Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (1997 video)

"**Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas**" is the sixth Wiggles Video, and also the first Christmas-themed Wiggles Video. It was released on October 13, 1997.

The video was re-released in 1999, with Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer cut out, and Wiggly Christmas Medley added. This was the version of the video used in international releases, as well as the one uploaded in four parts to The Wiggles' official YouTube channel as part of the Classic Wiggles collection, beginning with Part 1 being released on November 12, 2018. Rudolf was thought to be on the UK Video but this was a packaging error, and the Song did not appear. This also happened in the USA and Canadian edition, with Wiggly Christmas Medley also being removed from the cover of the list, although being added to the Video itself, this video was later remade in 2017 with the Current Wiggles (Emma, Lachy and Simon)

## Synopsis

Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas is a terrific music compilation of new and favourite Christmas Songs. Jeff, Greg, Anthony and Murray join a fun cast of characters in performing both upbeat, familiar carols and creating their own brand of new Christmas classics with all of their friends.

## Song List

All songs are taken from the album Wiggly Wiggly Christmas, unless listed otherwise.

1. Have a Very Merry Christmas
2. Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas
3. Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer (1997 version only)
4. Here Comes Santa Claus (new song)
5. Go Santa Go
6. Ding Dong Merrily on High
7. Christmas Star
8. Unto Us, This Holy Night
9. Felice Navidad
10. Jingle Bells
11. Christmas Picnic
12. Let's Clap Hands for Santa Claus
13. Henry's Christmas Dance
14. Jeff's Christmas Tune
15. It's a Christmas Party, On The Goodship Feathersword
16. Away in a Manger
17. Wags is Bouncing Around the Christmas Tree
18. Silent Night
19. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
20. Wiggly Christmas Medley (1999 version only, from The Wiggly Big Show)

## Plot

Snow Globe graphic - The Music heard is a combination of "Jingle Bells" and "Get Ready To Wiggle". While we zoom inside the globe, "Deck the Halls" plays.

(Have a Very Merry Christmas Title Card. Title Card slides to the left. A bell ding is heard when we zoom through the door.)

**Song 1**: Have a Very Merry Christmas (Wiggly Wiggly Christmas Theme Song)

Wiggly Wiggly Christmas segment and introduction: The Wiggles introduce themselves and wish a Wiggly Wiggly Christmas to all.

(Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas Title Card. Accordion plays.)

**Song 2**: Wiggly Wiggly Christmas

(Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer Title Card.)

**Song 3**: Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer (Australian 1997 version only) - with a female kid dressed up as Rudolf. Santa Claus also appears. After the first time around, Greg asks everyone to put on their antlers, so everyone puts their open hands to their heads to imitate a reindeer. At the end of the song, they all dance around in a circle acting like Rudolf and the other reindeers.

(Here Comes Santa Claus Title Card. Banjo plays.)

**Song 4**: Here Comes Santa Claus - with Dorothy

(Go Santa Go Title Card. Low tuba plays.)

**Song 5**: Go Santa Go - done in that style of Greased Lightning with the finger pointing

(Ding Dong Merrily on High Title Card. Bell ding plays.)

**Song 6**: Ding Dong Merrily on High

(Christmas Star Title Card. Harp plays.)

**Song 7**: Christmas Star

Unto Us, This Holy Night segment: Anthony talks with a group of kids who are dressed up ready to do a nativity play. Sian is one of the shepherds; she shows everyone her crooked staff. She decorated it with some tinsel. Joseph gets to play Joseph! He will put his hand on Mary's shoulder. Clare gets to play Mary. She has a shawl that she will put on her head. Anthony (Who is one of the kids and has the same name as the blue-shirted wiggle) is in his pyjamas and he helps Clare put on her shawl. Ashley is playing a sheep. Alicia is playing a cow, but she's not in the segment.

(Unto Us, This Holy Night Title Card.)

**Song 8**: Unto Us, This Holy Night

(Felice Navidad Title Card. Mandolin plays.)

