The
Wiggly Wiggles
Australia's Best-Loved
Children's Entertainers
All Reviews by Pam Gordon
Copyright © 2004 CyberParent. All rights
reserved
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The
Wiggly Wiggles |
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The Wiggles love children and their love shows. They will have your kids singing, dancing, clapping, wiggling, learning, communing, and having fun!
The costumed Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, Officer Beaples, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword and others costar with four Australian guys (Greg, Murray, Anthony, and Jeff) who sing, play the guitar, the accordion, and the keyboard while teaching, dancing, and wiggling right on into your kid's heart.
A little history: Three of these four guys met while studying early childhood education. Their first album was published in 1991 and it has been an uphill success story for them ever since. As a touring band, the Wiggles have kept in contact with their public and that has fueled their growth. However, the real secret to their success is that they love children and they have obvious and uninhibited fun entertaining those children. In return, young kids, almost without fail, adore the Wiggles.
Parents are pleased with the Wiggles, too. Parents recognize and appreciate the educational value as well as the societal values these guys and their entourage impart. Michael Fitzgerald wrote for Time Magazine, "The Wiggles promote social behavior, urging children to engage with a world that is becoming increasingly virtual."
Although the songs are exceptional with a few good Aussie words (educational in itself) and enough repetition to get kids hooked, the vigorous action is another attraction. It gets kids off the couch, moving, wiggling, learning, and laughing.
That action is the reason the videos are a better first buy than the audio CDs. Certainly do purchase a couple of well-loved CDs for the car but first purchase and watch the visuals. Follow with the CDs and your kids will be wiggling away in their car seats--singing, clapping, and having a blast!
While some older kids will enjoy them a few times, The Wiggles are best for babies through first grade. Not even an adult can stay around these catchy tunes, though, without humming a few the rest of the day. It's a terrific way for the entire family to sing and dance and wiggle around like silly nuts.
The Wiggles are the Australian answer to Barney complete with the same or similar plots, bold colors, and slapstick comedy--even Dorothy the Dinosaur. However, the Australians seem to do a better job of it.
Most publications have 12-16 songs in VHS tapes or DVDs and run about
40 minutes--some longer, some shorter--except for The Wiggles Magical
Adventure which is 70 minutes of wiggly fun. You can also buy audio CDs for
most releases.
Many of the VHS-DVD publications, such as Wiggle Bay and Cold Spaghetti Western,
have a story to tell as a bonus to the music and interactive
entertainment. Most of the DVDs have some extras (not included on VHS) such
as extra songs that make them worth the slight additional cost.
Another Big Bonus: Try showing The Wiggles in late morning or early afternoon. It almost guarantees your little one will take a nice, long nap!
To sum it up: My opinions with reviews following...
Wiggle Time or Yummy,
Yummy are great introductions to the
Wiggles. Even the youngest family member will wiggle along. They are also good
CDs.
Cold Spaghetti Western is an absolute hoot! We
love it!
Wiggly Wiggly World is a world full of
friends and cultural diversity. Great CD, too!!
Best Wiggles Gift Pack contains Wiggle Time, Toot
Toot, Yummy Yummy at a savings.
Hoop-Dee-Doo and Wiggles
Magical Adventure are two of the best for older children.
Top of the Tots and Wake
Up, Jeff, while still good, seemed a bit slower than the
others.
Wiggles Space Dancing and Wiggly
Play Time did not seem up to par in my family's opinion. They are
good ones to skip unless you are Wiggles' collectors.
