Aaron Blabey (born January 1, 1974) is an Australian author of children's books. He is the creator of three best-selling children's series; ''Pig the Pug'' – a picture book series about a rude, selfish, mean-spirited little dog, ''

The Bad Guys A bad guy or villain is a type of character in fiction and other narratives. Bad Guy or Bad Guys or ''variation'', may also refer to: Film * ''Bad Guy'' (1937 film), a film starring Virginia Grey * ''Bad Guys'', a 1986 film starring Adam Bald ...

'' – a New York Times #1 bestselling graphic novel series for junior readers about a gang of scary-looking animals trying to change their bad reputations and ''Thelma the Unicorn'' – a second picture book series about a plain little pony who pretends to be a unicorn. As of December 2022, Blabey has around 35 million books in print and his books have spent over 120 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. ''The Bad Guys'' first reached #1 on the list on July 3 2019. On April 22, 2022, an animated movie adaptation of ''

'' from DreamWorks Animation starring

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (19 ...

Awkwafina Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress, rapper, and comedian who rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ra ...

Marc Maron Marcus David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and has appeared more than forty ...

, Craig Robinson and Anthony Ramos premiered in the United States. Blabey served as an executive producer on the movie with Patrick Hughes and Etan Cohen. The movie opened at #1 at the U.S Box Office and was the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2022. In May 2019, it was announced that

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

are developing a movie-musical adaptation of ''Thelma the Unicorn'' with Blabey again serving as executive producer. Until 2005, Blabey was also an actor. In the field of acting, he is probably best known for his lead roles in two television dramedies, 1994's ''

The Damnation of Harvey McHugh ''The Damnation of Harvey McHugh'' was an Australian television miniseries made by the ABC. The series consists of 12 episodes and was first broadcast on the ABC in 1994 from 2 June to 18 August of that year. Overview Cast and crew The series wa ...

'', for which he won an

Australian Film Institute Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry ...

, and 2003's ''

CrashBurn {{Infobox television , image = , caption = , alt_name = , genre = Soap operaDrama , creator = Deborah Cox Andrew Knight , developer = , writer = ...

'',Australian Television: Crashburn: profiles
accessed 25 November 2008 before retiring from performance in 2005.

Personal life

Aaron Blabey was born on January 1, 1974, in

Bendigo, Australia Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, maki ...

. He married the actress and speech pathologist Kirstie Hutton in April 2000. The couple separated amicably in May 2022. They have two sons. Blabey supports The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, who work to protect children from violence.The Alannah and Madeline Foundation
accessed 20 December 2015

Career

Acting

Blabey appeared in various television and film roles throughout the 1990s and 2000s and took part in several theatrical productions.ABC 2002

, accessed 25 November 2008 Besides his 1994 award for acting in a lead role, the Australian Film Institute also nominated him in 2000 for his guest-starring role in the series '' Stingers''.

Art

From the mid-2000s, Blabey turned his attention away from acting and towards painting and created six separate solo exhibitions across Australia between 2004 and 2006.Aaron BLABEY in stock at Art Nomad
accessed 25 November 2008

Early picture books

Then in 2006, Blabey turned his focus entirely to the creation of children's picture books. The first of these, ''Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley'', was published in July 2007. In 2008, the book received a Children's Book Council of Australia Award in the council's

Early Childhood Early childhood is a stage in human development following infancy and preceding middle childhood. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterward. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood. ...

category.Penguin Group (Australia) – Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley by Blabey, Aaron
, accessed 25 November 2008 The book was also shortlisted for the CBCA's Crichton Award (given to new illustrators), The NSW Premier's Literature Awards – The Patricia Wrightson Award, and the Children's Peace Literature Award. In 2008, the book was also included on the Notable Book list from the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

.Penguin Books Australia – Aaron Blabey (Author)
accessed 8 December 2011 His second book, ''Sunday Chutney'', was published in 2008 and shortlisted for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year 2009Penguin Group (Australia) – Sunday Chutney
, accessed 25 November 2008 and the Australian Book Industry Awards 2009. His third book, ''Stanley Paste'', was a CBCA Notable Book in the Picture Book category in 2010
accessed 8 December 2011 as was ''The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon'' in 2012, which was also selected as a prestigious White Raven of 2012 by the

