"The Wiggles Movie" is The Wiggles' first and currently only feature film. Produced by Gladusaurus Productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it was released in Australian theatres on Thursday December 18, 1997. it was the fifth-highest-grossing American film of 1997.
Summary[]
In the Movie, The Wiggles embark on a journey to find Dorothy the Dinosaur, since an amateur Magician Wally the Great, steals Greg's Magic Wand, which he thinks he needs to become a better Magician. Meanwhile, Dorothy is sad because she thinks that The Wiggles and everyone have forgotten her birthday, while in fact they're all planning a surprise party for her by performing at a circus tent that night.
Prologue[]
The Wiggles greet everyone in their studio and tells the audience that they are about to watch the "The Wiggles Movie." They say that you might see the Wiggly Friends and a new character known as Wally the Great who is a Magician. Anthony Wiggle's hand then gets hurt after Jeff Wiggle clicks a clapperboard Slate. He then looks embarrassed after Greg Wiggle and Murray Wiggle look at him. This introduction is only available on the VHS release.
Plot synopsis[]
Scene 1[]
Wally the Great (Tony Harvey), great-grandson of Waldo the Magnificent, is the aspiring amateur magician whose dream is to win the competition at the The Magic Club for Best Magician, hosted by his uncle Cecil the Magic Club President. However, he is confronted with his rival, Roland the Remarkable (Dale Burridge), who believes Wally is a nobody. Wally figures he needs a new wand if he wants to win.
Song 1: Hey There Wally
Scene 2[]
The Wiggles are performing live at a nearby primary school, Mrs. Bingle's School. Mrs. Bingle (Joanne Samuel), the teacher, has an accident with Anthony Wiggle after she blows the whistle to wake Jeff Wiggle up before the show, causing him to act extremely crazy. The Wiggles start the show.
Songs 2, 3 and 4: Dorothy (Would You Like to Dance?), Can You (Point Your Fingers and Do the Twist?), Rock-A-Bye Your Bear
Wally, watching from behind a wall, sees Dorothy the Dinosaur herself laying Greg Wiggle's (who is a magician) Magic Wand on a table while sulking that everyone has forgotten her birthday but really they were trying to keep the surprise party for her a secret. Wally quickly snatches it but gets cake on his face trying to reach for it, He then is caught by Dorothy after she sees it is not on the table. Wally runs to his bicycle and wipes his face off with a towel and puts on his helmet and attempts to take off but then Dorothy runs to him and tries to retrieve it but he and her both ride off but then crash into a stack of hay in a park after Wally notices her holding on behind his bike.
Songs 5 and 6: The Chase (Instrumental), Quack Quack
Scene 3[]
The two have a "tug of war" fight over the wand and the wand breaks in half. Meanwhile, The Wiggles decide to go out looking for Dorothy in the Big Red Car, after finding Wally's cape and assuming he may have captured Dorothy (as Greg says he knows Wally). They visit Henry the Octopus and his Underwater Big Band in order to track Dorothy.
Songs 7, 8 and 9: Rockin' and a Rollin' Sea, Boom Boom, Mrs. Bingles Theme
After learning that Henry has not seen Dorothy and having a quick musical number, the Wiggles visit Wags the Dog in Wags World. Shortly after that, Wally and Dorothy visit Wags to have the wand fixed, but Wally accidentally smashes the wand after Wags' pups try to play with it.
Song 10: Tap Wags
Wally and Dorothy help the local police constable Officer Beaples stop the Rose Robber and attend to a live opera dance academy.
Song 11: Ballerina, Ballerina
As the Wiggles continue their search for Dorothy, they happen upon Brrrrrr Street where they get frozen by a snow storm.
Dorothy and Wally visit Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate and his swashbuckling pirate gang on the S.S Feathersword.
Song 12: Ooh It's Captain Feathersword
Scene 4[]
Since they have no luck finding Dorothy, they go to the Wigglehouse where they ace a test given to them by the talking Door, mix up their skivvies and then bedroom doors, have a flashback of the first time they celebrated Dorothy's birthday, and do the Romp Bomp a Stomp.
