Beat Bugs is an CGI animated children's television series, created by Josh Wakely, and produced for Netflix by Grace: A Storytelling Company and Thunderbird Entertainment since 2016. The series is centred around five young anthropomorphised insects who live in an overgrown suburban backyard and learn life lessons while having adventures. Wakely acquired worldwide rights from Sony/ATV Music Publishing to a catalogue of music by the Beatles to feature in the series. The program features versions of Beatles songs, performed by contemporary recording artists and interwoven into the narrative.
Beat Bugs was produced in association with Beyond Entertainment, Atomic Cartoons and the Seven Network, an investor of the program. The series was first made available worldwide on Netflix on 3 August 2016 after premiering in Australia exclusively on 7TWO on 25 July 2016. It also airs on the CBC Kids programing block of CBC.
The program received an AWGIE Award in animation for an episode script in 2016, an AACTA Award for Best Children's Television Series and a Daytime Emmy Award in 2017. The second season premiered in November 2016 on Netflix and 7TWO, and was followed by a 48-minute special in November 2017. Additional episodes entered pre-production in 2018. A staged production featuring the characters and themes of the show, Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure, began playing in theaters in the U.S. in October 2018.
Plot Beat Bugs is a series for children between the ages of 5 and 7, set in an overgrown suburban backyard, which serves as an environment that 5 young bug friends regularly explore. To the bugs, the backyard is known as "Village Green". Songs by the Beatles, such as "Come Together" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", are interwoven into the narrative of the episodes. 1 episode, "Come and Get It" features a song that was originally recorded by the band, Badfinger, albeit written by the Beatle Paul McCartney and published under the Beatles' Apple Records label. These versions are performed by popular recording artists such as Pink and Sia. The songs often influence the life lessons that the young bugs learn.
Wakely described the series as "about teaching kids, but with a bit of humor and not in a patronizing way." He stated that the message of the song "All You Need is Love" was the main idea he wanted to portray.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main Kumi: Kumi is a confident and imaginative ladybug with a zest for life who is protective of her friends. She is also the leader of the group. Speaking voice provided by Erin Mathews and singing voice provided by Lisa Mitchell. Jay: Jay is a curious, ambitious and impulsive beetle who likes skateboarding and music. He is the second leader of the group. Speaking voice provided by Ashleigh Ball and singing voice provided by Andy Bull. Lili Beaudoin as Crick, an intelligent and creative cricket who is also an inventor. He likes science and math. He wears a brown hat, a gray T-shirt, beige pants and yellow Converse shoes. Singing voice provided by Sullivan and Julia Stone. Charles Demers as Walter, a theatrical blue slug with a big heart but excessive fears. Singing voice provided by iOTA and Daniel Johns. Rebecca Husain as Buzz, an optimistic and enthusiastic fruit fly who is the youngest of the group. Singing voice provided by Gossling.
Recurring Lucy the Dragonfly is a dragonfly with kaleidoscope eyes who is a sleep doctor. Boris the Frog (Doron Bell, singing Aloe Blacc) is a frog who loves things Mother Nature provided. Postman Bee (Brian Drummond; singing Wesley Schultz) is a bee who, as his name implies, works as a postal worker. He is never late and always gets his deliveries right, unless he is feeling sad about something. He cares a great deal for his grandmother, Granny Bee (Nicole Oliver) who was once a famous TV chef known for her honey pie. Doris the Spider (Gwynyth Walsh) is an elderly arachnid who is always filling her garden with beautiful art pieces that are made from her webbing and various other objects found in the backyard. She teaches the bugs to see the beauty in everything. Geoff the Cockroach (Peter Kelamis; singing Dave Faulkner) is an opportunistic roach who acts like a sleazy business man. He typically sells homes to the residents in the backyard, implying that he is a realtor. He gets along with Alex the Stinkbug. Alex the Stinkbug (Fred Ewanuick) is a jokey bug that is always farting. His farts are powerful enough to power machines built by Crick. He can be uncouth, but is very friendly. He gets along with Geoff the Cockroach. Dr. Robert (Ian Hanlin) is a mantis in the medical profession. He is very friendly and has perfect bedside manners. He always seems to know the perfect treatment for certain ailments. Katter (Britt McKillip; singing Frances) is a pretty caterpillar who later transforms into a butterfly. She is soft-spoken and shy, but is very friendly with everyone. She is best friends with Morgs and Millie. Morgs (David Paul Grove; singing James Corden) is a very nervous and self-conscious stick bug. He has trouble standing up for himself and wishes that he wasn't "just a stick". He is best friends with Katter and Millie. Millie Pede (Maryke Hendrikse; singing Tori Kelly) is a multifooted millipede who is kind and reserved. She is unsure of her dancing ability, but with help from her friends learns to do so effectively. She is best friends with Morgs and Katter. Mr. Sun (Michael Caton; singing Robbie Williams and Yusuf Islam / Cat Stevens) is the large all seeing star during the daytime. Despite his largeness, he can