Wiggles?

Darling Tess told me about the Wiggles, and then I saw a friend of mine had it too.  So now I want some Wiggle action for my kids.

 

Any recommendation on the best ones to get? Might as well buy a few if I am going to pay for the postage etc anyway.

Comments

[Hayley]

Hi Tertia,

The only one we've got is Wiggly Party - the kids LOVE it! We have recently got a few of their dvds onto Loot, so price them there before looking at imports;)

xxx

[Sheridan]

We are big fans of Wiggle Time and Yummy Yummy over here.

Whilst you are spending up big on postage, consider getting some CDs for the car.

Nothing tames Henry at 5pm on the way home like a Wiggles CD.

Oh, and get ready to know ALL the words....

[Kez]

Not only will you know all the words, but all the dance actions as well, and you will think nothing of showing your moves off to all your friends after a couple of wines. If your friends have kids too, they will understand.

Hot potato, hot potato.....

[Melissa]

Ah, Aussie family over here. We have all of the Wiggles DVDs!

Alexander loves Hot Potato (the concert), Wiggle Time and Yummy Yummy. And Wiggle Bay. And Cold Spaghetti Western. And Toot Toot Chugga Chugga (his latest fave).

Ok. SO, he loves them all! You can't go wrong.

[jodiebuckland]

T, your kids are at prime Wiggles age! I can't tell you how many times I've managed to cook dinner or go to the loo thanks to the boys in turtle necks! The are priceless, and Australian so of course I'm biased ;) Some of the members were part of a rock group called "The Cockroaches". Then they went on to teacher's college, met a couple more, and made up the Wiggles for a univeristy assignment. They love kids, have "wholesome" values and don't promote dodgy products. They do a fair bit for charity and seem to be really nice guys. Plus oh my god the kids adore them, esp the wee little ones.

As Sheridan said, Wiggle Time and Yummy Yummy are probably the best. They were made quite a few years ago, before they made squillions of dollars and got glossier sets, but the songs are classics and soon you'll know the words and all the actions. Some of the later ones are a bit...naff...but still the kids come back for more! There's one with Steve Irwin, crocodile hunter, which is pretty hilarious and Hoop-de-Doo it's a Wiggly party is fun. You can usually buy them on ebay, and the CDs are good too. Their concerts absolutely rock!

Oh, how sad. I just said a Wiggles concert rocks. I am now off to listen to Deep Purple and then shall shoot myself. It's the right thing to do.

[Jenn]

My DD isn't much interested in the talking segments - so the DVDs that are mostly just singing and dancing are her favourites. Highest rotation one here is the Hot Potato Live concert. Definitely the best one we have.

As others have said you will know every singe word to these bloody songs in no time ;)

Plus they don't have American accents - worth it for that alone!

[Beret]

Oh Lord, my daughter went through a Wiggles phase from age 2-4. Huge. We even saw them live. We've got every toy/game/DVD they made. My personal recommendations are: Wiggly Safari (with The Crocodile Hunter), Hoop De Doo Wiggly Party, and Top of the Tots. What I *wouldn't* recommend is buying the Wiggles guitar or the board game. lol

[rebecca]

for someone who has had to deal with the wiggles for the past 12 years, and still does on a day to day basis, i am reluctant to recommend anything :)

the wiggles rank right up there with Hi-5!

[Dana]

We have just about every Wiggles DVD ever made. I think my son's favorites were "Wiggly, Wiggly World", "Wiggly Safari", and "Yule Be Wiggling" (yes, it is Christmas themed, but he watched it all year 'round). Now my daughter is prime Wiggles age and here we go again.....

[3littlepigs]

You have hit the Wiggle phase. This is a really fun time, albeit quite annoying sometimes! My 3yo loves the Wiggles and my 16mo twins are just starting to appreciate them. Our favorite DVD is Top of the Tots or Wiggly Wiggly Christmas. We have seen them live, and I have to say, that it was very enjoyable for both adult and child.

