Did Disney+ Censor Another Bluey Episode? Not Exactly...

The latest batch of Bluey episodes — 10 in total — landed state-side on Jan. 12 and we’re still savoring the delicious fun and surprising complexity of this charming Australian import. And don’t get it twisted: even though this is ostensibly a show about cartoon dogs, there are plenty of details and family-friendly-but-aimed-at-adults jokes that are primarily for parents. And a tiny detail in the newly released Season 3 episode has perceptive fans wondering: did Disney+ censor another episode of Bluey? You’re not imagining things, but “censor” doesn’t really convey the whole story.

Let’s back up: Disney, the U.S. distributor of the beloved series, has changed and effectively censored certain elements of the show in the past. In “Perfect,” a conversation between Bandit and his friend Fido clearly intended to be about getting a vasectomy (or, I guess, since they’re dogs, neutered) was changed to a conversation about a dental procedure. Disney even went so far as to temporarily “ban” an entire episode, “Family Meeting” due to its fart-themed humor. (Or, as the Heelers put it “fluffy” humor.)

As far as fans have noticed so far, this latest swathe of episodes — which includes “Cubby,” “Exercise” (which was edited from its original iteration, but not by Disney), “Relax,” “Stickbird,” “Show and Tell,” “Dragon,” “Wild Girls,” “TV Shop,” “Slide,” and “Cricket” — only includes one minor edit, and while some may call this censoring... honestly there’s a good reason.

The moment is a “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of situation in “Relax.” In this episode, the Heeler family is on vacation in what fans believe to be Caloundra, the southernmost town on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. As they pull up to the hotel on the beach, the girls sing in the back seat while Bandit pulls into a parking garage.

“All right, Super Troopers,” he declares as he gets out of the car, “let the holiday begin!”

But that’s not what he says in the original Australian version, TikTok creator Aussie Girl Margie points out. In the original airing, Bandit’s line was...

“All right, dingleberries: let the holiday begin!”

So why the change? Well: if you don’t know already, congratulations. Middle school was way less gross for you than it was for me.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “dingleberry,” first and foremost, as “a foolish, stupid, or contemptible person,” offering examples that highlight the silly, unserious nature of calling someone a “dingleberry.” This is, clearly, what was intended by the writers when Bandit used this word with his own young children.

But the second, more colloquial, and way more gross definition of this word is “a piece of dried fecal matter clinging to the hair around the anus.”

Less charming, that one.

So while I was absolutely not on board with them “banning” an episode because it was hinged on a fart joke (come on, Disney: everyone farts!), I’m OK with them changing a single word that means something way grosser here in the U.S. than it does in Australia. It’s one of those instances where, in order to get the true meaning of the original line you have to change the precise wording. Besides: I draw the line at even the whiff of an insulting sweet little Bluey and Bingo! Bandit would never!