Aaron Blabey


Aaron Blabey is an Australian author of children's books and artist, who until the mid-2000s was also an actor.
He is the creator of three best-selling children's series; Pig the Pug – a picture book series about a mean-spirited little dog, The Bad Guys – 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.
In March 2018, it was announced that a film adaptation of The Bad Guys was in development at DreamWorks Animation. Then, in October 2019, it was announced that the project was moving into production with a scheduled release date of September 17, 2021. Blabey will serve as executive producer on the movie with Jeff Berg, Patrick Hughes and Etan Cohen.
In May 2019, it was announced that Netflix are developing a movie-musical adaptation of Thelma the Unicorn with Blabey again serving as executive producer.
As of January 2020, Blabey has around 20 million books in print. and his books have spent over 60 weeks on New York Times Bestseller List. The Bad Guys first reached #1 on the list on 3 July 2019.
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, for which he won an Australian Film Institute Award, and 2003's CrashBurn, before retiring from performance in 2005.

Personal

Aaron Blabey was born in Bendigo, Australia. 1 January 1974
He is married to the speech pathologist Kirstie Hutton, and the couple has two sons.
Blabey supports The Alannah and Madeline Foundation who work to protect children from violence.

Career

Acting

Blabey appeared in various television and film roles throughout the 1990s and 2000s and took part in several theatrical productions.
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 towards painting and created six separate solo exhibitions across Australia between 2004 and 2006.

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 category. The book was also shortlisted for the CBCA's Crichton Award, 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.
His second book, Sunday Chutney, was published in 2008 and shortlisted for the CBCA 2009 and the Australian Book Industry Awards 2009.
His third book, Stanley Paste, was a CBCA Notable Book in the Picture Book category in 2010 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 in Munich, Germany. The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon also won the Patricia Wrightson Award in 2013 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards 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, 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 selfish, mean-spirited dog. 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, Pig the Winner, Pig the Elf, Pig the Star, Pig the Grub and Pig the Tourist.
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 May 2019, it was announced that Netflix are developing a movie adaptation of Thelma the Unicorn, to be written and directed by Jared and Jerusha Hess. 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 Bad Guys. 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 and have since remained there for many weeks. After 36 weeks on the list, The Bad Guys finally reached the number one spot on 3 July 2019.
As of January 2020, there are around 10 million Bad Guys books in print around the world and the series has spent over 60 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.
On March 9, 2018, it was announced that an animated feature film adaptation of The Bad Guys 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. The movie is directed by animator Pierre Perifel in his feature directorial debut and produced by Damon Ross and Rebecca Huntley and written by Etan Cohen and Hillary Winston. Blabey is serving as an executive producer on the project with Etan Cohen, Jeff Berg and Patrick Hughes.

Art direction

Blabey has also worked as a staff writer at a major advertising agency and spent two years as a lecturer at a prominent Sydney design college.

Honors and awards

Author and Illustrator