"The Wiggles Movie" (internationally released as a "Magical Adventure! A Wiggly Movie" in North America) is The Wiggles' first feature film. Produced by Gladusaurus Productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it was released in Australian cinemas on December 18, 1997. Its soundtrack was released two months prior on October 17, 1997. it was the fifth-highest-grossing Australian film of 1997.
In the Movie, The Wiggles embark on a journey to find Dorothy the Dinosaur, since an amateur Magician Wally the Great, steals Greg's Magic Wand, which he thinks he needs to become a better Magician. Meanwhile, Dorothy is sad because she thinks that The Wiggles and everyone have forgotten her birthday, while in fact they're all planning a surprise party for her by performing at a circus tent that night.
Prologue[]
The Wiggles greet everyone in their studio and tells the audience that they are about to watch the "The Wiggles Movie." They say that you might see the Wiggly Friends and a new character known as Wally the Great who is a Magician. Anthony Wiggle's hand then gets hurt after Jeff Wiggle clicks a clapperboard Slate. He then looks embarrassed after Greg Wiggle and Murray Wiggle look at him. This introduction is only available on the VHS release, but not the DVD.
The Wiggles are performing at a school. Mrs. Bingle (Joanne Samuel), the principal, had an accident with Anthony after she blew the whistle to wake Jeff up before the show, causing him to act extremely silly. The Wiggles start the show.
Meanwhile Wally the Great (Tony Harvey), great-grandson of Waldo the Magnificent, is the amateur magician whose dream is to win the competition at the Magic Club for Best Magician. However, he is confronted with his rival, Roland the Remarkable (Dale Burridge), who believes Wally is a nobody.
Wally, watching from behind a wall, sees Dorothy herself laying Greg's (who is a magician) magic wand on a table while sulking that everyone has forgotten her birthday but really they were trying to keep the surprise party for her a secret. Wally quickly snatches it but gets cake on his face trying to reach for it, He then is caught by Dorothy after she sees it's not on the table. Wally runs to his bicycle and wipes his face off with a towel and puts on his helmet and attempts to take off but then Dorothy runs to her and tries to retrieve it but he and her both ride off but then crash into a stack of hay after Wally notices her holding on behind his bike.
The 2 have a tug of war and the wand breaks in half. Meanwhile, The Wiggles decide to go out looking for Dorothy in the Big Red Car. They visit Henry the Octopus.
Since they have no luck find Dorothy, they go to the Wiggle house where they ace a test given to them by the talking Door, mix up their skivvies and then bedroom doors, have a flashback of the first time they celebrated Dorothy's birthday, and do the Romp Bomp a Stomp.
During the adventures that Dorothy and Wally have, their friendship grows more and more. Dorothy leaves and sits on a bench, sadly, complaining to Wally that nobody remembers her birthday. Wally then says "I didn't forget your birthday" which makes Dorothy feel a little bit better.
Scene 4[]
Wally begins to daydream about his grandfather, Waldo, saying to him to believe in himself and 3 magicians dancing around him.
Wally forgets all about the Magic Competition and is almost late but thanks to Dorothy, he makes it. However, Jimbo the Juggler blocks their way and says that Wally should put his vehicle in the full car park and that it's full but Wally thinks quick and says "You find a spot" and tosses his helmet at him leaving Jimbo pinch-faced. He then signs in and runs into Roland who clearly amuses the judges when his score is 9-9-9. Wally find his Grandfather's old chest of magic supplies and is confident in himself. He then finds a magicians jacket and puts on a new tie and vest and puts on a cape that's purple in front and gold in the back.
Scene 5[]
The Wiggles are waiting for Dorothy to come to the Party but nobody shows up. After Wally does his magic act, the judges score him 10-9-9. He wins the competition which leaves Roland jealous but at the same time impressed. Wally takes Dorothy to her party when it is just about to be cancelled and the party begins. Then everyone shouts surprise to her and sing a snippet of D.O.R.O.T.H.Y. (My Favourite Dinosaur) and then The Wiggles tell her that they didn't forget her birthday at all and they were trying it keep it a surprise and they were also worried when they ran after Wally but then Dorothy introduces Wally to them and Wally confesses to Greg that he broke his wand and gives him the pieces to it but then he hands him his wand he won but Greg says he has more wands and hands it back to Wally and tells him to keep it. At the end fireworks explode in the sky saying The Wiggles and then the credits.
