Their music is some of the most recognised in the world, introduced to children as lullabies to get them to sleep, or blasted out by their parents at home. Now, the songs of the Beatles are to be brought to a whole new generation thanks to an original series for Netflix.
Beat Bugs, a children’s animation based around five insects, will include modern renditions of some of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s most famous songs, from Sia singing Blackbird to P!nk performing Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and even James Corden giving his vocal stylings to I’m a Loser.
Following in the tradition of children’s shows such as Sesame Street, Beat Bugs will regularly feature famous guests. Other artists in the musical cast include James Bay, Regina Spektor, The Shins, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell and Of Monsters and Men.
Andy Yeatman, director of global kids’ content at Netflix, has said that he hopes Beat Bugs will “transcend generations”.
The Netflix show gained permission to cover tracks from the Beatles’ Northern Songs catalogue, including Come Together, Penny Lane, Yellow Submarine, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour. The songs will be woven through the narrative, which is based on the adventures of bugs Jay, Kumi, Crick, Buzz and Walter, who live together in an overgrown suburban garden.
The show has been written, directed and produced by Josh Wakely, who said: “Having a platform to reimagine this universally acclaimed music for families around the world is an exhilarating and rewarding experience.”
Vedder said: “Personally, I’m very grateful to be part of Josh’s vision.” He described the series as: “a tremendous show for kids that combines beautiful animation with great stories – and obviously some of the best songs ever written”.
This is not the first time the Beatles’ music has been brought to life on television. From 1965 to 1967, an American cartoon used animated versions of the four band members as its central characters with storylines based around their music. The band were said to hate the show at first, but gradually grew to enjoy the novelty.
Beat Bugs is the first of several original series commissions that will be debuting on the Netflix Kids platform this year. Other new shows include Kong: King of the Apes, a reimagining of the King Kong story set in 2050; and Word Party, a vocabulary-based puppet show for under-threes created by the Jim Henson Company.