International Youth Library The International Youth Library (IYL) (, IJB) in Munich is a library that specializes in the collection of children and youth literature from around the world in order to make them available to the public, focusing on the international community. ...

in Munich, Germany. ''The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon'' also won the Patricia Wrightson Award in 2013

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...

and the 2013 Children's Peace Literature Award. In early 2014, Nick Cave selected ''The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon'' to record for the Story Box Library website. His fifth book, ''The Dreadful Fluff'' won the Best Designed Children's Cover of the Year by the Australian Publishers Association in 2013,61st Annual Book Design Awards 2013, Australian Publishers Association
, accessed 25 May 2013 which also saw the release of his critically acclaimed sixth title, ''Noah Dreary''. This was followed by a picture book for adults entitled ''Babies Don't Suck'' – a guide for expectant new fathers. Blabey's seventh children’s book, ''The Brothers Quibble'', which deals with sibling rivalry, was chosen as the National Simultaneous Storytime Book of 2015, and was read by over 500,000 children on 27 May 2015.

''Pig the Pug'', ''Thelma the Unicorn'' and ''Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas''

In 2014 Blabey signed a three-book deal with Scholastic Australia beginning with ''Pig the Pug'', a humorous picture book about a rude, selfish, mean-spirited dog (

pug The Pug is a breed of dog originally from China, with physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most often light brown (Fawn (colour) ...

), who always gets into arguments and even fights with his rival playmate, the friendly, polite-mannered, good-hearted Trevor ( dachshund). The book was an immediate hit in Australia and has since been translated into many languages and published around the world. It spawned a series of Pig books including ''Pig the Fibber'' (2015), ''Pig the Winner'' (2016), ''Pig the Elf'' (2016), ''Pig the Star'' (2017), ''Pig the Grub'' (2018), ''Pig the Tourist'' (2019), ''Pig the Slob (Blob)'' (2020), ''Pig the Monster'' (2021) and the final instalment ''Pig the Rebel'' (2022). The Pig books have sold millions of copies around the world, predominantly in the USA and Australia. The second book released from his initial three-book-deal was ''Thelma the Unicorn''. This picture book – about a plain little pony who dreams of becoming a unicorn – has also become a bestseller. In combination with its sequel ''The Return of Thelma the Unicorn'', it has sold millions of copies as well. In June 2019, it was announced that

is developing an animated musical movie adaptation of ''Thelma the Unicorn'', to be directed by

Jared Hess Jared Lawrence Hess (born July 18, 1979) and Jerusha Elizabeth Hess ( Demke; born May 12, 1980) are husband-and-wife American filmmakers best known for their work on ''Napoleon Dynamite'' (2004), ''Nacho Libre'' (2006) and '' Gentlemen Broncos ...

and Lynn Wang with animation provided by Mikros Image Montreal. Blabey will serve as an executive producer on the project.

''The Bad Guys''

2015 also saw the release of the first two instalments of Blabey's best-selling graphic novel series for junior readers, ''

''. The humorous series follows the adventures of a gang of scary-looking, dangerous animals – Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark and Mr. Piranha – who attempt to change their bad reputations by performing good deeds. In January 2018, ''The Bad Guys'' hit

The New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

(Children's Series) and have since remained there for many weeks. After 36 weeks on the list, ''The Bad Guys'' finally reached the number one spot on July 3 2019. As of December 2022, there are over 25 million ''Bad Guys'' books in print around the world and the series has spent over 120 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. On March 9, 2018, it was announced that an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

adaptation of ''

'' was in development at DreamWorks Animation – with a screenplay by Etan Cohen. On October 17, 2019, the project went into production with a scheduled release date September 17, 2021. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the release date was pushed back to April 22, 2022. The movie is directed by animator Pierre Perifel in his

feature directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

and produced by Damon Ross and Rebecca Huntley and written by Etan Cohen and Hillary Winston. Blabey serves as an executive producer on the project with Etan Cohen and Patrick Hughes. It stars

(Mr. Wolf),

(Ms. Tarantula),

(Mr. Snake), Craig Robinson (Mr. Shark) and Anthony Ramos (Mr. Piranha). Whilst promoting the movie in Los Angeles in April 2022, Blabey appeared on

’s podcast WTF and discussed his journey to that point with Maron who played Mr Snake in the film.