Songs 13, 14 and 15: Romp Bomp a Stomp, I'm a Cow, Nya Nya Nya
During the adventures that Dorothy and Wally have, their friendship grows more and more. Dorothy leaves and sits on a bench, sadly, complaining to Wally that nobody remembers her birthday. Wally, having been reformed and become a friend to Dorothy, then says "I didn't forget your birthday" which makes Dorothy feel a little bit better.
Scene 5[]
Wally begins to daydream a vision about his grandfather, Waldo, saying to him to believe in himself and 3 Dancing Magicians dancing around him.
Song 16: Wally's Dream Music
Wally forgets all about the Magic Competition and is almost late but thanks to Dorothy, he makes it. However, Jimbo the Juggler blocks their way and says that Wally should put his tricycle vehicle in the full car park and that it is full but Wally thinks quick and says "You find a spot!" and tosses his helmet at him, leaving Jimbo pinch-faced. He then signs in and runs into Roland who clearly amuses the judges when his score is 10-9-9. Wally find his Grandfather's old chest of magic supplies and is confident in himself. He then finds a magicians jacket and puts on a new tie and vest and puts on a cape that's purple in front and gold in the back.
Scene 6[]
The Wiggles are waiting for Dorothy to come to the Party but nobody shows up. After Wally does his magic act, the judges score him 9-9-10. He wins the competition which leaves Roland jealous but at the same time impressed. Wally takes Dorothy to her party when it is just about to be cancelled and the party begins. Then everyone shouts surprise to her and sing a snippet of D.O.R.O.T.H.Y. (My Favourite Dinosaur) and then The Wiggles tell her that they didn't forget her birthday at all and they were trying it keep it a surprise and they were also worried when they ran after Wally but then Dorothy introduces Wally to them and Wally confesses to Greg that he broke his wand and gives him the pieces to it but then he hands him the Waldo's Wand that he won, but Greg says he has more wands and hands it back to Wally and tells him to keep it to remind him of the friends he made on the adventure. At the end, fireworks explode in the sky saying "The Wiggles", and then the credits roll.
Songs 17 and 18: Let's Have a Party, Wiggly Medley
Production[]
Development[]
The script was completed in August 1996.
While the Wiggles filmed the movie with their newly updated skivvies, belt designs, and new costumes for the Wiggly Friends, they still used plain skivvies and older costumes when they performed during the same time of the movie's filming. The unique aesthetic would be debuted on April 14, 1997.
Originally, the film was supposed to be released in November but was pushed to December.
The official soundtrack was recorded from August to December 1996.
Filming[]
Filming occurred from March 10 - April 11, 1997, over five to six weeks. The locations mainly included the Stables Building at Yaralla Estate (used as Mrs Bingle's School) and the Oatlands House (used as The Magic Club, including the interior of Mrs Bingle's School) as well as Max Film Studios and Mentmore House Studio for certain scenes (such as the scenes in Wiggles World and possibly the VHS opening, which were filmed on multiple sets).
Reception[]
Budget and Profit[]
The Film's Budget was $1.6-1.7 million American dollars. It was raised mainly by Producer/Executive Producer Hilton Fatt through private investors. By the end of January 1998, when its cinema run finished, it had made a total of $2.5 million at the box office.
In the 2011 documentary, Everybody Clap! Everybody Sing!, it is discussed that there were concerns about the Profit, as American theatres did not charge children ages three and under. It would eventually make a profit upon its successful home video release.
