If you were a Wiggle watcher, or like us had kids who were Wiggle fans, you’ll understand why a box full of Wiggles was one of our fave finds this week.
For those not in the know, the Wiggles are an Australian children’s music group that formed back in 1991 and came up with a catchy TV show format. Each Wiggle wears a different colour top and has a particular characteristic. Back in the day when we were watching Greg performed magic tricks; Murray played the guitar; Jeff fell asleep and Anthony liked to eat. They were friends with a polka-dotted green dinosaur named Dorothy who wears a bonnet and eats roses, a friendly pirate named Captain Feathersword, a purple Octopus named Henry, and a floppy-eared dog named Wags.
The format of the shows was simple. Usually there was some situation such as Jeff won’t wake up or Dorothy loses her voice, and everyone got together to solve the problem in a few short skits, using simple dialogue, some quirky sound effects, lots of facial expressions and humour, with some singing and dancing thrown in along the way.
It all proved to be incredibly popular and in the mid 2000’s the Wiggles were named Business Review Weekly’s top-earning Australian entertainers, a spot they held on to for four years in a row, earning A$45 million in 2009 when they beat Kylie Minogue to the top of the BRW Entertainers Rich List. Much like the Beatles, the band even had a fifth Wiggle, who dropped out early on and missed out on the fame and glory.
Not surprisingly for a group that’s been around for over 20 years, earning shed loads of money, there have been some changes to the line-up and (alleged) disputes over money. However, the band is still going strong and one of the original Wiggles is still performing.
There’s a certain surreal quality to the Wiggles, with four grown men larking about, that was part of their appeal for us. If you never caught their act here are the original Wiggles in all their quirky glory performing one of their classics, Go Captain Feathersword Ahoy!
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