Australian
Screen

Clip description

A new animated sequence brings Mr Squiggle’s rocket to earth. Meanwhile Rebecca (Hetherington) is setting up afternoon tea. Rocket touches down and Mr Squiggle (voiced by Norman Hetherington), with umbrella parachute, lands soon after. They call Blackboard to come and help with today’s squiggles.

Curator’s notes

For more than four decades Norman Hetherington created and performed puppet shows, and in 1956 appeared at the launch of ABC TV. Norman combined what he referred to as his ‘hobby’ of puppetry with work as a cartoonist, including the role of head cartoonist for The Bulletin magazine. In 1959 he was asked to devise a new character. Combining his love of cartooning and puppetry he decided to challenge himself by designing a marionette (string-operated) puppet with a pencil for a nose. In an interview I conducted with Norman in the Everingtons’ home, before Norman died in 2010, he commented, ‘I didn’t expect it to work but it was an experiment and the experiment worked’.

The production values in this clip are very simple, with the fishing-line strings that control Mr Squiggle clearly evident. Scenes are often covered in one camera angle and the shots and editing are slow paced. This style was common for children’s shows of the time and often due to financial restraints as more camera shots require more cameras and editing.

Evident in this clip is the warm and caring relationship Norman has with his daughter and on-screen ‘friend’ Rebecca. Mr Squiggle related to each of his helpers slightly differently and here is an example of his bantering with Rebecca who he saw as ‘the girl next door’ or Mr Squiggle’s playmate. Their familiarity enables the improvised and playful nature of their interactions.

Margaret Hetherington’s scripting also allows for this sense of spontaneity and relationship building in employing a thematic structure outline with room for ad libbed dialogue and genuine interaction. In this clip, Rebecca is playfully irritated by Blackboard as one would be irritated by an attention-seeking friend in real life. The genuine nature of the interactions increases the appeal of the characters to the audience.