Mr. Squiggle

Mr. Squiggle (originally also known as Mr. Squiggle and Friends) is an Australian children's television series, and the name of the title character from that ABC show. The show was presented on television in many formats, between its inception on 1 July 1959[1] and 1999, from five-minute slots to a one-and-a-half-hour variety show featuring other performers,[2][3] and has had several name changes, originally airing as Mr. Squiggle and Friends. At its height, the program was one of the most popular children's programs in Australia and toured theatre and conventions, entertaining several generations who grew with the program. It became one of the longest-running children's programs on Australian television,[4][5] despite originally only asked to fill a six week gap on the ABC's schedule.[6][7]

Mr. Squiggle
Also known asMr. Squiggle and Friends
GenreChildren's television
Created byNorman Hetherington
Presented by
Voices ofNorman Hetherington
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons41
Production
Running timeVaried between 5 minutes and 90 minutes
Release
Original networkABC
Original release1 July 1959 (1959-07-01) –
9 July 1999 (1999-07-09)

History

Mr. Squiggle, the central character was created by cartoonist and puppeteer Norman Hetherington OAM,[8][9][10] and the character first appeared on the Children's TV Club on ABC TV,[2][11] but was spun off into his own programme which first aired on 1 July 1959. Hetherington voiced and operated all of the show's puppets, while his wife Margaret wrote the scripts.[5]

The basic premise of the show remained the same: children wrote in with their "squiggles" and Mr. Squiggle would turn them into recognisable drawings by connecting lines with his pencil nose. More often than not, the picture would be drawn upside down (Hetherington manipulated the puppet from above by viewing the drawing upside down), and then Mr. Squiggle would gleefully declare, "Upside down! Upside down!"—asking his assistant to turn the picture the right way up and reveal the completed drawing.[12][13] Every child whose "squiggle" was used on the show was sent a letter from Mr Squiggle himself.[14][15] According to one interview, one little girl even sent Hetherington three handkerchiefs for Christmas.[16]

External images
image icon Photograph of Norman Hetherington's original "Mr. SQUIGGLE" model.
Source: National Archives of Australia
image icon Photograph of Norman Hetherington's original "Mr. SQUIGGLE" model, from the front, waving.
Source: National Archives of Australia
image icon Photograph of Norman Hetherington's original "Mr. SQUIGGLE" model, from the side, waving.
Source: National Archives of Australia
image icon Norman Hetherington's 1962 application to register the Copyright for the "Mr. SQUIGGLE" puppet.
Source: National Archives of Australia
image icon Mr SQUIGGLE Costume, used at the "Journey of a Nation" Centenary of Federation parade, Sydney, Australia, 2000.
Source: Powerhouse Museum

The last episode went to air just over 40 years after the first, on 9 July 1999. The last episode was produced in 1997; however, it was not until 2001 that the contract with the ABC concluded. After the show ceased production, the entire cast of puppets from Mister Squiggle and Friends were owned by the show's creator, Norman Hetherington. They have been loaned for display at exhibitions, such as at the National Film and Sound Archive and as part of the "50 Years of TV" exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in 2007. Hetherington and his puppets appeared on the ABC TV series Collectors in 2010.[1] In 2005 the Mosman Art Gallery hosted a major exhibition on the art and life of Norman Hetherington called "Mr Squiggle, Who’s Pulling the Strings". It included an envelope that a child had addressed to "Mr Squiggle, The Moon", which was delivered to the show.[12][17][7]

Characters
  • Mr. Squiggle - Mr. Squiggle, the central character is a marionette with a pencil for a nose, who visits his friends from his home at 93 Crater Crescent on the Moon,[4][18] flying to Earth in his pet rocket (named Rocket). In every episode he would create several pictures from "squiggles" sent in by children from around the country. Mr. Squiggle is a cheery, gentle and good-natured yet scatter-brained character who is often distracted and occasionally goes for "space-walks", leading his assistant to calm him down and get him to focus on the task of drawing.

