Australians are usually pretty happy to share their success stories with the rest of the world. We love it when our homegrown stars such as Hugh Jackman and Margot Robbie – and a little band called AC/DC – are embraced by audiences overseas.

So when Bluey – an animated blue heeler from Brisbane – made it big with the lucrative under-5 demographic in the US, we were almost misty-eyed with pride.

There’s just one (unwritten) rule when you’re taking something of ours and celebrating it: Don’t change a thing.

It’s a memo the big guns behind Bluey’s Disney-backed move to the big screen appear to have missed.

The first trailer for The Bluey Movie has dropped, giving fans their first proper look at Bluey and the Heeler family as they make the leap from the small screen to cinemas.

And they’ve had a Hollywood glow-up.

The familiar flat, colourful 2D animation of the Brisbane-made television series has been replaced with a more detailed 3D computer-generated look, complete with fuzzy fur, softer edges and added depth.

Safe to say, some fans are not happy.

“Temu Bluey,” one unimpressed fan declared.

“Why did they do that to Bluey?” asked another.

Others have questioned why the filmmakers would tamper with a visual style that has become such an integral part of the show’s identity since it first aired in 2018.

“Why did you change the animation style that made Bluey … Bluey?” one fan asked.

That sentiment appears to have struck a nerve, with a similar call on the official Bluey Instagram account for the movie to retain its original animation style attracting thousands of likes.

And even some of Bluey’s youngest fans have noticed something is different.

“My kids said, ‘Why did they do that? It doesn’t even look like them’,” one parent wrote.

From Brisbane to the big screen

The change is more than a cosmetic tweak.

Bluey has become a global phenomenon without the glossy animation traditionally associated with big-budget children’s movies.

Its bold outlines, block colours and deliberately simple character design are instantly recognisable – which may explain why messing with them feels almost sacrilegious to some fans.

One viewer described the original 2D animation as a “fundamental part of its identity”, while another complained the movie now looked more like Disney Junior than the Bluey they knew.

Others were more blunt.

“You’ve got 12 months to change this back to the regular 2D Bluey animation style, or I’m not spending money to see it in theatres,” one wrote.

Not everyone thinks Bluey’s trip to the groomer is a disaster.

“I honestly think they look better and cuter in 3D,” one fan wrote.

And plenty of parents and children appear simply excited that the Heeler family is finally heading to cinemas.

Despite its new Hollywood sheen, however, Bluey hasn’t entirely left Brisbane behind.

The movie is being written and directed by Bluey creator Joe Brumm, with Brisbane’s Ludo Studio producing and Australian animation studio Cosmic Dino providing the CG animation.

Whether they’ll come around to fuzzy Bluey is another question.

They’ve got until August 2027 to get used to her.