''Cat On The Run''

On January 2022, about 3 months before the release of the film adaptation of ''The Bad Guys'', Blabey announced that a new book called ''Cat on The Run'' is in development and slated to be released in 2023. The book takes place in the same universe as ''The Bad Guys'' and the story will feature the world’s #1 cat video star trying to prove her innocence after she was framed for a crime she didn’t commit.

Art direction

Blabey has also worked as a staff writer at a major

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

and spent two years as a lecturer at a prominent Sydney design college.

Honors and awards

*1994,

, Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama, ''The Damnation of Harvey McHugh'', episode: "Spay Misty For Me." *2008, Children's Book of the Year Award: Early Childhood, ''Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley''. *2012, White Ravens Award by the

, ''The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon''. *2012, National Literacy Ambassador *2012 - 2015, Ambassador for The Alannah and Madeline Foundation. *2013, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature, ''The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon''. *2013, Best Designed Children's Cover of the Year by the Australian Publishers Association, ''The Dreadful Fluff''. *2013, The Children's Peace Literature Award from the Australian Psychological Society – Psychologists For Peace, ''The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon''. *2016, INDIE books award for Best Children's Book, ''The Bad Guys''

List of works

Author and Illustrator *''Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley'', Penguin Books, Australia, 2007. *''Sunday Chutney'', Penguin Books, Australia, 2008. *''Stanley Paste'', Penguin Books, Australia, 2009. *''The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon'', Penguin Books, Australia, 2011. *''The Dreadful Fluff'', Penguin Books, Australia, 2012. *''Noah Dreary'', Penguin Books, Australia, 2013. *''The Brothers Quibble'', Penguin Books, Australia, 2014. *''Pig The Pug'', Scholastic Australia, July 2014. *''Babies Don't Suck'', Pan Macmillan Australia, August 2014. *''Thelma the Unicorn'', Scholastic Australia, February 2015. *''Pig the Fibber'', Scholastic Australia, May 2015 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 1)'', Scholastic Australia, July 2015 *''Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas'', Scholastic Australia, September 2015. *''The Bad Guys (Episode 2 - Mission Unpluckable)'', Scholastic Australia, November 2015 *''I Need A Hug'', Scholastic Australia, December 2015 *''Pig the Winner'', Scholastic Australia, March 2016 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 3 - The Furball Strikes Back)'', Scholastic Australia, May 2016 *''Don't Call Me Bear'', Scholastic Australia, June 2016 *''Pig the Elf'', Scholastic Australia, October 2016 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 4 - Attack of the Zittens)'', Scholastic Australia, November 2016 *''Busting!'', Scholastic Australia, February 2017 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 5 - Intergalactic Gas)'', Scholastic Australia, May 2017 *''Guff'', Penguin Australia, August 2017 *''Pig the Star'', Scholastic Australia, September 2017 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 6 - Alien Vs Bad Guys)'', Scholastic Australia, October 2017 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 7 - Do-You-Think-He-Saurus?)'', Scholastic Australia, May 2018 *''Pig the Grub'', Scholastic Australia, September 2018 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 8 - Superbad)'', Scholastic Australia, October 2018 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 9 - The Big Bad Wolf)'', Scholastic Australia, May 2019 *''Pig the Tourist'', Scholastic Australia, July 2019 *''The Return of Thelma the Unicorn'', Scholastic Australia, October 2019 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 10 - The Baddest Day Ever)'', Scholastic Australia, October 2019 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 11 - Dawn of the Underlord),'' Scholastic Australia, May 2020 *''Pig the Slob (Blob)'', Scholastic Australia, September 2020 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 12 - The One?!)'', Scholastic Australia, October 2020 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 13 - Cut to the Chase)'', Scholastic Australia, May 2021 *''Pig the Monster'', Scholastic Australia, July 2021 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 14 - They’re Bee-hind You!)'', Scholastic Australia, October 2021 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 15 - Open Wide and Say Arrrgh!)'', Scholastic Australia, July 2022 *''Pig the Rebel'', Scholastic Australia, July 2022 *''The Bad Guys (Episode 16 - The Others?!)'', Scholastic Australia, October 2022

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blabey, Aaron 1974 births Living people AACTA Award winners Australian male actors Australian artists Australian children's writers The Bad Guys