Okay, so maybe "villain" isn't the right word. Blue is more like the antagonist. This post is about the Blues' Clues & You movie Blue's Big City Adventure. So there will be spoilers. If you have Paramount+, it's only an hour watch. I promise it is worth the watch if you have watched Blue's Clues in any capacity.
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| Blue's Big City Adventure poster |
If you were born in the 90s or early 2000s like me then you most likely watched the original Blue's Clues show hosted by either Steve (Steve Burns) or Joe (Donovan Patton). I have an older and a younger brother, so I got to experience both. However, MY host was Steve, and I am a Steve fan til the day I die.
I have Blue's Clues & You playing in the background as I write this post because I realized I haven't watched a single episode of the new series despite watching the movie 6 times. I cannot stress enough how much I love Blue's new design. She looks so much fluffier.
The original Blue's Clues show ended in 2006. In 2019, it was rebooted as Blue's Clues & You, hosted by Josh (Josh dela Cruz). In November 2022 the movie, Blue's Big City Adventure was released.
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| Josh and Blue in Central Park |
If you're new to Blue's Clues, let me give you a "quick" rundown. When the show started in 1996, it was hosted by Steve who lived in Storybook World with his animated spotted-dog, Blue. In every episode, Blue uses her pawprints, or clues to lead Steve on a treasure hunt. Throughout the episode, Steve would ask the viewers questions and wait for an answer. Armed with his handy dandy notebook, he drew every clue they found. In 2002, Steve went away for college, leaving his brother, Joe to take care of Blue and take over the show. Not much about the show changed other than the inclusion of a segment called Blue's Room that was live action with puppets and Blue spoke. It was weird. With the 2019, reboot, we were introduced to Steve and Joe's cousin, Josh who is now taking care of Blue and hosting the show. I don't know much about the new show, but I assume the premise is the same based on the first episode.
By the way Josh's first episode is a remake of Steve's first episode (not including the pilot).
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| Detective Steve is on the case! |
Now that you're caught up, let's talk about the movie! In case you don't want to experience this piece of art for yourself, here's a quick summary:
Josh and Blue travel to New York City because he has a big Broadway audition. Once in NYC, he realizes he left his handy dandy notebook, which had the theater address, at home. Mr. Salt, Slippery Soap and Tickety Tock try to get his handy dandy notebook to him. So, they seek out the help of Steve, now a detective, and Joe, who owns a present store. Meanwhile, Josh is playing Blue's Clues to try to find the theater where his audition is. There are also numerous cameos from BD Wong, Phillipa Soo, Steve Pasquale, Ali Stoker, Taboo and Alex Winter. In the end, Josh gets to the audition late, but with thanks to his friends, he does get his role on Broadway, and we see him perform.
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| Joe in his present store |
I bet you're like so how is Blue the antagonist, if it's set up like every other episode.
It is not that same and let me explain why. In most if not all the episodes, Blue's treasure hunt has little to no stakes if Steve, Joe or Josh don't figure it out at the end. It's all just a game for fun.
However, there is a HUGE stake in the move, because Josh has an audition. He has to be somewhere at a specific time. And being that Blue took him on the treasure hunt to find the theater, it means she knew where the theater was THE WHOLE TIME! And specifically made him go on the treasure hunt to kill time so he missed it. She purposefully sabotaged him.
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| Blue attack |
And I bet you're wondering why she would do that? Blue isn't malicious in any way. Wouldn't she be supportive of Josh's dreams? You're right. However, Blue's got trauma.
If any dog deserves to have abandonment issues or separation anxiety, it's Blue. First it was Steve leaving her with Joe for college. Then it was Joe, leaving her with Josh.
Josh is her third owner - and she's still a puppy in the lore of Blue's Clues. So in her mind, if he gets this role on Broadway, he'll be away from home, and she'll have to go live with another member of the family. SO OF COURSE, she's going to sabotage and make sure that doesn't happen, because I bet you she's tired of having to live with so many different people, especially if she has to teach each person that she likes drinking a cup of milk with a straw with every snack.
I'm sure another reason for the treasure hunt was for her to remind him of how much fun they have together, but it was still with the intention to sabotage his audition.
AND THAT is why Blue is the antagonist of Blue's Big City Adventure.
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| Josh video chats with Steve and Joe |
But who could really blame her for wanting to FOR ONCE keep to the status quo. Even though she failed, and Josh did get to achieve his Broadway dream. However, he didn't abandon her, as we see in the mid-credits scene when he's back home brushing his teeth. All is well in Storybook World.
Thank you for reading my rambling about my childhood comfort franchise. I love this franchise with my whole heart, even still, now as an adult.
If you'd like to learn about another theory about Blue, one of my favorite YouTube channels, Film Theory did a video on a theory that Blue is not even an actual dog! It's about 20min, but it's very intriguing!
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