Latest news with #NormanHetherington
ABC News
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Iconic Mr Squiggle items on show at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra
Children's imaginations ran wild when a man from the moon with a pencil for a nose began to squiggle. Mr Squiggle lit up TV screens for 40 years — and now, decades after the kids' program last aired, the National Museum of Australia in Canberra is displaying hundreds of iconic Mr Squiggle items. The exhibit includes creator Norman Hetherington's artworks, scripts, and puppets. Hetherington operated and voiced the blue-haired, floppy, pencil-nosed puppet, with the role a perfect marriage of his skills as a cartoonist and puppeteer. Nineties kids will remember Mr Squiggle's sidekicks grumpy Blackboard, Bill Steamshovel and Gus the Snail. There was also Miss Rebecca, the daughter of Norman Hetherington and the show's last host. "The museum has done such an amazing job of collating it and restoring bits and pieces that needed a little bit of attention," Rebecca Hetherington said. Ms Hetherington says she is thrilled to see younger generations in awe of her late father's work. She recalls her early experiences with Mr Squiggle in her family home. "But, of course, along came the grandchildren and they're allowed to play with all the puppets," she added with a laugh. She says her youngest son, Tom, looks set to carry on the family's legacy as he has developed a "love of puppetry". The ABC's Mr Squiggle and Friends first aired in 1959. It was one of Australia's longest-running children's shows and prompted many children to first pick up a crayon. The show involved input from audiences, as children from around the country would send in their doodles and the host would place them on Mr Squiggle's grumpy blackboard to be transformed. The program received around 10,000 squiggles. The museum's interactive elements allow children to squiggle on screens, offering a new generation a chance to make characters out of what might first appear to be abstract markings. NMA curator Sophoe Jensen says many people are familiar with Mr Squiggle, but few would know the many other lively characters Hetherington fashioned. There are camels in hats, turtles playing ukuleles and a shrimp with a tuba. And extensive behind the scenes work took place to examine and preserve each item. Museum conservators retouched paint and sourced material where necessary, with plans in place to limit light exposure. The conservators even made hundreds of cushions to support the puppets while in storage. Ms Jensen says she hopes Hetherington's flare can inspire creativity in museum-goers. "[Visitors are] going to leave having a bit more of an understanding of the breadth of Norman Hetherington's world," Ms Jensen said. Ms Jensen notes the digital age offers children more TV programs and characters to choose from than ever before. But she says, unlike Hetherington's work, modern shows are usually two dimensional, with puppetry a rare medium. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington is free at the National Museum of Australian, open until mid-October.
The Advertiser
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Hurry up! Moon man Mr Squiggle lands at National Museum
One of Australia's most beloved television characters, the pencil-nosed blue-haired puppet Mr Squiggle, is being celebrated with an exhibition at the National Museum. Mr Squiggle and Friends was the life's work of multi-talented puppeteer Norman Hetherington and was on television for four decades, with the program's final episode airing on July 9, 1999. As the voice and operator of the Mr Squiggle puppet, he completed more than 10,000 drawings during that time - many of them upside down, and with his friend Blackboard telling him to "Hurry up!". The museum acquired the Norman Hetherington collection in 2024, including more than 800 objects, such as scripts, props and production notes. About 300 of those are going on show at the museum in Canberra and, don't worry, Mr Squiggle's friends Blackboard, Rocket, Bill the Steam Shovel and Gus the Snail will be on display too. Visitors can also try an interactive squiggle drawing exercise, so those who grew up in the post-Squiggle television era can see what drawing one is like. Norman Hetherington's daughter Rebecca presented Mr Squiggle and Friends as "Miss Rebecca" during its final decade. She worked with the museum for years to help curate the collection that showcases her father's life's work. Hearing from the public over the years since the show finished has made her realise the special place Mr Squiggle has in people's hearts. "It was meaningful, and people really treasure it, which is lovely," she said. The first inkling of the television show came from the quick sketches her father would do - upside down - as part of an entertainment act while he was in the army in the 1940s. Later, he joined the ABC TV Training School, with his early puppets Nicky and Noodle appearing on the first night of ABC television on November 5, 1956. Mr Squiggle touched generations of television audiences, said museum deputy director Sophie Jensen. "You should see the level of interest, interaction, warmth, memory, and humour that we get every time we talk about this collection," Dr Jensen said. As part of the exhibition, the National Museum is re-publishing some vintage Mr Squiggle books: Mr Squiggle and the Preposterous Purple Crocodile, and a set of three colouring books. