Motown Magic

Motown Magic is an animated children's television series, created by Josh Wakely, and produced for Netflix. The series follows Ben, described by Netflix as "a wide-eyed 8-year-old with a big heart and an amazing imagination", who uses a magic paintbrush to bring the street art in Motown to life. Wakely acquired worldwide rights from the music of Motown to feature in the series. The program features versions of songs by the popular record label, performed by contemporary recording artists and interwoven into the narrative. Motown hits that are recorded in the series are from such performers as The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.^[1][2]

Motown Magic
Genre	Animated Children's Urban fantasy
Created by	Josh Wakely
Directed by	Josh Wakely
Opening theme	"ABC" performed by Zacary James and Motown Magic Cast
Ending theme	"ABC" performed by Zacary James and Motown Magic Cast
Composer	Bob Mothersbaugh
Country of origin	United States Australia
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	51
Production
Executive producers	Mikael Borglund Josh Wakely
Producer	Josh Wakely
Running time	15 minutes
Production companies	Grace: A Storytelling Company Beyond Entertainment PolyGram Entertainment EMI Music Publishing Sony-ATV Music Publishing
Original release
Network	Netflix 7TWO (Australia)
Release	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20) – June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)

The series was first made available worldwide on Netflix on November 20, 2018.^[3]

Cast and characters

• Avia Fields as Ben
• Marissa Buccianti as Ella
• Betsy Kenney as Angie
• Monie Mon as Mickey
• Alex Thomas as Brad, Jimmy Mack
• Steven Cantor as Dancing Machine
• Rhonda Morman as Grandma Ruby
• Ryan Robinson as Grandpa Marvin
• Byron Marc Newsome as Uncle Rod
• Kelly Jean Badgley as Jenny, Stephanie, Mrs Hernandez
• Ingrid Nilson as Harmony
• Autumn Joy as Bernadette, Skywritter
• Amanuel Richards as Bill
• Peter Tiganis as Johnny
• Tessa VonderHaar as Nelly
• Lani Minella as Lorenzo
• Lauren Flans as Bonnie
• Marc Graue as Magical River
• AJ Hudson as Hunter
• Dustin Green as Skateboard
• Shawn Michael Howard as Clarence
• Michael Bearden as Doc Ellington

Episodes

Series overview

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
1	25		November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
2	26		June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)

Season 1 (2018)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"It's Easy as ABC"	Josh Wakely	John Armstrong	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
2	2	"Dancing Machine"	Josh Wakely	Cleon Prineas	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
3	3	"Jimmy Mack"	Josh Wakely	Joe Ansolabehere	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
4	4	"My Girl"	Josh Wakely	Story by : Joe Ansolabehere Written by : John Armstrong	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
5	5	"Mickey's Monkey"	Josh Wakely	Erica Harrison	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
6	6	"Happy Birthday"	Josh Wakely	Michael Carrington	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
7	7	"Dancing in the Street"	Josh Wakely	Jennifer Skelly	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
8	8	"Money (That’s What I Want)"	Josh Wakely	Cleon Prineas	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
9	9	"Master Blaster"	Josh Wakely	Joe Ansolabehere and Cleon Prineas	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
10	10	"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)"	Josh Wakely	Michael Carrington	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
11	11	"Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
12	12	"Ben"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
13	13	"(Love Is Like a) Heatwave"	Josh Wakely	Jonathan Rosenthal and Charlotte Rose Hamlyn	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
14	14	"War"	Josh Wakely	Henry "Hank" Jones	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
15	15	"The Tracks of My Tears"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn	July 24, 2023 (2023-07-24)
16	16	"Road Runner"	Josh Wakely	Doreen Spicer-Dannelly and Cleon Prineas	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
17	17	"Smiling Faces Sometimes"	Josh Wakely	Henry "Hank" Jones	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
18	18	"Twenty-Five Miles"	Josh Wakely	Cleon Prineas	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
19	19	"Skywriter"	Josh Wakely	Erica Harrison	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
20	20	"Runaway Child, Running Wild"	Josh Wakely	Denise Downer	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
21	21	"Don't Mess with Bill"	Josh Wakely	Joe Ansolabehere and Cleon Prineas	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
22	22	"Stop in the Name of Love"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
23	23	"I Wish"	Josh Wakely	Henry "Hank" Jones	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
24	24	"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"	Josh Wakely	Doreen Spicer-Dannelly and Cleon Prineas	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)
25	25	"For Once in My Life"	Josh Wakely	Jennifer Skelly	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)

Season 2 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
26	1	"I Heard It Through The Grapevine"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
27	2	"Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
28	3	"Superstition"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn and Erica Harrison	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
29	4	"How Funky Is Your Chicken"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn and Cleon Prineas	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
30	5	"Skate to the Rhythm"	Josh Wakely	Henry "Hank" Jones	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
31	6	"My Guy"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
32	7	"You've Really Got a Hold on Me"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
33	8	"I Wish It Would Rain"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
34	9	"Somebody's Watching Me"	Josh Wakely	Henry "Hank" Jones	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
35	10	"Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
36	11	"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
37	12	"I'll Be Doggone"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
38	13	"He's Misstra Know-It-All"	Josh Wakely	Jennifer Skelly	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
39	14	"You Can't Hurry Love"	Josh Wakely	Jennifer Skelly	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
40	15	"Uptight (Everything's Alright)"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
41	16	"Agent Double O Soul"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
42	17	"You Haven't Done Nothin'"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
43	18	"Christmas Everyday"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
44	19	"Don't Let the Joneses Get You Down"	Josh Wakely	Henry "Hank" Jones	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
45	20	"Keep on Truckin'"	Josh Wakely	Jennifer Skelly	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
46	21	"Easy"	Josh Wakely	Henry "Hank" Jones	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
47	22	"Reach Out I'll Be There"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
48	23	"I Want You Back"	Josh Wakely	Henry "Hank" Jones	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
49	24	"Nowhere to Run"	Josh Wakely	Charlotte Rose Hamlyn	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
50	25	"Higher Ground"	Josh Wakely	Erica Harrison	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)
51	26	"Living for the City"	Josh Wakely	Josh Mapleston	June 28, 2019 (2019-06-28)

Reception

Motown Magic received favourable reviews. Critics praised the concept of reimagining Motown songs for a young audience.^[4]

Other media

Soundtracks

The first soundtrack to the show was released on online music-streaming service Apple Music on November 20, 2018.^[5]