Anthony is dressed up with a Mariachi hat and he talks with the puppet iguanas Iggy, Ziggy & Frank in the segment. He talks about how to say Merry Christmas in different languages from local Australian natives, and then Italian. And then in Spanish, Iggy tells Anthony that it's "Felice Navidad!"

**Song 9**: Felice Navidad

(Jingle Bells Title Card.)

The Wiggles are making a cardboard sleigh in the segment. Jeff has big scissors, Anthony has glue, Wags and Captain Feathersword are aboard the sleigh, decorating it with tinsel, and Greg has a big paintbrush. So let's all sing a song about riding in a sleigh.

**Song 10**: Jingle Bells

Now they're ready to fly away. Captain Feathersword and Wags then take off.

Christmas Picnic segment: Jeff is sleeping in his favourite comfy chair. He has a dream where Santa Claus and Henry the Octopus are helping the Wiggles put together a sandcastle while a fast instrumental tune plays. Henry dances in circles to it. Then the Wiggles arrive and Greg notices he's asleep. They count to 3 quietly and say, "Wake up Jeff!" loudly. After waking up, Jeff tells them about his dream. It was real; he reaches down for his shoe, picks it up, and pours water out of it. The others laugh.

(Christmas Picnic Title Card. A doo doo doo singer plays.)

**Song 11**: Christmas Picnic

(Let's Clap Hands For Santa Claus Title Card.)

**Song 12**: Let's Clap Hands for Santa Claus

(Henry's Christmas Dance Title Card. Band plays, followed by a short triangle sound.)

**Song 13**: Henry's Christmas Dance

Jeff's Christmas Tune segment: Anthony and Murray are present with Dorothy the Dinosaur. She knows a lot of different dances so the guys have Dorothy demonstrate some.

The first dance is tap dancing.

The second one is Scottish dancing.

The third one is a line dance. Murray makes a roaring sound, but Anthony corrects him and says it's not a lion dance, it's actually a line dance. Dorothy understands and says she'll do a boot scoot, and does just that. Yee-haw!

The fourth and last one is Irish dancing, which is Dorothy's favourite and she scats along to it with a song called Nya Nya Nya.

Murray says how Dorothy sure is a great dancer.

(Jeff's Christmas Tune Title Card.)

**Song 14**: Jeff's Christmas Tune (instrumental)

It's a Christmas Party, On The Goodship Feathersword segment: Greg and Murray are present with Captain Feathersword groaning over too much Christmas food. Murray says he ate too much Christmas pudding, that there is a lot of great food to eat at Christmas but tells Captain Feathersword that he has to be careful not to eat too much. Greg says that Captain Feathersword ate five plates of pudding at the Christmas dinner and that three buttons popped loose which made him exclaim "Oh I'm not getting any thinner! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"

(It's a Christmas Party On The Goodship Feathersword Title Card. Recorder plays.)

**Song 15**: It's a Christmas Party, On The Goodship Feathersword

(Away in a Manger Title Card. Piano plays.)

**Song 16**: Away in a Manger

Wags is Bouncing Around the Christmas Tree segment: Murray has a present for Wags. It's a bone. Greg, Jeff, and Anthony arrive with presents for Wags but they're all present. They are just like Murray's; bones. Murray asks the others and they say that it's a bone. When Murray is sad that the bone is what he got Wags for Christmas and when the others find out that they have the same present as his, they lower their heads and cry, "Oh, no!" except Jeff falling asleep and they look sad, but Anthony says that he'll like them anyway so they raise their heads and they look happy, including Jeff who woke up without letting the others say, "Wake up, Jeff!", but they were okay and so was that. They put the bones under the tree. Wags arrives and gives The Wiggles a present, which is a bone! The Wiggles and Wags laugh.

(Wags is Bouncing Around the Christmas Tree Title Card. Tuba plays.)

**Song 17**: Wags is Bouncing Around the Christmas Tree

(Silent Night Title Card. The first part plays.)

**Song 18**: Silent Night

During the instrumental break, the nativity play continues and all of the shepherds, wisemen and animals get up and leave and Mary puts Baby Jesus down.

(We Wish You a Merry Christmas Title Card. It plays the same as Unto Us, This Holy Night.)

