{"id":12872,"date":"2017-09-01T10:31:03","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T14:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/beat-bugs-tunes-beatles\/"},"modified":"2017-09-05T09:08:13","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T13:08:13","slug":"beat-bugs-tunes-in-to-the-beatles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/beat-bugs-tunes-in-to-the-beatles\/","title":{"rendered":"Beat Bugs Tunes In to The Beatles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Josh Wakely, creator, director and co-producer of <\/em>Beat Bugs<em>, talks to <\/em>TV Kids <em>about the Netflix original animated series, which incorporates songs made famous by The Beatles.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s probably safe to assume that most people around the world have at least heard of The Beatles, the British musical sensation that skyrocketed to global success during the 1960s. With their pleasant, upbeat melodies and catchy lyrics, The Fab Four\u2019s tunes transcend countries and generations. Their universal songs have been featured in both film and TV, but never before have they been the premise for an animated children\u2019s show\u2014that is until Josh Wakely, creator, director and co-producer of Netflix\u2019s <em>Beat Bugs<\/em>, came along.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/newsletters.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/img\/2017-09-01-Josh-Wakely.jpg\" alt=\"***Image***\" width=\"180\" height=\"248\" \/>\u201cIt was a bit of a wild and ambitious idea to secure The Beatles\u2019 rights to tell stories for children,\u201d Wakely tells <em>TV Kids<\/em>, noting that it took him three years to land the worldwide rights to record covers of the entire Lennon\/McCartney \u201cNorthern Songs\u201d music catalog. \u201cI wanted to bring Pixar-level animated storytelling to the television screen, and I wanted to do it with the world\u2019s greatest music catalog.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was so much great visual imagery that The Beatles [songs] had, from \u2018Yellow Submarine\u2019 to \u2018Strawberry Fields Forever,\u2019 and I knew that would be extraordinary and amazing to bring into modern animation,\u201d he continues. \u201cAnd they had such great stories. So I wanted to see \u2018Eleanor Rigby,\u2019 what happens in \u2018Hello, Goodbye,\u2019 what could happen to a character called \u2018Black Bird.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Beat Bugs<\/em> first became available for streaming on Netflix worldwide in 2016 after premiering on 7TWO in Australia. The Emmy-winning show is sold by Beyond Distribution and co-produced by Thunderbird, Beyond Screen <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/newsletters.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/img\/2017-09-01-Beat-Bugs.jpg\" alt=\"***Image***\" width=\"265\" height=\"169\" \/>Production and Grace: a storytelling company, where Wakely is a principal partner. Each episode follows the adventures of five insect friends in an overgrown backyard, and features The Beatles songs performed by such artists as P!nk, Eddie Vedder, Sia, Jennifer Hudson, Rod Stewart and the late Chris Cornell, to name a few.<\/p>\n<p>While the main theme in <em>Beat Bugs <\/em>is \u2018All You Need is Love,\u2019 there are many other lessons to be learned. \u201cWe have themes about community, friendship, courage and embracing your individuality,\u201d says Wakely. \u201c\u2018Come Together\u2019 is about teamwork. \u2018Yellow Submarine\u2019 is about how new adventures can cause you to see yourself in a whole new light. \u2018Strawberry Fields Forever\u2019 has an environmental message about protecting the world, because not everything is going to last forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are currently two seasons of <em>Beat Bugs<\/em> available on Netflix. Beyond Distribution also licensed the show\u2014which is offered as a 52&#215;11-minute or 26&#215;30-minute version\u2014to Nickelodeon in Australia, where it debuted on Nick Jr. in May. The series has inspired a variety of merchandise at a number of retailers, including Target and Tesco. INK Global is handling the property\u2019s licensing in Europe (excluding the U.K.), Russia\/CIS, the Middle East and North Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Wakely is hoping that many more seasons are to come for <em>Beat Bugs\u2014<\/em>especially since he scored the rights to more than 300 songs recorded by The Beatles. \u201cYou\u2019d be surprised how many of them work really perfectly; they all have a natural synergy for children\u2019s storytelling,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a rich catalog, so it\u2019s a lot to draw from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m quite sure that in 100 years, we\u2019ll be speaking about The Beatles the same way we speak about Shakespeare,\u201d adds Wakely. \u201cI feel lucky to [have made] the first show that\u2019s bringing back their inspiration to a new generation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Josh Wakely, creator, director and co-producer, talks about the musical Netflix original animated series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":479,"featured_media":12873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,21],"tags":[523,1958,1576,138],"class_list":["post-12872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-beat-bugs","tag-beyond-distribution","tag-josh-wakely","tag-netflix","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - 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