[JennyK]

I can't believe you made it this far Wiggle-free! I think my kids' favorites are Wiggly Party and Hot Potatoes. They're even better live, if their tour brings them to SA.

[Bridgette]

We LOVE The Wiggles! We've seen them in concert twice. Big fans here. A few of J's favs are Hot Potato Live, Wiggles in Space (I personally don't care for this one. Its animated), and Santas Rockin. He also likes a western one they have, but I'm not sure of the name (I can't find it right now and he calls it "Yee-hah"). I'm sure the babes will love The Wiggles.

[Judy]

My older son adored the wiggles - I have pictures of him with wooden spoons as guitars, playing a toy drum with the video (even got a little drum set one year so he could play along), I even made him a Wiggles shirt. He would stand on plastic containers like a stage. And, we had the guitar.

He's now almost 7 and would rather DIE than me pull out those pictures, but we still have the videos and #2 is starting to really enjoy them. Wiggly Wiggly World and Wiggly Play Time are our favorites, but really, I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

As for their history (how sad is this that I know this???) Jeff and Anthony played in The Cockroaches together. Then, Anthony went on to University and took Early Childhood classes. It is there he met Greg and Murray. It was an assignment in one of their classes that launched the idea - they had to find a unique way to teach a concept, they wrote a song and performed it, and the idea of the band was born!

Wow, I just a fountain of Wiggle-knowlege - scary!

[jen]

We have various Wiggles DVDs, it's the only TV my son watches. 'Sailing around the World' is v dorky but has lots of singing, they sing various national songs including O Sole Mio (by a trained opera singer - Finlay loves this one), the Greek anthem, etc etc. 'It's a Wiggly Wiggly World' is a classic one too, done before they got big internationally, and very funny.

[Kay]

We have:

Top of the Tots
Wiggle Bay
Dance Party
Wiggly Play Time
Toot Toot
Wiggly Safari

I like all of them. We went to a live Wiggles show last year. It was so fun.

[Jane]

See, now you're talking my language!! All three of mine love the Wiggles (I can sing any song!) And when Emma was in the hospital last year for 2 months she watched Wiggles day and night (the nurses now know the Wiggles too!!)

We love lots but the first ones you get should be among:

Yummy Yummy
Wiggle Time
Toot Toot

Then there are:

HoopDeDoo
Dance Party (old one)
Wake up Jeff (old one)
Big Red Car (new--redone Dance Party)
Hot Potato live
Wiggle around the clock (new--redone Wake up Jeff)

There are more but this should definitely get you started. I'd start with those top 3 and then it'll just grow from there!!

Another great great dvd series is "signing time" My 3 love love love it. Bonus is the signing but they love those videos!! You may want to try them too. Available at amazon or go to www.signingtime.com

[purrrkat]

We don't have any of the DVDs, but we have several CDs, the favorite of which seems to be "Toot Toot". When my daughter was 2, they used to play the "Toot Toot" song at her daycare, and she'd grab our hands and make us dance with her.

I NEVER thought we'd allow those guys in our house, but good Goddess, here we are!

[merseydotes]

I would second the recommendation to RUN AWAY from the toys, especially the guitar. My MIL got it for my daughter a year ago, and we hid it away before DD could ever lay eyes on it. Similarly, MIL sent a Speak N Sing Anthony doll, which we promptly took the batteries out of. DD still loves it, though mostly she loves stripping Anthony's clothes off and leaving him on her training potty. Do you have any idea how creepy it is to walk into your bathroom and to see a naked Anthony Wiggle staring up at you from a plastic potty? It wakes you up in the morning, FOR SURE.

[meg]

I like Wiggle Bay, as the songs are as close as I am going to get to a tropical beach with a mai tai these days. The real debate, Tertia, is which Wiggle is the cutest (or, Cliff, Shag or Marry). I'll take Greg any day of the week.

