page_title: Sooty
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Sooty / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: English: Sooty pixie Xylophonephone
context_page_description: Sooty is an orange glove puppet television, stage, comic book and film character, who is a small yellow, magical male bear with black ears and nose who likes to perform magic tricks and play practical jokes. Although mute to the audience, he is said to be able to communicate by 'whispering' in the ear of his handler. He was created by Harry Corbett in 1948. Sooty debuted on local television in 1952, and the children's television programmes that carry his name have continued in various forms since 1955.
  According to Guinness World Records, together they are the longest-running "non-consecutive" children's programme in the UK, with 857 episodes being aired as of 30 October 2018. Blue Peter holds the record for the world's longest running children's programme.
context_section_description: Sooty's personality fluctuates between kindness, cheekiness and naughtiness, very often misinterpreting things said or suggested by Harry, Matthew, Richard or Soo (possibly intentionally). He plays an instrument described in the show as a xylophone which is in fact a toy glockenspiel, and keeps a wand with which he performs magic. This is accompanied by the catchphrase "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy!", and then Sooty tapping the magic wand to "Shave and a Haircut". Sooty also possesses a magic powder known as oofle dust which he scatters around to perform magic.
  His water pistol is also iconic, with Matthew and Richard usually on the receiving end of a soaking, although even celebrities such as Jonathan Ross on "An Audience with Sooty", and a royal family member, Prince Philip, at the Honours ceremony which Harry Corbett and Sooty attended to get Harry's OBE, (A miniature OBE medal was made for Sooty) have fallen foul of the water. Sooty has also hit both Matthew and Richard with a hammer in some episodes, (in some cases, this is prompted by a misunderstanding of the statement 'When I nod my head, you hit it', in reference to an object), to which they have always shouted, "Don't do that for goodness sake!". Sooty also occasionally makes use of other messy items such as shaving foam and paint.
  Matthew and subsequently Richard have carried on Harry's tradition of ending every show with the line "Bye bye everybody, bye bye", and in Matthew's last ever episode, his final scene was a collection of clips of him saying the immortal words over the preceding years.
caption: Sooty "xylophones" (which are actually glockenspiels)
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