While international hit Bluey might be aimed at preschoolers, any adult who has been drawn into an episode of the critically acclaimed animation will know in only seven minutes the canine Heeler clan can easily bring tears to the eyes with its gentle depiction of the joys and challenges of family life.

Actor Melanie Zanetti, who voices seven-year-old pup Bluey’s mother Chilli, is not immune to Bluey’s ability to hit one right in the feels. Most recently, when she watched the heavily anticipated 28-minute episode The Sign, she found herself blubbering.

“Usually, I don’t get to watch the episodes before they air,” says Zanetti. “This one I did. I was wiping tears off my chin. I had the full gamut of emotions. So I’m really excited for everyone who loves Bluey to go on that journey.”

The Sign, Bluey’s final episode of season three, is the Logie and Emmy-winning cartoon’s most ambitious endeavour so far, with the super-sized plot not only dealing with the major news that the Heelers’ iconic Queenslander house is for sale, but also featuring that biggest of televisual events – a wedding.

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“It’s actually quite Shakespearean in a comedy for it to end with a wedding, so it just feels momentous and joyous,” says Zanetti. “There’s a lot that gets explored that we can’t really do in seven minutes and I think that’s one of the exciting things about the 28-minute episode.”

For Bluey executive producer and Ludo Studio co-founder and director Daley Pearson, the creation of the episode was “an Everest to climb”. “It felt like a new challenge to see if we could do it.”

Since debuting in 2018, despite being unabashedly Australian in its vernacular and aesthetic, Bluey has become a genuine global hit, airing overseas on the BBC and Disney.

For Zanetti, Bluey has resulted in her appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and presenting at the International Emmy Awards. Pearson points to Bluey having her balloon at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as a pinch-me moment.