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Clip description
This clip is from the twelfth and final episode of Wambidgee, 'The Chief Wakes Up’. Wambidgee wakes the chief from sleep and tell him that there is a crocodile in the creek. The chief feels too tired and tells Wambidgee to deal with the crocodile. He then sends his son, Tomki, to visit the 'witch doctor’, Gerribung, to get some medicine.
Curator’s notes
This clip shows the influence of Namatjira’s paintings on the set design for this series. This is particularly present in the ochre-red earth, mountains, gum trees and colours of the desert sky. This clip is generally notable for the collision of Australiana, with a kookaburra, koalas and an emu all present on the set.
This was the final episode of Wambidgee and the technical quality of the animation has greatly improved over the 12 episodes. Unlike clip one, these scenes are mostly filmed in close-up which allows us to better appreciate the movement of the puppet’s mouth and blinking eyes as Wambidgee talks with the chief.
There are amusing touches in the character design, such as Gerribung’s missing teeth and the chief’s pot belly. But is the sleepy chief an amusing archetype to entertain children or a racist stereotype of a lazy Aboriginal man? Given the lack of creative involvement of Indigenous Australians in the making of this program, and the time when it was made, it’s hard to be sure.