speak directly to the bugs and has even sent and received letters from them. In All Together Now, Mr. Sun now has a beard and arms. Mr. Moonlight (Robert Alexander and Charles Demers) is Mr. Sun's nighttime counterpart. He can be playful with the bugs, but sometimes feels that they like Mr. Sun more than him. Dr. Robot (Peter Kelamis; singing Ev Jones) is a special robot that Crick built to help his friends while Dr. Robert was on vacation. Despite a few kinks here and there he has proven to be efficient. When Dr. Robert returned, Dr. Robot became Crick's assistant for his experiments. Blackbird (Bethany Brown; singing Sia, Regina Spektor, and Jennifer Hudson) is a bird that always has her head in the clouds, both figuratively and literally. The bugs helped her damaged wing and in return, she stuck around to help them in any way she could. Mr. Mudwasp (Andrew Hansen; singing Daniel Johns), a wasp, and working man who lives in a hive that he is constantly renovating. He is always trying to speak in foreign terms. He has numerous wasp children with his constantly pregnant wife, Mrs. Mudwasp (Ashleigh Ball). They were once identified as the Hendersons. Mr. Mudwasp has also been identified as Baz. The Ants (Kyle Rideout) are the colony workers of the backyard. They all think uniformly as one and thus have a hard time acting as separate people. They all live in one ant hill and become lost if anything happened to it. Freda (Shannon Chan-Kent; singing Kate Miller-Heidke) is Walter's long lost sister introduced in All Together Now. She is a very ditsy slug that shares many similarities and differences with her twin brother. She moves into a house next door to Walter. She is named after the Beatles' secretary Freda Kelly. Glowies are glow bugs that act as a full light source for all the bugs. They always seem to be angry or annoyed at everyone, possibly because they are constantly used all the time and are treated more like objects. Nevertheless, they do their job effectively. Octopus (Jay Brazeau) is a talking sprinkler toy that resembles a purple octopus. He only communicates with the bugs and provides comfort to everyone by spraying water. However, he is only capable of doing so when the hose he is connected to is on. Bulldog (Colin Murdock; singing James Bay) is a big friendly slobbering dog. He initially had no home or way to communicate with the bugs, but Crick builds a translator and is adopted by the humans. Mee-Yow (Ashleigh Ball) is a cat that is owned by the humans. He roams about the yard and, while not necessarily mean, is shown to be rather dangerous to the bugs as he tends to attack and play with them. The Man (JR Bourne and Ian Hanlin) and Julia's Mom (Erin Mathews) are Gigants, they are what the bugs refer to humans whom the bugs are fascinated by. They live in the "Big House" at the edge of the backyard. They have a daughter named Julia, and have a second daughter named Jude in All Together Now. Julia (Rebecca Husain) is the first born daughter of the humans who live in the "Big House". Jay seems to relate to her. As of All Together Now, Julia becomes a big sister after her mom has a baby girl named Jude.
Production
Conception Beat Bugs was created by Josh Wakely who in 2014, under his US-Australian production company Grace, acquired worldwide rights from Sony/ATV Music Publishing to a catalogue of music by the Beatles. The music was to be used for a children's animated series in development to be entitled Beat Bugs, which would tell the story of young bugs learning life lessons set to songs by the popular rock group. The publishers liked Wakely's vision of bringing the classic songs to a new audience of children with original stories written around them. Managing director of Sony/ATV Damian Trotter stated, "the idea of opening up the single greatest music catalogue of the 20th Century to the next generation is something we are particularly excited about". The music acquired was the Lennon-McCartney "Northern Songs" catalogue. The deal reportedly cost an estimated $10 million.
Wakely, an Australian writer and producer who grew up as a fan of the Beatles, stated that he never considered using any other artist's music for the series. He said, "people in years to come will talk about the Beatles like we talk about Shakespeare." Wakely spent three years originally working on the show before acquiring the rights to the Beatles' music, and by this time, he had already conceived all of the episodes and characters. Of the characters, he said, "They have lived in my head for so long that I don't have their date of conception". Wakely sold the project to Netflix as a global distribution partner. The Seven Network in Australia was also an investor of the production.
Daniel Johns, former singer of Silverchair, arranged and produced the music for the series as musical director. He stated, "It's a dream job to go into the studio and dissect all of the Beatles' music". Johns and Wakely had previously worked together on a musical short film which Wakely wrote and directed. Wakely was closely involved in the production, arranging and mixing of the music.
More than 1000 people were involved in the production of the show, including a worldwide team of writers and animators in Australia, Los Angeles and Vancouver. Wakely described the process as a full-time job lasting three years. Vancouver's Atomic Cartoons created the 3D animation for the series. By the show's premiere, Wakely had spent six years working on the program from its conception. It wasn't originally planned to produce Beat Bugs in Australia until Beyond Entertainment allowed Wakely to do so.
Release