A major contributing factor to this success is the soundtrack, composed by Joff Bush, which has just been recorded in new orchestral arrangements by Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) and Camerata conducted by Joseph Twist, and titled Bluey: Up Here.
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“[Bluey creator] Joe [Brumm] loves music: we’ll be talking about the Brandenburg concertos and AC/DC in the same sentence,” says Bush, who has scored all 154 episodes. What is important when writing music for young children? “We avoid sudden changes,” Bush explains, “and focus on clarity; we want to help tell the story as much as possible. It’s also about making the child feel safe and comfortable.”
But the real skill in Bush’s scores – and the reason we’re speaking over time zones today – is his clever incorporation of canonic classical music, something that has a long tradition in children’s TV. Lang Lang has spoken about his first experiences of the piano – not at a concert hall, but through watching Tom and Jerry, where, as a toddler, the concert pianist first heard Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No 2. Bush also uses verbatim melodies: Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca is used in Bluey’s very first episode, ‘Magic Xylophone’, and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy features in‘Bike’. It’s rather more sophisticated than Teletubbies say “Eh-oh!”

“There’s something magical about bringing in the history of music,” says Bush, “I hope that through the album kids are able to find their own way to connect with it and maybe it might spark a little journey to explore all sorts of different pieces.”
To that end, for those interested in taking the next step on from ‘Sticky Gecko’ et al, there’s an Apple Music Classical playlist curated by Bush that includes Spring from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Waltz of the Flowers by Tchaikovsky, the Can-Can from Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and lots of engaging, accessible pieces.
And for those ready to try playing music themselves, Bush – erstwhile piano teacher and recent father (his baby conducted the Queensland Symphony Orchestra during the album recording) – has just published Bluey: First Ever Piano Book (Faber, £8.99), which uses games and stories from the Bluey universe – and begins our heroine’s most exciting adventure yet: playing classical music.
Bluey: Up Here is out now via Demon Music Group
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