[kathleen999]

Tertia, do yourself a musical favor and do not buy the Wiggles. There is a lot better music out there for the kids. We have Laurie Berkner's cd and there are a bunch of other good ones. Go to Noggin.com and have a look at what you see there. Much better. Our boys love Laurie so much! Dan Zanes is also fun.

We bought the Wiggles "Big Red Car" and our boys are completely bored by it. The songs are completely stupid and not at all charming. Kid music doesn't have to be bad...we have a preschool channel here in the US called Noggin, and they have really good performers doing music for kids that adults will love too. For example, Sweet Honey in the Rock (a group made up of black women singing acapella) does a song called "It's Good to Be Me" that is fantastic.

Good luck whatever you do...I realize other people might like the wiggles, but as a musician myself, I can't stand them! And I know a lot of other parents who are sorry they ever brought the Wiggles home.

[Egg Donor]

Oh Man. I don't have kids but I *love* that hot potato song. They used it in a cereal commercial here and I had to download it to put in my playlist. Now, whenever I make baked potatoes at home, I sing it when I prepare them..

"potato! potato! potato!!!!"

[Peggy]

Love the Wiggles in our house...Big Red Car, Yummy Yummy, Wiggle Bay and Dance Party are some of our favorites. They also love all the DVDs and the show on Playhouse Disney (US cable program). The guys can be a little dorky but the kids think they are funny. We also saw them in concert and my son and I had a blast.

I also agree with the earlier post about Laurie Brickner and Dan Zanes...cool music without the Wiggle goofiness.

[Beacghal]

Big Wiggles fans here, but don't own many of the vids. Little Man got a few for various holidays, but we don't watch them much, they are on in the mornings when we are getting ready. Actually, lately, we haven't watched much, but he DOES love them. AND he has that dreaded guitar, and the MICROPHONE!!! And one doll, and some clothes....but I haven't bought any of it. hahahaha. Hope you enjoy them. Hot Potato is one of my faves and the Captian Feathersword song I like is "Go Captain Feathersword AHOY!" eeeek!

[Mel]

My nephew was a HUGE wiggles fan, and I have to agree with Egg Donor about 'Hot Potato'- it is totally infectious! I still think the fellas are a little creepy, but hey, they know how to keep a child dancing.

[jennifer]

I swear, if all of the parents did the same movements the wiggles do while their children were watching, we'd ALL be in awesome shape!
We can create the wiggle exercise program craze!
Who's with me! ;)

[Kel]

We have a few of them, but the best one is Wiggle Time (we have the old video copy so the cover threw me, but I'm pretty sure this is the one I mean).

These guys seem genuine, don't talk down to the kids (Barney is forbidden in our home), and I love to watch them dance because they are not dancers (straight white guys, you know?)and the (wonderful) choreographer keeps them moving.

I also loved this tape because the idea of it seemed to be to get Austrialian composers/performers and invite them to perform with them their famous songs: Six Months in a Leaky Boat, the gentleman who wrote Waltzing Matilda (they do another song, I'm sure for copyright reasons), etc., which made me enjoy the tape (these were songs from my childhood) and think these guys were spot on.

Kel

[RainbowW]

around here we have the wiggles on a daily television show, and every time i see them i want to throw my children through the television. the show just drives me insane.

[jade]

My daughter loves Wiggly Safari, which is filmed at Australia Zoo with The Crocodile Hunter. She has some others but that's definitely her favourite.

[Melissa]

Ah Meg..the old "Which Wiggle is the cutest" game huh? I thought everyone knew Captain Feathersword was the cutest!!!! ;)

[andrea]

The older ones are the best before they got all americanised...Wiggly Party, Big Red Car, Wiggly Safari are all great.

[Monica]

I must admit...I've become quite the Wiggles fan myself. After a while those little ditties just get permanently lodged in your brain. Our favorite right now is Wiggly Wiggly World. Totally adore Taba Naba (one of the songs on the dvd).

Good luck! Adam and Kate will wiggle themselves silly. And you'll need to stock up on camera batteries!