The script was completed in August 1996.[1] Filming took place from March 10 - April 11, 1997, over five to six weeks. Originally, the movie was supposed to be released in November, but was pushed to December.[2]
While the Wiggles filmed the movie with their new updated skivvies, belt designs and the new costumes for the Wiggly Friends, they still used the plain skivvies and older costumes for when they performed, during the same time of the movie's filming. The new aesthetic would be debuted on April 14, 1997.
The official soundtrack was recorded from August to December 1996.
Filming[]
Filming the locations mainly included the Stables Building at Yaralla Estate (used as Mrs. Bingle's School) and the Oatlands House (used as The Magic Club including the interior of Mrs. Bingle's School) as well as Max Film Studios and Mentmore House Studio for certain scenes (such as the scenes in Wiggles World and possibly the VHS opening, which were filmed on multiple sets).
Reception[]
Budget and Profit[]
The Film's Budget was $1.6-1.7 million Australian dollars. It was raised mainly by Producer/Executive Producer Hilton Fatt through private investors. By the end of January 1998, when its cinema run finished, it had made a total of $2.5 million at the box office.
In the 2011 documentary, Everybody Clap! Everybody Sing!, it is discussed that there were concerns about the Profit, as Australian cinemas did not charge children ages three and under. It would eventually make a profit upon its successful home video release.
Other Students: Joseph Field, Leonardo Silvestrini, Sofia Silvestrini, Nicholas Hull, Timothy Rioseco, James Rioseco, Daniel Lack, Eddy Jong, Justin Woodhouse, Lachlan McCarthy
"The Wiggles Movie Soundtrack" is an Enhanced CD released on October 17, 1997. In addition to 22 tracks featured in the film, a 23rd remix track titled "Wigglemix" is included at the end of the album. It would later be used in The Dorothy the Dinosaur and Friends Video and the international version of Yummy Yummy. The "24th track" is a special interactive component, which can only be played on home computers. Among the features on "Wiggles Interactive" are a driving game with the Big Red Car, and interviews with The Wiggles and Captain Feathersword about the Movie, filmed during the production of Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas, which was released on VHS the same month, as well as a montage "Trailer" set to Romp Bomp A Stomp. the score of the film was composed by John Field.
Wigglemix (Seen in The Dorothy the Dinosaur and Friends Video (Australia) and Yummy Yummy (1998) (International) as Puppets)
Other Music[]
Dorothy's Birthday Party - sung by Dorothy at Mrs. Bingle's School, briefly used in score afterwards
We Like To Say Hello (Instrumental) - score during the Scene where The Wiggles leave Mrs. Bingle's school; an alternate Version also plays when The Wiggles leave Wags World
The Chase (Instrumental) - score played when Wally's Bike crashes in to a Haystack; reprises when Dorothy and Wally ride to the Magic Club
Wiggly Jingle - score played when the Wiggles mutter different days, get in the Big Red Car before leaving Wags' World, Coming across Brrrrrr Street and Arriving at Wigglehouse
Fruit Salad - partially sung by the Wiggles when they take the test at Wigglehouse
Magic Club Music - score during the scene where Wally gets ready before he performs at the Magic Club
Hey There Wally (Instrumental) - score played during Wally's Performance
D.O.R.O.T.H.Y. - sung by The Wiggles and other party goers when Dorothy arrives at the Circus Tent
Though unmentioned in the credits, the song Captain Feathersword is adapted to an instrumental score piece during a Scene at the dockyard. The vocal version of We Like To Say Hello is sung by The Wiggles as they pull up to Wigglehouse in the Big Red Car. Several other unnamed pieces of score appear throughout.
Video Release[]
For more information, see here
The Wiggles Movie was first released on VHS in Australia on June 20, 1998. It contained an exclusive introduction by The Wiggles (on the set of Toot Toot!). It would later be re-released in 2000, without the introduction (despite it still being mentioned on the cover) or any previews, although leakages of the introduction and half of the previews were heard faintly during the opening logos. It was later released on DVD on November 11, 2003, with a bonus Storybook and Photo Gallery.
The film was released on DVD and VHS in North America and the United Kingdom in 2003 and 2005 as a Direct-to-Video film respectively, re-titled "Magical Adventure! A Wiggly Movie". The original UK release also contains Wiggle Time, but the 2008 handle-case re-release omits it.