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Cold Spaghetti Western An eclectic western that mixes Australian and American cowboys with Mariachi music and pasta. The Wiggles friend Alfonso must find his secret pasta ingredient to save the Great Western Café from going under. Out of 13 songs, the high spot is a traditional Mariachi band performing to the Spanish language "Cielito Lindo." Your kids will love it and so will you. What a hoot! |
Dance Party A little more primitive than the Wiggles today, it is still a good production with all the energy and fun of those guys at an earlier age. For Wiggles fans, it's fun to see the younger guys (first released in 1995) and kids love them all. Some of their always exuberant songs include I'm a Cow, Hat on My Head, and Do the Flap. |
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Hoop-Dee-Doo! It's a Wiggly Party At the Wiggles party, even the backdrops are wiggling kaleidoscopic wonders while Captain Feathersword is the life of the party. Groovy songs like Dance the Oooby Dooby and La Cucaracha. So step, step, step! Clap, clap, clap. Wiggle your hips, just like that! This is one of the Wiggles that will most appeal to older children. |
Toot Toot When the Wiggles' dune buggy won't start-- Toot, Toot-- it's time to sing and dance such goodies as Look Both Ways, I Climb Ten Stairs, and Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes. There is even a musical push to eat healthy here. As always, the energy is fantastic! |
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Top of the Tots The Wiggles are still music geniuses but in Top of the Tots they are also interviewing real-life folks: a pilot, dentist, firefighter, doctor, and even an Olympic gold-medal swimmer. Although the interviews are educational, they take away from the Wiggles who don't dance or cavort in this one. In general it just does not have the energy or appeal of the others. |
Wake Up, Jeff Again, this is one of the earlier ones and it is not quite as professional. The pacing is a little slow, but songs like Bing Bang Bong and Having Fun at the Beach are certainly up to par. The guys are still fun, but you will find this video is just a little more home done than the Wiggles in their later years. |
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Whoo Hoo Wiggly Gremlins This will be released at the end of July, 2004. We understand that it will be a full length feature that appeals more to older children than children under 2. As soon as we get a copy, we will review it. In the meantime, you can order it now and have it shipped to you as soon as it is released. |
Wiggle Bay Rowing into Wiggle Bay for a beach party with rosey tea and rolling down sandhills, the guys forget to tie up their boat. It floats away but after some crazy singing and dancing, a beautiful dancing mermaid, Magdalena, brings it back. Add a magic shell and your kids are wiggling on! Join The Wiggles when they solve the mystery and return the golden key to its rightful owner. Note there are no children dancing in Wiggle Bay. |
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Wiggle Time Get ready to wiggle with the Aussies through their best introductory video. You will meet all the guys and the main costumed characters: Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, Dorothy the Dinosaur, and the great Captain Feathersword. Sing and dance to Quack Quack, Here Comes a Bear, Uncle Noah's Ark, and I Love It When It Rains. We have the CD for the car. Even the youngest family member will wiggle along here. |
Wiggles Magical Adventure - A Wiggly Movie To Dorothy the Dinosaur, it appears that the Wiggles have forgotten her birthday when in reality they are planning to surprise her. All's well that ends well with a celebration of friendship and Dorothy is happy again. Songs include Romp Bomp a Stomp, I'm a Cow, Nya Nya Nya, Let's Have a Party. Another good one for the older kids. |
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Wiggles Space Dancing There are only six songs here and everything seems "off." The Wiggles accidentally blast off into space where they visit the planets Rock Star, Teenie Weenie and Gloomy World. When they return to earth wondering if the trip was just a dream, we are wondering why we bought this one. I think this is a good one to skip. |
Wiggly Play Time This video is made up of episodes of the Wiggles TV Show. It gets a little boring in spots because it does not have as much music plus some of the music is a repeat from an earlier release. Another good one to skip unless you are a Wiggles collector. It left us cold when compared to the others. |
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Wiggly Safari Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin fits right in as they all sing, dance, and share educational facts about cockatoos, kookaburras, crocodiles, emus and other Australian wildlife. DVD has a picture gallery of over 60 photos from Australia Zoo. Exceptional for children who love animals--and what child does not? |
Wiggly Wiggly World Friends from around the world join the Wiggles and Dorothy the Dinosaur and Henry the Octopus. Such notables as Slim Dusty, the Aussie Country Music Legend join in the fun with music from around the world. Sixteen musical numbers form the fun in another wiggly world of cultural diversity. |
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 Buy DVD Buy VHS Buy Audio CD Yummy Yummy The Wiggles sing about mashed bananas, hot potatoes, crunchy munchy honey cakes and perform the Jewish song Havenu Shalom Alachem with gusto. Fruit Salad teaches about cooking and cleaning up afterwards.Get set for a deliciously good time here. Numbers Rhumba is exceptional even for the Wiggles! |
Keep scrolling down for Christmas Wiggles and gift packs. Plus we hear that a new Christmas release is planned for the 2004 yuletide season. We will review it when available. |
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The Wiggles at Christmas |
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Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas Old favorite Christmas tunes such as Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and.Here Comes Santa Claus plus some originals such as Christmas Picnic and Jeff's Christmas Tune plus the Wiggles energy add up to an exciting seasonal video. Wiggly children, dressed as elves or reindeer, add to the Christmas fun. |
Yule Be Wiggling This Christmas video has many original songs and a few old favorites such as Jingle Bells and Angels We Have Heard on High. These guys and their costumed cast have done a good job of portraying the Christian meaning of Christmas and just plain fun. Your family will love And the World is One On a Christmas Morning. |
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Wiggles Gift Packs at a Savings! |
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 Buy VHS Wiggles 3 Pack: Wiggle Time Toot Toot Yummy Yummy |
 Buy DVD Wiggles 2 Pack: Dance Party Yummy Yummy |
 Buy VHS Wiggles 3 Pack: Wake Up Jeff Wiggly Safari Wiggly Wiggly World |
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Reviews by Pam Gordon
Copyright © 2004 CyberParent. All rights reserved.
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Note: The
opinions expressed herein are exclusively those of the writers and do not necessarily
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