Mr. Squiggle
Alt nameMr. Squiggle and Friends
GenreChildren's television
CreatorNorman Hetherington
Presenter
VoicesNorman Hetherington
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Num seasons41
Num episodes2,788
RuntimeVaried between 5-100 minutes
NetworkABC
First aired1 July 1959
Last aired9 July 1999

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 having only been asked to fill a six week gap on the ABC's schedule.[6][7]

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]

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

Comedian Mikey Robins[18] 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]

Historical collection

In April 2024, the National Museum of Australia announced that it had acquired a collection of Norman Hetherington's puppets, scripts, artworks, props, graphics, merchandise, and fans' "squiggles", with the intention of eventually putting them on display.[25]

The National Museum of Australia put these items on display from July to October 2025.[26]

References

  1. ^ "Mr. Squiggle". Collectors. ABC Television. 2010-07-30. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  2. ^ Foyle, Lindsay (2010-12-08). "Creative mind thrilled children". The Age. Archived 2011-01-11 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  3. ^ Samandar, Lema (2010-12-07). "Puppetmaster draws final masterpiece". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  4. ^ "Mr. Squiggle". Australian Story. ABC Television. 1996-10-30.
  5. ^ "Man behind Mr Squiggle dies". ABC News. 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  6. ^ Miner, John (1984-07-11). "Mr. Squiggle is still drawing the children". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 17. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  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 2012-10-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-07-18. – via Issuu
  8. ^ Johnson, Cathy (1990-06-11). "Award-winning Stuff from Mr. Squiggle". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  9. ^ Musgrove, Nan (1964-10-28). "For the children "WONDERBOX"". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 32, no. 22. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-05-04. – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Norman Hetherington". Design and Art Australia Online. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  11. ^ Miller, Andrew (1979-07-05). "Squiggle: an ABC survivor". The Age. p. 7. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  12. ^ Bradshaw, Richard (December 2010). "Norman Hetherington 1921 – 2010 (Eulogy)". O.P.E.N. (Oz Puppetry Email Newsletter). Dream Puppets. pp. 2–4. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  13. ^ McDonald, Timothy (2010-12-07). "Mr Squiggle's creator dies". AM. ABC Local Radio
  14. ^ "MANY HAPPY RETURNS TO MR. SQUIGGLE". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 42, no. 8. 24 July 1974. p. 57. Retrieved 2011-07-18. – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ Perkins, Matthew (2008-04-04). "Mr Squiggle rockets in". ABC News. Archived 2012-11-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  16. ^ Toshack, Marie (1971-11-24). "Pulling the strings in a magic world". p. 20. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  17. ^ Cheeseman, John (2010-12-10). "A tribute to Norman Hetherington – Puppeteer, Cartoonist and 'National Treasure'". Mosman Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  18. ^ Quinn, Dhana (2001-05-17). "Five things you didn't know about . . . Mr Squiggle". The Age. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  19. ^ Guss, Naomi (2010-12-06). "Australian puppetry - Mr Squiggle". School of Puppetry. Puppets in Melbourne. Archived from the original on 2011-02-27. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  20. ^ Morris, Jill (1984-04-05). "Squiggle's friends make a fine team". The Age. p. 4. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  21. ^ Shearer, Geoff (2010-12-09). "Thank you Mr Squiggle for the moon". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  22. ^ Tuohy, Wendy (1996-10-23). "Mr Squiggle: magic on a string". The Age. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  23. ^ Vasek, Lanai (2010-12-07). "End of the line for Mr Squiggle animator". The Australian. Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  24. ^ "Royal Australian Mint celebrates 60 years of iconic Aussie TV show Mr Squiggle". Royal Australian Mint. 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  25. ^ Twyford, Lottie (29 April 2024). "National Museum of Australia acquires collection of Mr Squiggle creator, Norman Hetherington". ABC News. Archived 11 July 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  26. ^ Roy, Tahlia (4 July 2025). "Iconic Mr Squiggle items on show at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra". ABC News. Archived 4 July 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 July 2025. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington is free at the National Museum of Australian, open until mid-October.