Other characters

Other puppet characters that appeared in the show included:

Assistants

Mr. Squiggle was helped by a human assistant in all of the show's incarnations; they included Miss Gina (Gina Curtis), Miss Pat (Pat Lovell),[5] Miss Jane (Jane Fennell),[22][23] and later series featured Roxanne (Roxanne Kimmorley)[22] and Rebecca (Rebecca Hetherington, Hetherington's daughter).[5] In his first incarnation as Mr. Jolly Squiggle on the Children's TV Club his assistant was Miss Faith (Faith Linton).

Guest cast

Comedians Mikey Robins[18] and Merrick Watts played one of the show's characters, Reg Linchpin, for a year from 1989 to 1990. Other notable guest performers on the show included actor Paul Chubb and magician Timothy Hyde.

Commemorated

In February 2019 the Royal Australian Mint released a series of two dollar coins to mark the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of the programme.[24] The coins feature images of Squiggle himself, Gus the Snail, Bill the Steam Shovel, and Blackboard.[24]

See also

References
  1. "Mr. Squiggle". Collectors. 30 July 2010. ABC Television. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  2. Foyle, Lindsay (8 December 2010). "Creative mind thrilled children". The Age. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  3. Samandar, Lema (7 December 2010). "Puppetmaster draws final masterpiece". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  4. "Mr. Squiggle". Australian Story. 30 October 1996. ABC Television. Transcript.
  5. "Man behind Mr Squiggle dies". ABC News. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  6. Miner, John (11 July 1984). "Mr. Squiggle is still drawing the children". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 17. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  7. Panozzo, Steve (Summer 2009). "The Jim Russell Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cartooning - Norman Hetherington". Inkspot. No. 60. Australian Cartoonists' Association. pp. 26–27. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011 – via Issuu.
  8. Johnson, Cathy (11 June 1990). "Award-winning Stuff from Mr. Squiggle". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  9. Musgrove, Nan (28 October 1964). "For the children "WONDERBOX"". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 32, no. 22. p. 17. Retrieved 4 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "Norman Hetherington". Design and Art Australia Online. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  11. Miller, Andrew (5 July 1979). "Squiggle: an ABC survivor". Green Guide. The Age. p. 7. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  12. Bradshaw, Richard (December 2010). "Norman Hetherington 1921 – 2010 (Eulogy)" (PDF). O.P.E.N. (Oz Puppetry Email Newsletter). Dream Puppets. pp. 2–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  13. McDonald, Timothy (7 December 2010). "Mr Squiggle's creator dies". AM. ABC Local Radio. Transcript.
  14. "MANY HAPPY RETURNS TO MR. SQUIGGLE". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 42, no. 8. 24 July 1974. p. 57. Retrieved 18 July 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. Perkins, Matthew (4 April 2008). "Mr Squiggle rockets in". ABC News. Perth. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  16. Toshack, Marie (24 November 1971). "Pulling the strings in a magic world". p. 20. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  17. Cheeseman, John (10 December 2010). "A tribute to Norman Hetherington – Puppeteer, Cartoonist and 'National Treasure'". Mosman Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  18. Quinn, Dhana (17 May 2001). "Five things you didn't know about . . . Mr Squiggle". The Age. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  19. Guss, Naomi (6 December 2010). "Australian puppetry - Mr Squiggle". School of Puppetry. Puppets in Melbourne. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. Morris, Jill (5 April 1984). "Squiggle's friends make a fine team". Green Guide. The Age. p. 4. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  21. Shearer, Geoff (9 December 2010). "Thank you Mr Squiggle for the moon". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  22. Tuohy, Wendy (23 October 1996). "Mr Squiggle: magic on a string". Green Guide. The Age. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  23. Vasek, Lanai (7 December 2010). "End of the line for Mr Squiggle animator". The Australian. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  24. "Royal Australian Mint celebrates 60 years of iconic Aussie TV show Mr Squiggle". Royal Australian Mint. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
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