Mister Squiggle
|
|
Mr. Squiggle is the star of an ABC TV show and Australia's longest running children's series. Mr. Squiggle (a string Puppet with a pencil for a nose) came from the moon in his rocket (named Rocket) every episode and would draw a picture by joining up squiggles into meaningful pictures sent in to the show by children.
Mr. Squiggle was created by Norman Hetherington, and first aired in 1959. Hetherington voiced all the shows puppets, while his wife Margaret wrote the scripts. It was last on air in 2001.
The show has been presented in many formats, from five minute slots to a one and a half hour variety show featuring other performers, and has had several name changes. Yet the basic premise of the show has remained the same. Children write in with 'their squiggles' and Mr. Squiggle turns them into some recognisable thing or scene by connecting lines. More often than not, the picture would be drawn upside-down and then Mr. Squiggle would chant "upside down! upside down!", turning the picture the right way up and revealing the completed drawing.
Mr. Squiggle was helped by a human female assistant in all the shows incarnations; they included Miss Gina (Gina Curtis), Miss Pat (Pat Lovell), Miss Jane (Jane Fennell), and later series featured Roxanne (Roxanne Kimmorley) and Rebecca (Hetherington's daughter).
Other puppet characters that have appeared in the show include:
- Blackboard, the grumpy blackboard that Mr. Squiggle would draw upon, whose catchcry was "Hu-rry u-p, hu-rry u-p"
- Gus the snail (who had a TV for a shell)
- Bill the steam shovel
See also
External link
- Mr. Squiggle's official site (http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/kidstv/shows/prog235.htm)
- Mr. Squiggle's 40th Birthday (http://www.abc.net.au/arts/headspace/special/squiggle/default.htm)
- The Electric Omnibus Mr. Squiggle Fan Site (http://www.lexicon.net/fiawol/squiggle.htm)