**Song 19**: We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Outro: The Wiggles hope you had a great time and wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Goodbye!

**Song 20** : Wiggly Christmas Medley (1999 version only)

Close with "Jeff's Christmas Tune" for the background music at the credits.

## Production

The Production of *Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas* started in 1996, when The Wiggles first recorded the Album. The next year (1997), after finishing The Wiggles Movie, The Wiggles started to work on the Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas video. 19 songs were filmed for the video. It was filmed in late July-August 1997.

## Alternate Versions

A new version was made in 1999 for the UK VHS release, which was also released in America a year later. This version of the Video cut out Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, and added Wiggly Christmas Medley from The Wiggly Big Show at the end. This version kept the original 1997 title cards and the same end credits as 1997 version, just with Rudolf taken out and the Medley added (the copyright date was changed to 1999 as well). However, the UK and Canadian case song list stated that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was on the video, and the NZ re-release and Canadian videos also deleted Wiggly Christmas Medley from the song list despite being on the video. In Australia, a similar version was released in 1999, this time with some alternate song title cards and a differently styled end credits sequence.

## Release Dates

### Re-release

* **Australia**: November 8, 1999 (VHS), October 9, 2006 (DVD)
* **United States**: October 24, 2000, (American Copy VHS), October 22, 2002 (Canadian Copy and Official Re-release American Copy VHS), December 25, 2002 (On Playhouse Disney), September 30, 2003 (DVD)
* **United Kingdom**: November 1, 1999

## Trivia

* This is the first Wiggles Christmas video.
* This is the first video where The Wiggles have logos (previously debuted in Wiggledance!) on their shirts and belt buckles.
* The 1999 release was more successful than the 1997 release, as it was released in markets outside Australia, broadcast as a movie on Playhouse Disney in America on December 2002, and uploaded on YouTube as part of Classic Wiggles on December 2018.
* The Wiggles brought the Lyrick Studios release of this video to their first American interview and Live TV performance on NBC's Today Show.
* This is the first Video to have a Song before the video actually starts.
* This marks the debut of the Fender American Vintage Telecaster ("Red Starry Guitar").
* The costumes of The Wiggly Friends are inconsistent between the video and the cover. Henry the Octopus is in his second costume (in the video itself, his third), Dorothy is in her third costume (in the video, her fourth), and Wags in his first costume (in the video, his second).
* In "Dorothy's Dance Scene", there were two instrumental song cameos, one was Scotland the Brave, and the other was I'll Tell Me Ma. And one music piece while Dorothy was boot scooting was a Billy Ray Cyrus song "Achy Breaky Heart".
* Murray's daughter, Georgia Munro-Cook is seen in "Ding Dong Merrily on High", "Christmas Star" and "Unto Us, This Holy Night".
* The beach Scene of the Wiggles building a Sandcastle was filmed of them tearing it down then putting the footage into reverse to make it look like they were building it.
* At the part where we see Jeff asleep after we see his dream when the other Wiggles run over to him and notice he's asleep Murray carries the Red Starry Guitar with him.
* The Wiggles aren't seen in "Ding Dong Merrily on High" until 2011's "It's Always Christmas With You!".
* "Scotland the Brave" is played on Piano when Dorothy does some Scottish dancing.
* In "Wags is Bouncing Around the Christmas Tree", Anthony, Jeff and Murray are nowhere to be seen except the Christmas Tree background.
* The colour of the letter 'I" for The Wiggles logo is in purple when the toy Robot pushes the cart.
* In "Christmas Picnic", Murray wears a paper crown after Captain Feathersword arrives on the beach.
* According to Larissa Wright on the 2010 interview with Clare Field, she auditioned for this Video when she was 15 years old.
* The Australian version of the 1999 re-release features new, alternate title cards and also features the newly typed Credits.
* This video marks the first time Jeff doesn't play the Accordion.
* This marks the debut of the Hofner Bass Guitar.
* This video aired on Playhouse Disney on December 25, 2002 right after Yule Be Wiggling
* This is the first video that the Red Starry Keyboard has more stars.
* The tune to "Christmas Picnic" was previously seen as the instrumental piece from the "Goodbye Dance (Instrumental)" song from "Wake Up Jeff!"
* This is the first appearance of the Alarm Clock Chair.
* Unlike other Wiggles Videos, this is the only one that doesn't contain any cartoon sound effects.
* This is the third oldest Video to be released in America, the first was Big Red Car released a year later as Dance Party.
* The Australian DVD was released a month before Greg Page was replaced by Sam Moran
* This is the oldest video to have been released in the UK, albeit re-edited.
* In America, this was the only Lyrick Studios video with a 2002 reprint with the HIT Entertainment Ident replacing the Lyrick Studios Ident while the rest stayed the same.
	+ However, some copies of this tape actually do feature the Lyrick Studios logo.
* Georgia Munro-Cook was only credited on the Credits of the Australian 1999 rerelease and she was credited as "Georgia Cook".
* The Australian 1997 version's opening has the 1993-1998 ABC For Kids promo, while the 1999 version has the 1992-2009 ABC For Kids intro.
* In Australia, this is the oldest Wiggles video to be released on DVD, despite being the 1999 version. Other older Wiggles Videos like "Big Red Car", "Wake Up Jeff!" and "Wiggledance!" haven't been released on DVD, but have been uploaded on YouTube as part of Classic Wiggles Playlist, however, Big Red Car was released on DVD in North America as Dance Party.
* In the 1997 version, AMCOS was credited for Have a Very Merry Christmas, Go Santa Go and Unto Us, This Holy Night.
* At the end of Let's Clap Hands for Santa Claus, The Santa and the Elves footage from Go Santa Go is mirrored.
* In the 1999 version, Wiggly Christmas Medley is in mono.
* This is so far the only official 1999 Australian VHS to receive its DVD release. All the other 1999 videos such as The Wiggly Big Show did not, although the 2004 AUS DVD release of Toot Toot! replaced the actual Australian 1999 version with the regular American one..

