A Wiggly Business Article-The Australian
November 30, 2006 by Kerri Aldrich
Filed under News and Links about Children's Things
An article in The Australian shares some of the business side of The Wiggles empire. I think the article would be particularly interesting to the business-minded among you, but still a good read for the rest of us. A couple of quotes that I found interesting:
Creative solutions are opening the world to the Wiggles. In Italy, for instance, the Wiggles speak in dubbed Italian but sing in English. European parents want to familiarise their children with English and the Wiggles’ songs are educating millions.
Nevertheless, they had to fight to keep their Australian accents in the US, commissioning market research with children to convince Disney it would work.
The Wiggles without their Australian accent? How dare we (Americans) even ask? I love listening to them talk and sing with their accent, and the kids even start affecting the accent when they watch the videos! It’s too cute.
The point about kids leaning other languages from children’s programming also seems right on target with my foreign language teacher friends. When I ask their thoughts on teaching the kids another language, their first suggestion is videos or lullabies in those languages.
And don’t you love the photo of The Wiggles in their suits and ties? Are they allowed out in public without their colored skivvies?
For me, the only thing that makes it bearable is the accent.
BEst wishes
mcewen: So sorry I missed your comment! Yeah, I love the accent. Especially when my kids repeat it. Too fun! Thanks for commenting.