Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows Alan’s loyal friend Maggie (Sally Anne Bourne) taking great delight in disproving an experiment by the teacher, Mr Tucker. Previously Mr Tucker had ridiculed Alan for theorising that ‘air doesn’t weigh anything’. The clip then shows Alan’s friends happily pushing him home in his ‘pram’. When a wheel falls off the contraption, Maggie gives Alan (Adam Garnett) a piggyback while the others drag the pram behind them. At home, after hearing of Maggie’s action, Alan’s father expresses his admiration for her loyalty to and concern for her friend.

Educational value points

• The clip is an excerpt from the television miniseries I Can Jump Puddles, based on the autobiographical novel of the same name written by Alan Marshall (1902–84). At the age of 6 he contracted poliomyelitis, which left him with a curvature of the spine and a withered right leg, and meant he had to wear a caliper (leg brace) and use crutches. Alan Marshall called himself Alan Towens in the novel and changed the names of friends and locations. The novel records Marshall’s experience of growing up in rural Victoria in the early 20th century and his determination to lead an active life despite his disability.

• After recovering from polio, Marshall remained mobile by using a homemade pram-wheelchair and crutches, and learned how to swim and ride a horse. His resolve not to let his disability hamper him was influenced by his father’s determination that he should lead as ‘normal’ a life as possible. While Marshall’s pram was homemade, large ‘pram beds’ were constructed for polio patients who had been discharged from hospital to enable them to travel between home and aftercare treatment.

• A recurrent theme in Marshall’s novels and short stories is the strong sense of community and solidarity among groups of people who are usually ‘battlers’. In the clip, Alan’s friends make it possible for him to attend school by assisting him at school and by keeping him mobile. Maggie’s actions both in the classroom and in carrying Alan home underline in the film that friends steadfastly stick by one another.

• In the clip, Alan’s disability does not prevent him from fully participating in community life. While at the time some people with disabilities tended to be marginalised rather than integrated into the community, Marshall’s family, particularly his father, fostered a fierce determination in him and expected him to overcome his disability.

• Poliomyelitis, or ‘polio’, is caused by a virus that invades the central nervous system and can rapidly cause various degrees of paralysis. The disease was widespread in Australia from the 1890s until a vaccine was discovered in the 1950s. For example, some 10,000 people were affected by polio and about 1,000 people died in an epidemic that lasted from 1946 to 1955. Polio was also known as ‘infantile paralysis’ because of the high numbers of young children affected by the disease. Polio generated much fear in the community, partly because it could cause permanent disability but also because of its sudden onset, characterised by flu-like symptoms. The disease is virtually unheard of today.

• The clip provides an insight into schooling of the period. In the early 1900s, small rural schools consisted of a single room with one teacher who instructed children of all ages in subjects such as mathematics, science, history, geography, reading and writing. Often, strict discipline was maintained, as demonstrated by the teacher’s approach in the clip. In this instance, the male teacher asks questions only of the boys, perhaps because expectations for girls were different from those for boys as a result of gender stereotyping at the time. Students generally remained at their desks, which were arranged in a series of rows to centre attention on the teacher, who stood at the front of the classroom. The desks included slots for pencils and inkwells, and storage compartments with lids for items such as books and other education materials.

• Alan Marshall was born in Noorat in the Western District of Victoria, the setting for the fictitious town of Turalla in I Can Jump Puddles. The author of 15 books, many of which depict the lives of ordinary people in rural communities, Marshall began contributing to newspapers and magazines and writing short stories in the 1930s. In 1954 a Commonwealth Literary Fund grant enabled him to write I Can Jump Puddles (1955), the first in his autobiographical trilogy, which included This Is the Grass (1962) and In Mine Own Heart (1963).

• I Can Jump Puddles was a nine-part miniseries made for television in 1981. The miniseries format was popular in the 1980s. Many well-known stories by Australian authors were turned into screenplays for television and many of Australia’s well-known actors began their careers in miniseries. The performances of the child actors in ?I Can Jump Puddles are noteworthy for their excellence. Adam Garnett is particularly convincing and sensitive in his portrayal of Alan.

In a classroom, Mr Tucker is conducting a science experiment. A boy stands at the teacher’s desk trying to pull a disc attached to the desk by a string. It won’t move and he returns to his seat.
Mr Tucker Hawke?
Hawke Yes, sir.
Mr Tucker Your turn.
The boy walks to the teacher’s desk and tugs on the string.
Mr Tucker Well?
Hawke Won’t come, sir.
Mr Tucker Well, of course it won’t come. The weight of air is holding it down.
Maggie puts her hand up.
Mr Tucker Yes?
Maggie Please, sir. May I have a go?
Mr Tucker If you wish.
She comes to the teacher’s desk, tugs on the string and the disc separates from the desk. The teacher sighs, having been proved wrong.

Maggie is pushing Alan home in his ‘pram’, accompanied by their friends.
Maggie You were right, Alan. Of course air doesn’t weigh anything. You should have seen me rip the guts out of that thing. Silly old bugger. Sticking it on with spit.
A wheel comes off the cart, it overturns and Alan tumbles out.
Freddy Are you alright?
Alan Yeah, I’m fine.
Maggie hoists Alan across her back to carry him home. The other children carry his bags and cart.
Maggie You just carry that. Cripes, you weigh more than air. That’s a cert!

Alan is sitting at home when his father comes by.
Father G’day Alan.
Alan Hi.
Father What’s this I hear about you making Molly carry you home on her back?
Alan Yeah. Me pram busted.
Father Yeah, well, I got you a new wheel.
Alan She only had four spells!
Father She’s got a heart like a bullock.