Australian kids cartoon Bluey is so popular overseas that American kids have started speaking with Aussie accents
- American schoolchildren speaking in Australian accents after watching Bluey
- Aussie cartoon follows the adventures of blue heelers Bluey and sister Bingo
- American parents say kids now call the toilet ‘dunny’ and breakfast ‘brekky’
A beloved Australian television series has captured the hearts and minds of schoolchildren across America and is even changing the way they speak.
Kids in the United States are beginning to speak with an unmistakable Australian twang after tuning in to Bluey, a series that follows a lovable family of blue heelers.
The cartoon has become wildly popular in the US after premiering on the Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney+ in September, 2019.
Kids in the United States are beginning to speak with an unmistakable Australian twang after tuning in to Bluey, a series that follows a loveable family of blue heelers
Last year The New York Times described the show as ‘the biggest Australian export since The Wiggles’ – the country’s most famous children’s band.
The cartoon stays true to its true-blue roots and is packed with ‘g’day’ greetings and unmistakably Aussie phrases like ‘show us your thongs, muffin!’
Jason Manganella, a Massachusetts-based real estate agent and father, said his young daughter had started to incorporate Australian words into her vocabulary after becoming huge fans of Bluey.
Mr Manganella said even his four-year-old daughter quickly understood the cartoon’s unique Aussie phrases, and had started calling breakfast ‘brekky’.
‘A few terms that would be Australian slang have been picked up by my daughter,’ he told ABC Breakfast.
‘She also tells me every once in a while that she needs to go to the dunny.’
The cartoon has enjoyed exponential success across America after it premiered on the Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney+ in September, 2019
The internet has exposed American kids to new voices and accents, meaning the broad vowels and absence of a strong ‘r’ pronunciation of the distinctive Aussie twang is now easier for them to follow.
Jane Gould, Disney’s senior vice president of content strategy and insights, said the internet continued to play a large role in helping kids understand their world.
‘Our kids live in a much more global community than the adults do,’ Ms Gould told the New York Times.
Peppa Pig, a cartoon that follows the adventures of Peppa and her little brother George, has enjoyed similar success in the United States.
Children soon started mimicking the characters’ prim English accents, swapping ‘mommy’ for ‘mummy’ and pronouncing foods like their British peers.
Peppa Pig, a cartoon that follows the adventures of Peppa and her little brother George, has enjoyed similar success in the United States