The film hasn't yet to be released on Blu-Ray or Disney+.
The movie was released on the exact day when Chris Farley died.
Wiggles World has a notably different layout in the Movie.
A 35mm workprint reel of the Film was on display at the Powerhouse Museum from 2011-2021.
According to Greg, the film was made in the first place so that they could convince some people in the USA to take them seriously. They hadn't done much overseas touring by the time of the film's production in early 1997 with the exception of New Zealand and Hong Kong. So, they knew that the movie would help them to start touring in other countries.
This was the only time The Wiggles doesn't used sound effects wasn't from the Series 1 library until Wiggly Waffle.
This marks the first time The Wiggles use Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera sound effects until (TV Series 2).
The Big Red Car was redesigned as a real mechanical car. It was a converted dune buggy.
The tempo for the music is slightly faster on both the VHS and DVD than in the Soundtrack. This is because the film runs at 24fps while the home video releases have been sped up to play back at 25fps. This is so it complies with the frame rate of PAL televisions standard in Australia in the UK. The USA and Canada releases are also based on the 25fps PAL conversion with frames blended together to reach NTSC standard 29.97fps, rather than simply playing it at the original 24fps which is also possible on NTSC DVDs. As speeding it up naturally shifts the pitch, the pitch has been corrected to ensure the music is in the same key.
The movie's theatrical trailer is the same case, though it does not have the pitch corrected.
Greg says in his book, Now and Then, that the Brrrrrr Street makeup effects were created by putting gel on their hair and faces. They also put white powder on their clothes.
This is the first filmed official Wiggles-media where none of the Wiggles wear a wristwatch the whole way through.
The part where The Wiggles said Christmas Day did kind of make sense for the movie, as it came out in Australian theatres in December 1997.
The Movie made a profit on video as revealed in the 2011 documentary Everybody Clap! Everybody Sing!, this basically means it was famous in 1998 in Australia, and later in 2003 as Magical Adventure in the United States and Canada.
According to its teaser trailer in 2002, the movie was supposed to be called "Dorothy's Magical Birthday! A Movie Adventure" in North America.
The theatrical and VHS releases open with Wally at The Magic Club office. For the DVD release and all international releases, this scene is moved to after Hey There Wally and The Wiggles' first scene so The Wiggles would appear in the film earlier than they do in the original release.File:TWM-SydneyMorningHeraldArticle18Dec1997.jpg
This also might be a reason why the introduction was filmed for the 1998 VHS as a reviewer at the time of the film's release explained that their daughter wasn't the only one asking "Where are The Wiggles?" during the first 5 minutes.
Guitars used in other videos, such as the Maton F10 (from Wiggle Time!), Fender Classic Thinline Telecaster (from Yummy Yummy and Big Red Car), Takamine EF340SC (from Wake Up Jeff!, Wiggle Time!, Yummy Yummy and It's a Wiggly Wiggly World!) and Epiphone Sheraton II (from Wake Up Jeff! and Wiggledance!) are seen in the racks at the school.
Other guitars on the racks were guitars that The Wiggles didn't use until their later Videos and TV Series such as the Toy Guitar (from Hoop-Dee-Doo It's a Wiggly Party), Rickenbacker 360 Deluxe Thinline (from Animals), an Ibanez 4-string Bass Guitar, and a custom Fender MST-32 Mini Stratocaster. The MST-32 Mini Stratocaster was later seen during Hot Potato.
The scene of Greg singing "Me-me-me-me" and The Other Wiggles singing "You-you-you-you" is similar to a backstage clip in New Zealand from 1996, and in the A Current Affair interview for the bushfire relief gig in 2020.
At one point, The Wiggles say "Christmas Day" and Jeff says "Chinese New Year", a possible nod to his Chinese heritage.
The first four hankies that Greg takes out of the Box of Mystery are the same Colours as the ones from Yummy Yummy.
The instrumental for the version of Quack Quack played would later be re-recorded in a D major.
The picture jumps slightly throughout the movie when the picture cuts to a different shot due to the film being shot and edited on 35mm film, the only Wiggles production done this way.
This video we see Officer Beaples try to stop crime. It is also the one of the videos we hear her talk instead of quiet until 2016's Wiggle Town! video.
In the scene where The Wiggles jumped out of the pool, it was really footage of them jumping into the pool, but to make it look like they're jumping out of the pool, the footage was played backwards.