## Goofs

* Despite the Warner Home Video's 2007 re-release cover was used for the former prints of the video:
	+ The Netflix's US release used the full 1999 AU VHS re-released master.
	+ The iTunes Store's US release featured both the Roadshow Entertainment and ABC Video logos at both the beginning and at the end of the release.
* On Jeff Fatt's credit, Accordion was misspelled as "Accordian".
* Rex Kelleher's name was misspelled as "Rex Kelaher".
* Aaron Ruig's name was misspelled as "Ron Rug".
* On the Song Credits for Go Santa Go in the 1997 version, John Field's last name was misspelled as "Fields".
* On the Song Credits for Here Comes Santa Claus in the 1997 and the original 1999 credits, Oakley Haldeman's last name was misspelled as "Halderman".
* On the Song Credits for Here Comes Santa Claus on the Australian 1999 rerelease, Gene Autry's last name was misspelled as "Autrey".
* In the 1997 version, Elyssa Dawson's first name was misspelled as "Elysa".
* In the 1997 version, Set Construction was misspelled as "Set Constuction".
* In the 1997 version, Craig Elliot's last name was misspelled as "Elliott".
* In the 1997 version, Phil Ascot's last name was misspelled as "Ascott".
* In the 1997 version, Bridgette Thorn's first name was misspelled as "Brigette".
* In the 1997 version, Matthew Acland's last name was misspelled as "Ackland".
* In the 1997 version, Ashleigh Johns' first name was misspelled as "Ashliegh".
* On The 1999 version, you could hear the Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer's title card sounds shortly before Here Comes Santa Claus' title card (despite the song being removed from the 1999 version), and you could see the original song title to Jeff's Christmas Tune but it was redesigned.
* Near the end of Jingle Bells a boom mic is visible on the top of the screen.

## Video

Classic Wiggles Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (Part 1 of 4)Part 1Classic Wiggles Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (Part 2 of 4)Part 2Classic Wiggles Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (Part 3 of 4)Part 3Classic Wiggles Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (Part 4 of 4)Part 4

## References

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kZk8WKf3x0
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh-oUwGgOdg