South Park has been in the news a lot this season as it continues its run on the 2025 TV schedule, but to this point, it’s mainly been for political jabs at the Trump administration. While there were continued jabs at the President as well as Vice President J.D. Vance in the latest episode, the show took a wild turn and covered A.I. videos and the danger they present. This led to a scene featuring the popular children’s show Bluey‘s titular pup and I’m questioning whether this was an official cameo that utilized the actual voice actor.
In the episode, Bluey Heeler was called as a witness for a court case against Kenny, Kyle, and Butters, who get blamed for creating an AI video that featured the canine’s likeness. She told the prosecutor the video showed her “going to the bathroom in a very bad place” and that she “didn’t make a cent” off the video. While we have no evidence at the time of this writing that fully confirms whether or not the actual Bluey voice actress was used for the cameo, a few odd details stood out enough that I can buy into a secret cameo being arranged behind the scenes. Let’s dig in.
This Bluey Looked Like The Actual Character And Not South Park’s Usual Animation Style
When South Park parodies classic animated characters like Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh, they look explicitly different from the legitimate characters, often with rights issues at play. When Bluey Heeler appeared in South Park‘s “Sora Not Sorry,” the only real difference in the character’s overall look was that her eyebrows were shaped differently than in the standalone series. (Credit to Trey Parker and Matt Stone if that was all that was required for it to count as a “parody,” since it took me a minute to spot the difference!)
The Voice Sounded Like Bluey
Similar to the visual style, South Park typically doesn’t worry about trying to make its parodied celebs and characters sound the way people expect, so I was shocked to hear Bluey sounding just as she would in the Disney+ series. As someone who watched Bluey every morning with my kid not that long ago, I could easily be convinced that this was the same child actor.
We don’t actually know who provided this voice, as South Park didn’t credit anyone specific for it, which actually lends itself to the belief that the same voice was used. Bluey has intentionally kept the identities of the children who voice Bluey and sister Bingo secret, but the creative team confirmed they’re the offspring of production staff members. Could Matt Stone and Trey Parker have gotten in contact with Bluey creator Joe Brumm and gotten the actual Bluey voice actress to read those lines? I think it’s a possibility.
Nothing About The Appearance Or Dialogue Was Particularly Offensive, Which Strikes Me As Odd
Another thing that had me flummoxed was that South Park‘s Bluey didn’t say anything that was outright offensive or subversive, which seemed like it was possibly intentional, as to not push any boundaries that could have the child feeling uncomfortable. But if it wasn’t the O.G. performer, why use such a recognizable character in the first place?
South Park has certainly featured child voice actors swearing before, with Trey Parker’s own daughter providing the voice for Kyle’s brother, Ike. It wouldn’t have been out of character for South Park to have Bluey say something outlandish, so why didn’t the show lean into that?
It’s led me to the theory that some positive-minded backroom dealings allowed for South Park to use Bluey’s likeness and voice talent, possibly without even getting the suits at Disney and Paramount involved. Understandably, I’d expect for both companies to balk at the idea of such a collaboration, especially given how different the brands are. So if it was possible to do it in secret, without anyone ever knowing for sure if it happened, there’s no one more qualified to do it than Parker and Stone.
Another theory is that the South Park team likes Bluey enough that nobody wanted to get rude and crude with a character that brings a lot of people such innocent joy. Bluey is beloved enough to be getting its own theme park, as well as a movie that’s on its way to theaters. Honestly, I kind of love the idea that South Park would choose to be more reverential to a children’s show than the current President of the United States, so if it turns out that’s what happened, I’d be over the (blue) moon.
Ultimately, though, it’s equally as likely that South Park‘s creatives just wanted to confuse fans, and found someone who sounded enough like Bluey to go that route. I would love to know one way or another, though, how this came about, and why it was handled the way that it was.
South Park continues on Comedy Central, with a new episode expected to air in two weeks. That said, the series has hit some delays this year already, so we’ll see if the team can make the upcoming deadline!