Cast[]
- The Wiggles: Murray Cook, Simon Pryce, Caterina Mete, Anni Hsu, Vivi Lin, Francisco Madrid, Jeff Fatt, Lachlan Gillespie, John Pearce, Danny Shao, Katty Villafuerte, Anthony Field, Lucia Field, Samuel Chung, Zoe Velez, Greg Page, Sam Moran, Emma Watkins, Tsehay Hawkins, Kelly Hamilton, Evie Ferris, Carlos Chang, Arthur Chen, Fernando Moguel
- Wally the Great: Tony Harvey
- Dorothy the Dinosaur: Feonie Wade
- Dorothy's Voice: Carolyn Ferrie
- Mrs. Bingle: Joanne Samuel
- Captain Feathersword: Paul Paddick
- Henry the Octopus: Vanessa Fallon-Rohanna
- Henry's voice: Jeff Fatt
- Wags the Dog: Paul Paddick, Paul Field (Circus Scene)
- Shirley Shawn the Unicorn: Jodie Hawkins
- Magic Club President: Norry Constantian
- Roland the Remarkable: Dale Burridge
- Little Girl with Glasses: Meaghan Woodhouse
- Jimbo the Juggler: Mic Conway
- Postman: Mic Conway
- Officer Beaples: Leanne Halloran, Lucy Stuart, Caterina Mete, Lucia Field
- Life-Saver: Paul Paddick
- Rose Robber: Paul Paddick
- Young Murray: Daniel Lack
- Young Jeff: Eddy Jong
- Young Anthony: Justin Woodhouse
- Young Greg: Lachlan McCarthy
- Wagettes: Lachlan McCarthy, Caterina Mete, Cassandra Halloran, Tamera Gillard, Jessica Halloran, Clare Field
- Ballerina: Holly McGlinchy
- Male Dancer: Cameron Lewis
- Alfonso Tiramisu (Tenor): Roger Lemke
- Ice Cream Boy: Luke Field
- Gelati Vendor: Luigi De Luca
- Dancing Magicians: Leanne Halloran, Donna Halloran, Edward Rooke
- Young Boy Pirate: Blake Bowden
Pirates[]
- Donna Halloran
- Cameron Lewis
- Craig Henderson
- Reem Hanwell
- Alissa Russo
- Elyssa Dawson
- Cie Jai Legget
- Kristen Knox
- Michelle Drady
- Rhiannah Kitching
- Sarah Bowden
Mrs. Bingle's Students[]
- Clare Field
- Amy Dunbar
- Emma Ryan
- Bradley Benson
- Jessica Halloran
- Sophie Hendrix
- Madeleine Hurley
- Caitlin Mollica
- Sian Ryan
- Shanna Curry
- Anthony Silvestrini
- Cassandra Halloran
Puppeteers[]
- Gavin Sainsbury
- Edward Rooke
- Sheryl Talmage
- Melissa King
- David Anthony
- Matthew McCoy
Uncredited Cast[]
- Baby Dorothy's Voice: Carolyn Ferrie
- Wags' Voice: Paul Paddick and Jeff Fatt (Songs only)
- Henry's Voice: Jeff Fatt
- Shirley Shawn's Voice: Emma Watkins
- Voice of Sir Lesley Longley: Anthony Field
- Voice of Jacques the Shark: Paul Field
- Voice of Waldo the Magnificent: Paul Field
- Other Students: Joseph Field, Leonardo Silvestrini, Sofia Silvestrini, Nicholas Hull, Timothy Rioseco, James Rioseco, Daniel Lack, Eddy Jong, Justin Woodhouse, Lachlan McCarthy
- Door's Voice: Tony Harvey
- Party Performers: Larissa Wright
- Judges: Anthony Field, Greg Page
Locations[]
- The Magic Club
- Mrs. Bingle's School
- Dorothy's Garden
- Henry's Place
- Wags World
- Wiggle Town
- Brrrrrr Street
- The S.S Feathersword
- Wigglehouse
- Circus Tent
Songs[]
- Hey There Wally
- Dorothy (Would You Like to Dance?)
- Can You (Point Your Fingers and Do the Twist?)
- Rock-A-Bye Your Bear
- Quack Quack
- Rockin' And a Rollin' Sea
- Boom Boom
- Mrs. Bingles Theme
- Tap Wags
- Ballerina, Ballerina
- Ooh It's Captain Feathersword
- Hot Potato (Young Wiggles)
- Romp Bomp a Stomp
- I'm a Cow
- Nya Nya Nya
- Wally's Dream Music
- Let's Have a Party
- Wiggly Medley