I think most of the appeal of the Wiggles has already been mentioned. They sing simple songs that little kids can appreciate, but they’re not so syrup-y sweet as to induce diabetes in parents and older siblings, unlike e.g. Barney. The characters they present are simple, easy to recognize, and always cheery. At least two of the band members are trained pre-school teachers so they know a bit about talking to kids. The videos are colorful and full of action. All of this appeals to little kids. Totnak loves 'em, and if he had his way would listen to nothing else but “Wiggly Wiggly World” in the car.
And as an aside, I wonder what the guy who plays Captain Feathersword is like with a couple beers in him
Well, the World’s Cutest Tygr Cub™, who just turned 2, is also bonkers about the Wiggles. “Ha-ha! Wiggews!”
'Course, she actually loves the whole Playhouse Disney lineup. Even the new “Jo-jo’s Circus” show. “Ha-ha! Jo-jo Ciwcus!”
I think her favorite is “Rolie Polie Olie”. “Ha-ha! Polie-olie! Polie-olie! Polie-olie!”
I think my favorite is Stanley. “Ohhhh, Stan-ey!” (That’s me, that time.)
But I’m disappointed they moved Bear in the Big Blue House to oh-dark-thirty in the a.m. Neither of us are willing to be up that early, and I miss Bear & Luna’s chats.
And I haven’t had many Wiggles songs stuck in my head (except that annoying one about Wags loving to tango). BUT…
Iiiiiit’s theeee Great Big Book of Everything, with everything inside!
See the world around us, this book’s the perfect guide!
<Dennis> Oh, great. Not YOU, too! </Dennis>
It’s time for me to go to bed, but this dumb song’s stuck in my heaaaaad!
My son really loved Bear in the Big Blue House for a while, and I was always impressed at the quality of the music on the show. We don’t have cable, however, so the only times we see it are at one of the grandparents houses or on video, and my daughter (now 4) isn’t nearly as taken with it as my son was at that age. But the canonical response around our house to the question “What’s that smell?” is still “Smells like cornflakes”.
I’m also with you on Stanley, which my son likes but hasn’t ever gone totally gaga over like he did Thomas, Blues Clues, and the Wiggles.
The best thing about the Wiggles? On a Saturday afternoon, my 2 year old is absolutely locked in on their video for about 40 minutes when Mommy and Daddy need some… ahem… ‘alone time’.
A friend of mine works at Madison Square Garden and did the recent Wiggles show…I had never even heard of them, nor had she.
However, she told me tickets were hot, with parents paying $500 and up to make sure their tots got seats nearer the stage. She said it was a madhouse.
When I asked her to describe the group and what they did, she said “four flaming queens from Australia, but very funny and the kids just loved them.” (NOTE: That was just her first impression - by no means any backstage “proof” that they are Gay or not Gay or whatever.)
Hmm, I never got that sense watching them(Though, I haven’t seen them live). It’s simply that many typical masculine behaviors are intimidating. If you want kids to accept you as their tv friend, you have to change your body language and manner of speech.
Yeah, but you guys more than make up for it with the massive amount of actors you send over. Gibson, Jackman, Kidman, Blanchett, Crowe, DeRossi, Neill, Hogan, Imbruglia, Ledger, Pearce, Rush, and Weaving more than make up for it.
And my 2 year old likes the Wiggles O.K., but she’d much rather watch Jojo’s Circus. And Officer Peebles freaks me out. Somebody get that woman on some serious medication.
I completely agree – I would have said they more come across as SNAGs (sensitive new age guys) than as DMark’s friend put it “flaming queens”. Also being on stage, they tend to be somewhat theatrical in their body language – something that could be considered (or mistaken for) “camp”.
Another aspect is that they do actions to songs that are appropriate to the songs, but perhaps not commonly seen from men – a good example is “I am a dancer” where all four of them do ballerina moves en pointe.
BTW, and back to the OP – no eyebrows? I was re-watching a Wiggles DVD on the weekend and I’m assuming Jeff is the one whose eyebrows (or lack thereof) were being commented on as the other three have quite noticeable brows… or in Anthony’s case, brow. Jeff does have brows, but many Asians have sparse facial hair and taken along with his skin tone his brows become less obvious. (Just in case anyone cared).
