mr. squiggle

Norman Hetherington/Mr Squiggle tribute on iView

Posted by hil

I was sad to hear a couple of days ago that Norman Hetherington, the creator and puppeteer of Mr. Squiggle had died.  The ABC has made their Australian Story program on him available on iView as a tribute. I was delighted that it includes some behind the scenes footage that shows how Mr Squiggle is operated! Be quick though, it’s is only available to view for 6 days!

Previously:

Upside down! Upside down!

Posted by hil

mr.squiggle

I get a lot of interest in my photos of Mr. Squiggle and friends, so I thought people might like to see the squiggle that Mr. Squiggle (aka Norman Hetherington) drew for me personally at the Puppet Summit in Melbourne in 2002. I guess over the years he has drawn them for many people!

Mr.Squiggle and friends

Posted by hil

Mr. Squiggle, a dearly loved kids TV puppet show in Australia for many years, has an exhibition as part of the Unima 2008 puppetry festival in Perth. Although its regarded as iconic, I have to admit running against the flow; I never really loved it either as a kid or an adult. I do like the puppets and their characters, though, and it was interesting to see how simply made they were made. Blackboard for instance is a piece of cardboard, with little (sand?)bags for feet, and the reason one of his eyes isn’t animated is that it was made so quickly they didn’t get that far. Of course, it gave him more character! Blackboard and Gus the cantankerous snail were always my favourites.

Mr.Squiggle’s creator, Norman Hetherington, and his wife Margaret, who scripted the shows, are both here at the festival.

  • The photos below are licensed under a Creative Commons license. Please use them within the terms of the license or make special arrangements to use them, and list the photo credit as “Hilary Talbot” and link the credit to Spiritsdancing.com.

Mr Squiggle puppets

Mr. Squiggle

Mr Squiggle puppets

Bill Steamshovel. His neck and catapillar tracks are plain foam.

Mr Squiggle puppets

Mr Squiggle puppets

Gus

Mr Squiggle puppets

Update: my own squiggle.

actgov.jpg

My attendence at Unima 2008 is supported by the ACT Government

Mr Squiggle – Who’s pulling the strings: The Art and Life of Norman Hetherington

Posted by hil

MrsquiggleMosman Art Gallery is hosting an
exhibition titled Mr Squiggle – Who’s
pulling the strings: The Art and Life of Norman
Hetherington from Sept 3rd to
October 9th.

‘This exhibition explores the career of Norman Hetherington, the originator, creator and puppeteer of the popular children’s ABC program, ‘Mr Squiggle’. Norman Hetherington has lived in Mosman for over 40 years and made a significant contribution to Australian television history and culture. The exhibition presents a variety of original puppets, drawings, cartoons,
promotional material and memorabilia, and ABC television program segments.’

Associated with the exhibition there will also be performances at the gallery on Sunday 25 September, 11am & 2pm. These will be a short and rare performance by Norman with Mr Squiggle followed by A Package for Granny by Sydney Puppet Theatre and Puppetease by Ross Browning. Bookings: 02 9978 4178

Norman was recently interviewed on ABC Radio National’s The World Today. You can read the interview here, or listen to it by following whichever format you prefer linked at the top of that page. It’s refreshing to hear someone recommending fun so much! At the Puppetry Summit a few years ago Norman was kind enough to do an upside down squiggle (Mr Squiggle’s particular thing) for me and others. I come across it in my notebook every now and then and it makes me smile.

Updated 2015: broken links