[gkk]

I love the wiggles! My kids adore them and it is the one show which gets them up and moving instead of staring zombie-like at the screen. To start with, I would say go for the ones which are just songs (Yummy Yummy, Wiggle Time, Hot Potato). The DVDs with "plots" don't come into their own until the kids are a bit older. We saw them live last year and are seeing them again in November. As Meg said, there is a poll here, you can tell a lot about a person from which Wiggle they'd "do" - put me down for Greg!

[Izabela]

Wiggle Time and Yummy Yummy for the younger set. They do not have a plot, just songs, and they amused Catherine for at least a year.
Oh, and Greg for me, too. Apparently Captain Feathersword wins it in America. Here among the Aussie mums, it seems that Anthony is the winner. Why?
Izabela

[pepper]

OMG..the Wiggle love in our house!

And I'm old enough to remember when three of them were in an '80s pop band - the Cockroaches. In fact, i have seen them once or twice.

Yes, the music is pretty trite, but the guys all have musical backgrounds PLUS early childhood education, so there is a good reason the kids love them.

(try E-Bay for wiggles stuff)

Oh.. and Greg all the way. (FWIW, Anthony won an Aussie women's magazine's Bachelor of the Year award several years ago when he was single)

[andrea]

Anthony is the hot one no doubt about it but I would marry Murray in a heartbeat :)

[kathleen999]

Okay, all these comments that the guys are straight...um, really? Because it sure doesn't seem like it to me. In fact, I described the DVD I bought to my husband as "a terrible kids' DVD of 4 Australian gay guys dancing and singing to very bad music."

[Lee]

Ref Kathleen999 above...she makes a good point that your kids might not like them (and she has suggested great alternatives). Most kids do like them, though, and for good reasons: the tunes are simple; the songs are generally short; and the subjects are things they can relate to.

Yeah, they drive me crazy after a while and I'm always happy when my son asks for Victor Vito instead, but in general if they make him happy, they make me happy.

[Anne]

Definitely Wiggle Bay for starters, just make sure you have room in the loungeroom for the kids to go "Rolling Down The Sandhills"! Ask me how I know this ;)
The thing about the Wiggles is that 3 of the four (Anthony, Greg and Murray) are trained early childhood teachers, as well as being musicians. They have a really, really strong background in Child Development and it is so reflected in their songs and in their interactions with children. One of their advisors is a University Lecturer in Early Childhood (Kath Warren in the credits if you are interested). The songs are not meant for adults; they're meant for under 5s and the under 5s adore them. Actually it was Anthony who was voted Bachelor of the year back in 1999...Greg was already married by that stage. And as far as being gay? Jeff I don't know about but the other three are very definitely married with children of their own. IMHO they are amongst the very best in children's entertainers. When the twins are older you might also be interested in Hi-5, another Australian group for kids. Their songs/shows/dvds etc are aimed at the 3-5 market. They are also very good...annoying, but good and the kids love them. Hi-5 is presented in segments tailored to different learning outcomes; there is a maths segment, a movement segment, science, music segments and a story time. Each show is opened and closed with a high energy song and dance routine filmed in front of a live audience of kids - your kids will get up and dance along too...trust me on this one...oh, yeah and the songs will stick in your head forever ;)

[Anne]

Oh, forgot to mention...The Wiggles are also ambassadors for Red Nose Day (SIDS). Anthony's brother lost a daughter to SIDS about 15 or so years ago and the Wiggles have this as the charity they support and endorse.

[PrincessS]

I love the Wiggles Safari. It's so catchy! And my baby sister loves it too. I think Jeff is funny with his sleeping obsession.. Rather cute koala and PRETEND cat! Was Jeff not trusted with a real cat? Does he get overexcited?

[anthony wright]

my 2 yr old son ryan loves the wiggles , he only has 2 watch a dvd once and he knows all the moves. wiggles r the best he says . does any 1 no the names ov all the dvs made by the wiggles?