Bluey composer nearly said no to job he thought would ‘never work’
The composer who created a catchy little tune for Australia’s best loved Blue Heeler has shared why he almost turned down the ‘little gig on the side’ that ended up becoming Bluey’s theme song
READING LEVEL: GREEN
The man behind Bluey’s catchy theme song has revealed that he almost turned down the job that instantly made him a star.
Speaking on the latest episode of Matt & Alex All Day Breakfast, Bluey composer* Joff Bush revealed he originally turned down the job, saying he had no experience composing music for children.
Bush said that when he eventually signed on to the project, he played the theme song for an American friend who “couldn’t understand” it because of the Australian accent.
At the time, Mr Bush believed the show would “never work” in the US, which has since become the series’ biggest market.
“(Bluey) was pitched to me as, ‘Hey, do you want to do this little gig* on the side?’ I think I turned it down at first. I was like, I haven’t got that much experience because it was meant to be just for four to six year olds,” Mr Bush said.
“And then I saw it, and I was like, ‘Oh man, this is such a good show, I’ve got to do it’ and I knew the sound immediately, which doesn’t always happen,” he said.
“I remember playing it to a friend who was American, and she was like, ‘I’m trying to understand what they’re saying.’ And I was saying, ‘Oh, it’s never going to go off there.’
“You know, we just wanted to make something cool. It felt very ‘full fry’* at the start. It was like a couple of people in the room just making something we like.”
The comments come after a leading entrepreneur slammed the ABC’s bungling* of overseas rights for the hit children’s show, arguing earlier this year that the deal has cost the public broadcaster up to $2.5 billion a year.
Bluey was co-commissioned by the ABC and its British public service equivalent the BBC in 2017. The ABC paid the majority of funding in exchange for broadcasting rights here, while its British counterpart* paid 30 per cent of production costs and scored global distribution and commercial rights.
The beloved cartoon about a Blue Heeler family has since become a staple for children and parents across 140 countries, including the United States, where it is the most-streamed show, with Americans tuning in to watch 45.2 billion minutes of it last year alone.
The ABC has since repeatedly come under fire for signing off on the deal that handed overseas rights to the BBC, despite the show being created by Australian animator* Joe Brumm and produced by the Brisbane-based Ludo Studio.
“The merchandise* deal alone is worth billions, and Australia makes zero dollars from it,” said Charlie Gearside, co-founder of digital health start-up Eucalyptus, which he recently sold for $AUD 1.6 billion.
In the video shared to social media in April, the entrepreneur* said every time he watched Bluey with his young son, “all I can think about is the jobs and the wage growth that we left on the table, in a room in ABC headquarters in Ultimo”.
He estimated Bluey could be bringing in as much as $AUD 2.5 billion for the BBC each year — more than double the ABC’s annual budget.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- composer: a person who writes music
- gig: a job or a performance by a musician or comedian
- bungling: doing something very badly, in a careless or stupid way
- full fry: possibly a reference to another expression, “out of the pan and into the fire”, meaning leaping into a challenging or difficult situation
- counterpart: person or thing that has the same purpose as another one in a different place or organisation
- animator: someone who makes animated films, drawings, models and so on
- merchandise: goods that are bought and sold
- entrepreneur: someone who makes money by starting their own business, especially when this involves seeing a new opportunity and taking risks
EXTRA READING
How to add value to Bluey coins
How Australia blew it with Bluey
How the ‘Bluey effect’ benefits kids
QUICK QUIZ
- Who composed the Bluey theme song?
- Bluey is shown in how many countries?
- Which country is currently the biggest market?
- Entrepreneur Charlie Gearside estimated Bluey could be making the BBC how much each year?
- How many minutes did American viewers spend watching Bluey last year alone?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Is there a difference?
Do you think that there is a difference between music for kids and music for adults – not words or songs, the tunes or music itself? Write a paragraph explaining your opinion. Use examples of tunes to help make your writing more convincing.
Time: allow at least 20 minutes for this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Music
2. Extension
Imagine that you have been asked to write new words to go with the Bluey theme music. The music will not change. Write the lyrics.
Time: allow at least 30 minutes for this activity.
Curriculum Links: English, Music
VCOP ACTIVITY
I spy nouns
Nouns are places, names (of people and objects), and time (months or days of the week).
How many nouns can you find in the article?
Can you sort them into places, names and time?
Pick three nouns and add an adjective (describing word) to the nouns