This is the first time The Wiggles wear mixed up shirts.
The quote "Let's rock this place!" is used by Anthony, both young and adult.
Dorothy's favourite dance, the Romp Bomp A Stomp, is performed without her, and as a result, it does not have her lines throughout like in Wake Up Jeff!.
In the Wigglehouse scenes, the original design of the "Big Red Car" can be seen in a picture frame between the doors to Anthony and Murray's rooms.
This is the 1st time that Greg, Murray and Anthony are seen performing Romp Bomp A Stomp without Jeff, due to him being asleep in the scene.
Roger Lemke guest stars as Alfonso Tiramisu, although it is actually Paul Paddick as his singing voice which is also the debut of him using his operatic tenor voice in The Wiggles.
Nya Nya Nya is presented as an instrumental song. It is based on a traditional song called I'll Tell Me Ma.
This is the only time that the Fender American Vintage Telecaster ("Red Starry Guitar") is seen using a black guitar strap. It usually uses the red leather guitar strap.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released this movie on DVD in Australia in 2003, the same year that HIT Entertainment released it on VHS and DVD in North America.
There is a fan campaign page on Twitter and Instagram called The Wiggles Movie Appreciation (@twmappreciation) whose goal is to get the attention of The Wiggles and the current rights holders of The Wiggles Movie in hopes of it being remastered and re-released (in its original form as seen in cinemas). Anthony Field currently follows the Instagram page and has occasionally interacted with posts on both platforms, but there has been no official word on a re-release coming any time soon.
In July 2021, Anthony Field revealed in an Instagram post by user wigglesenthusiasts2, that the voice that introduces The Wiggles at Mrs. Bingles' school was Sir Lesley Longley.[3]
In one scene, Dorothy is singing a bit of the song, Dorothy's Birthday Party. & According to the song itself, her birthday is November 3rd, meaning the events of The Wiggles Movie is set in the month of November.
The Canadian VHS comes in a soft and hard clamshell case.
According to Greg in the now defunct "Greg remembers...or tries to" YouTube series, the back of the big red car fishtailing wasn’t meant to happen that was a goof that they kept in the movie.
The HIT Entertainment DVD has the menu appears first before the warning screens, previews, and program.
Goofs[]
The Australian DVD release of the film has the Magical Adventure version.
During Rock-A-Bye Your Bear, Murray is playing his Red Starry Electric Guitar but the music features an Acoustic Guitar.
The pool moves a bit between Greg and Murray's jump into the water. This is likely the fault of it being moved accidentally after those particular takes.
A rope is seen pulling the Big Red Car when The Wiggles leave the Sandlot. This is cropped out of frame for the movie itself in widescreen as it was made in an open matte ratio and shown in theatres in widescreen, so it isn't meant to be shown. In the 1998 VHS, they applied a digital zoom on the picture right before it happens so it wouldn't be visible then they zoom out the picture again during the following shot while the camera is panning back so it's not as noticeable.
The 2003 "Magical Adventure" version uses different picture cropping, so the zoom isn't there, but the rope can be seen briefly as the Big Red Car arrives at the Sandlot and when it leaves.
When the Pirates are moving Dorothy's birthday cake at the Dockyard, at the end of the shot you can see some studio equipment on the side of the set.
When Murray is getting ready for the concert the guitar strap for the Fender American Vintage Telecaster ("Red Starry Guitar") is placed on the correct way but during concert performance, it is placed on backwards.
Nya Nya Nya isn't credited as a traditional arrangement.
In the second shot of Wags fixing the wand, the boom mic is visible.
When Wally throws the fixed wand to move to the broken one, the fixed wand can still be seen on the floor.
When the Dance Academy door opens, a hand appears to hold it open and then let's go of the door when it closes.
The Warner Home Video copy recycles the menu from the HIT Entertainment DVD.
Legacy and Future[]
Cancelled follow-up plans[]
The first attempt for a sequel was in 1998, it was announced that there was a script in the works being written by Don Arioli and Greg Truman, nothing else was known after that.
The second attempt in 2005, it was announced that The Wiggles were looking to finance a second movie, supposedly New Line Cinema had interest on doing so, their original sequel plans were eventually cancelled due to Greg's retirement in 2006.[8]
Possible sequel revival[]
In a 2020 post on Twitter, Anthony Field has revealed possible plans for a potential sequel.[9]
