DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
‘Beat Bugs’ Has a Ticket to Ride in August
July 27, 2016  | By David Hinckley  | 3 comments
 

BEVERLY HILLS -- Those of us who grew up listening to the Beatles may take a deep breath when we overhear the grandchildren watching the colorful and charming new Netflix series Beat Bugs.

Beat Bugs, which drops Aug. 3, is built around five brightly colored cartoon characters -- Jay, Kumi, Crick, Buzz and Walter – whose adventures each incorporate some portion of a Beatles song.

Don’t expect "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" here. In keeping with Netflix’s goal of covering the whole waterfront, Beat Bugs aims at the same demographic as, say, Dora the Explorer.

The songs aren’t the Beatles recordings. They’re redone with a contemporary sound by artists like Eddie Vedder, Sia, James Corden, Regina Spektor and Pink, who sings "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" for one early episode.

"Lucy" here isn’t a sly joke about LSD. She really is a girl with kaleidoscope eyes, in a beautifully animated world where there’s a boat on a river and cellophane flowers of yellow and green.

Each half-hour episode is divided into two 11-minute segments, meaning there will be two Beatles songs. The characters experience mild dilemmas, nothing that’s apt to give young viewers nightmares, and singing is one of the things that leads to a soothing resolution, along with teamwork, generosity, friendship, ingenuity and the Golden Rule.

It’s familiar contemporary children’s television. It strikes no jarring notes and doesn’t start to bring the troubles of the big old outside world into young lives at a time when parents would desperately like them to hold onto at least shreds of innocence.

About the only thing that would make Nana and Grandpa pause is those song lyrics that they first encountered in a rather different context half a century earlier.

Now hearing Beatles songs gentled down for an animated series isn’t as jarring as hearing the same thing done to the songs of, say, The Rolling Stones or Jimi Hendrix.

The Beatles, in general, and Paul McCartney, in particular, always understood that we all like a sweet, melodic tune now and then. From their remake of "Till There Was You" to "All You Need is Love" and "Golden Slumbers," the Beatles never hesitated to dive into the deep end of the sentimental pool.

They got away with it, if you want to look at it that way, because they did it so gosh-darned well.

Beat Bugs also isn’t the first time we’ve heard Beatles music set to animation. ABC ran a Beatles cartoon starting in 1965 and the film "Yellow Submarine" followed in 1968.

Of course, the Beatles wrote a lot more for grownups than they did for kids. Their first hits may have largely been teenage songs – wonderful, timeless teenage songs – but they worked hard and rather successfully to establish themselves as serious adult artists.

That, presumably, is the way most of us old-timers remember them from back in the day, as the band that gave us "Please Please Me," "A Day In the Life," "Hey Jude," and everything else in between.

Part of the reason that Beatles music works in our adult memories and also translates seamlessly to a show like Beat Bugs is that they somehow crossed so many of the bridges that often divide different areas of popular music.

That was part of their genius, and part of the reason that those of us who heard "Rubber Soul" as a new release would love to be reassured the Beatles will remain embedded forever in popular culture.

It’s not that we want "these kids today" to listen to "our music." No, we’d just like really good music to endure, regardless of when it was made.

And that’s the reassuring thing about Beat Bugs. Listening to a few lines from a song we remember very differently may give us pause for a moment, but it’s one of the ways that Beatles music lives on.

That 4-year-old who hears a snatch of "Help" in a Beat Bugs episode will someday hear the Beatles’ original rendition, a hard-driving, urgent song that’s more about, well, desperation.

In that sense, a Beatles song can grow up the same way 4-year-olds grow up – and the best news of all is that if those 4-year-olds are musically lucky, Lucy and the Beatles can be with them for the whole ride.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
LHYNT
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 1  | Go to page: 
3 Comments
 
 
You'll find the better choice for your business requirement. With the lowest price and wide options, you can make bigger savings here at We. We can help you and will always make sure you can get the best product for your money., welcome to our website to learn more about carbide inserts:https://www.estoolcarbide.com
Mar 7, 2024   |  Reply
 
 
At Estool, our main goal is to experience you stress-free purchasing time that saves your time and money. We are looking forward to working with you. Please contact us today for complete details of Estool lathe inserts., welcome to our website to learn more about carbide inserts:https://www.estoolcarbide.com
Feb 28, 2024   |  Reply
 
 
Estool carbide inserts contain properties that will be suitable for a wide variety of standard applications. If you are a reliable supplier in China for inserts, then Estool will be your perfect place., welcome to our website to learn more about carbide inserts:https://www.estoolcarbide.com
Jan 29, 2024   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 1  | Go to page: