Pretend Time

Pretend Time is the 9th episode of Blue's Clues from the first season and the 11th to be released.

Summary

It's pretend time and we need to figure out what Blue wants to pretend to be. Along the way, we locate cloud shapes, determine the best objects to play pretend house with Shovel and Pail, and go on a jungle safari to locate animals with various attributes!

Elements

Question: What does Blue want to pretend to be?
Clues:
- 1. A Helmet
- 2. A Star
- 3. A Rocket
Answer to Blue's Clues: An astronaut
Wrong Answer: Putting a helmet on the star, and "rocket" (rock it)
Living room picture: The jungle (Skidoo location)
Felt Frame picture: Freddy & Fifi flying and then Freddy & Fifi went to Outer Space

Recap

Steve has an interest in flight and pretends to be a bird and later a plane. They help out two actual birds who are pretending to see things in clouds. They also play house with Shovel and Pail and later skidoo into a picture of a jungle and help some rare animals to find their friends (a baboon, a dragonfly, and a frog).

Video Releases

Season One (3 Disc Set, DVD, 2014)

Characters

Blue (as the baby and later an astronaut)
Steve (North America) (as a bird, later a plane, a house helper, and Astronaut Blue's space partner)
Kevin (United Kingdom)
Mailbox (as Blue) (uncredited)
Sidetable Drawer
Shovel (as a father)
Pail (as a mother)
Felt Friends
Snail
Blue Bird (debut)
Red Bird (debut)
Parrot
Snake
Turtle
Monkey
Baboon
Dragonfly
Elephant
Frog

Objects

Notebook

Gallery

Watch Episode

This episode is available for streaming on Paramount Global's video streaming service Paramount+.

Trivia

Cecilia Gonzalez, the relative of future senior animator Dayna Gonzalez, is one of Steve's friends in this episode.
Michael Rubin (under the name "Seth O’Hickory") is uncredited in this episode.
In production order, this is the first episode Duke Burger was the assistant editor.
Netflix mistook this episode as the first.
Starting in this episode, Steve's voice is a little lower-pitched and calmer, though there are many instances where his voice is back to higher-pitched, as was the case in all other episodes after this one in mid-late Season 1 and in some episodes from Season 2 to Season 4. However, the next episode, A Snowy Day was the first aired episode that his voice was like that.
This episode was the basis for the pilot episode of the canceled Latin American version of the show, Pistas de Azul.
This is the second produced episode and the third aired episode to use the usual, "No, it's a clue" line from "Adventures in Art".
- Blue's wagon (which also first appeared in that episode) was used by Shovel and Pail when they were pretending. It also held several items that they used to pretend with and was one of three options of what item can work as a house.
This episode is the second and last time Steve and Blue Skidoo into a picture of a jungle. That Skidoo picture previously appeared in "What Time Is It for Blue?".
- The elephants from "Pretend Time" also resemble the ones from the previously stated episode from behind when she hid among the rocks.
Starting with this episode, Tickety Tock and Mailbox appear during the theme song.
- This also happens in Blue Wants to Play a Game, The Grow Show, and Blue Wants to Play a Song Game.
Sidetable was the only character that had nothing to pretend in this episode because all she said was, "Blue's Clues, I'm so excited", and was not yet fully developed.
When Steve tries to figure out after finding two clues, a re-shot of him with his hair from mid-late Season 1 (that would also be used from What Does Blue Want to Make?, Tickety’s Favorite Nursery Rhyme, and What Story Does Blue Want to Play?) is used.
When Steve and Blue look for the red-nosed baboon, an alternative version for "We Are Looking For Blue's Clues" is heard.
- This also happens in What Time Is It For Blue?.
This is the first time and the first episode Blue shakes her head no without covering her eyes when Steve gets the incorrect answer to Blue's Clues. However, the next episode, A Snowy Day, was the first aired episode where Blue does this.
When Steve says, "Hey! Blue!", he used his alternative Early Season 1 voice. When he says "I'm pretending to be an airplane!", this also happens.
This is the second episode where two clues are found outside with only one clue found inside.
This is the first episode where Blue only moves her head when Mailbox arrives after the Mailtime song, although her head isn't moved entirely. She will do this more often, starting with Season 5.
This is the first episode where both of the first two clues are found outside.
By this episode, the lighting was starting to improve along with the animation.
The three baboons are a reference to the three wise monkeys.
The Thinking Time segment music was later reused in Superfriends, during the Skidoo segment.
This episode features a Noggin Turkey logo.
When the rocket moves away after the wrong answer was said, the sound of Mailbox wiggling his flag is used.
The real Blue uses the word "Bow!", and the Mailbox one uses the word "Ruff!", just like Magenta who uses R's instead of B's. One thing about Magenta is that she would go "Row!".
Shovel and Pail needed help with spaghetti as the answer to Blue's Clues which will happen later in Let's Boogie which isn't really a meal, it's just a dance that Blue made up.
The clouds in the Shockwave game, but not in the episode are an apple, a boot, a car, a rabbit, and a watering can.
In this episode, Steve refers to Mailbox as "Blue".
When Mailbox says, "Ruff, ruff, I'm pretending to be Blue.", Steve mouths "Oh!" silently and the real Blue barks "Me?" in question.

Goofs

After Steve draws the third clue (a rocket), the pawprint is still seen on the rocket.
When Blue has the helmet on at the end, her ears are missing.

Blue's Clues Season 1