Wiggles and giggles

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This article was published 15/10/2009 (6155 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — As any disgruntled mall Santa can attest, the business of keeping kids happy can be cutthroat, even for a friendly pirate on board with one of the most successful children’s entertainment groups in the world whose cutlass couldn’t even slice butter.

"I’ve caused a lot of children to cry for some reason," says Paul Paddick, who goes by his stage name Captain Feathersword when he’s performing with the Australian ensemble The Wiggles. "It’s not so much, ‘You’re not really Captain Feathersword,’ as, ‘You’re a scary person.’ I think my voice by nature is very confronting close up. It’s OK at a distance on TV or onstage, but when I’m very close to someone, I tend to send a lot of kids off crying."

With his hearty, boisterous laugh, it’s no wonder some kids still envision a ruthless buccaneer. But the jolly 42-year-old actor, who eschews traditional weaponry in favour of his tickling feather sword in order to promote non-violence, exudes a genuine warmth and cheerfulness towards children that seems common to the entire Wiggles franchise.

Wearing their trademark multicoloured skivvies, the four men who comprise The Wiggles have combined musical talent and showmanship, guided by their backgrounds in early childhood education, to create an entertainment empire since their formation in 1991.

Along with the secondary cast that includes such colourful characters as Feathersword and Dorothy the Dinosaur, The Wiggles name now adorns CDs, videos, television shows, and theme park sections around the world at places such as Six Flags. Aside from their massive global media presence, these moppet maestros almost constantly tour with their stage show and happily meet with youngsters (typically special-needs children) on a daily basis — even though these gatherings don’t always turn into Kodak moments.

"A lot of children are very shy when they come to the meet-and-greets; they don’t realize quite how big we are (in person), especially Murray (Cook, the red Wiggle) — he’s like, 6-foot-4. If I happen to not be aware, I’ll turn around and go, ‘Hello! Blahblahblahblah!’ and that’s just it. That sends them over the edge. Then you spend the whole five minutes trying to get them to stop crying and turn their face for a decent photo."

Their latest theatrical act, entitled The Wiggles Go Bananas! after their most recent album, features more animal-related numbers, including the hit Monkey Man, featuring Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, as well as more acrobatics and a gymnastic monkey mascot frolicking about. Of course, even with all the new material, fans can still expect to hear the classics. The Wiggles learned that lesson after leaving out hits previously, and according to Paddick, the backlash was palpable.

"(Our audiences) seem to love Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy. We tried to take that out a few years back and there was an uproar. It was very instantaneous, actually. On the tour, if it wasn’t there and there was ever a chance for someone to vocalize what they would like, everybody would say Fruit Salad! Fruit Salad!"

As the premiere rock stars for the under-seven demographic, Paddick admits that, in that sense, Fruit Salad is kind of like The Wiggles’ own Free Bird.

"It seems to be," he laughs. "We’ve actually never tried taking out Hot Potato because if we pulled that, we might see the same uproar. We always seem to have Here Comes A Bear, Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car and Point Your Fingers and Do The Twist, as well. Those seem to be good staples that most people really like having in there."

For the few tears shed by inconsolable youth intimidated by their physical size or frustrated at their song choices, the Wiggles instil millions of smiles and laughs into the hearts of kids worldwide. The realm of children’s entertainment can occasionally be one of tough love, but Paddick doesn’t see himself hanging up his eye patch and turning his sabre into a duster any time soon.

"The joys are extraordinary: the looks on their faces when you come out on stage; watching an entire show where every child in the auditorium is singing and dancing and jumping up and down on their dad and mom," Paddick says. "That outweighs any possible downside. It’s just an extraordinary thing every day — to have that joy coming from something you’re doing."

 

— Canwest News Service