a favourite episode of Bluey? A fave friend? A favourite place to go for holidays or for a picnic? We all have things – or people – that are extra special to us. This can be for all sorts of reasons. Maybe you have a cute stuffed Bingo or Bluey toy that’s special because someone you love gave it to you. Maybe you have a BFF necklace or bracelet that means a lot because your bestie made it for you. Maybe you have a fave teacher because he or she is so kind. Guess what! You and I are favourites too – we are God’s favourites! He loves us so much that he even calls us his children. “See what amazing love the Father (God) has given us! Because of it, we are called children of God” (1 John chapter three, verse one).