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington opens on Friday at the National Museum in Canberra and runs until October 13 before touring nationally. One of Australia's most beloved television characters, the pencil-nosed blue-haired puppet Mr Squiggle, is being celebrated with an exhibition at the National Museum. Mr Squiggle and Friends was the life's work of multi-talented puppeteer Norman Hetherington and was on television for four decades, with the program's final episode airing on July 9, 1999. As the voice and operator of the Mr Squiggle puppet, he completed more than 10,000 drawings during that time - many of them upside down, and with his friend Blackboard telling him to "Hurry up!". The museum acquired the Norman Hetherington collection in 2024, including more than 800 objects, such as scripts, props and production notes. About 300 of those are going on show at the museum in Canberra and, don't worry, Mr Squiggle's friends Blackboard, Rocket, Bill the Steam Shovel and Gus the Snail will be on display too. Visitors can also try an interactive squiggle drawing exercise, so those who grew up in the post-Squiggle television era can see what drawing one is like. Norman Hetherington's daughter Rebecca presented Mr Squiggle and Friends as "Miss Rebecca" during its final decade. She worked with the museum for years to help curate the collection that showcases her father's life's work. Hearing from the public over the years since the show finished has made her realise the special place Mr Squiggle has in people's hearts. "It was meaningful, and people really treasure it, which is lovely," she said. The first inkling of the television show came from the quick sketches her father would do - upside down - as part of an entertainment act while he was in the army in the 1940s. Later, he joined the ABC TV Training School, with his early puppets Nicky and Noodle appearing on the first night of ABC television on November 5, 1956. Mr Squiggle touched generations of television audiences, said museum deputy director Sophie Jensen. "You should see the level of interest, interaction, warmth, memory, and humour that we get every time we talk about this collection," Dr Jensen said. As part of the exhibition, the National Museum is re-publishing some vintage Mr Squiggle books: Mr Squiggle and the Preposterous Purple Crocodile, and a set of three colouring books. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington opens on Friday at the National Museum in Canberra and runs until October 13 before touring nationally. One of Australia's most beloved television characters, the pencil-nosed blue-haired puppet Mr Squiggle, is being celebrated with an exhibition at the National Museum. Mr Squiggle and Friends was the life's work of multi-talented puppeteer Norman Hetherington and was on television for four decades, with the program's final episode airing on July 9, 1999. As the voice and operator of the Mr Squiggle puppet, he completed more than 10,000 drawings during that time - many of them upside down, and with his friend Blackboard telling him to "Hurry up!". The museum acquired the Norman Hetherington collection in 2024, including more than 800 objects, such as scripts, props and production notes. About 300 of those are going on show at the museum in Canberra and, don't worry, Mr Squiggle's friends Blackboard, Rocket, Bill the Steam Shovel and Gus the Snail will be on display too. Visitors can also try an interactive squiggle drawing exercise, so those who grew up in the post-Squiggle television era can see what drawing one is like. Norman Hetherington's daughter Rebecca presented Mr Squiggle and Friends as "Miss Rebecca" during its final decade. She worked with the museum for years to help curate the collection that showcases her father's life's work. Hearing from the public over the years since the show finished has made her realise the special place Mr Squiggle has in people's hearts. "It was meaningful, and people really treasure it, which is lovely," she said. The first inkling of the television show came from the quick sketches her father would do - upside down - as part of an entertainment act while he was in the army in the 1940s. Later, he joined the ABC TV Training School, with his early puppets Nicky and Noodle appearing on the first night of ABC television on November 5, 1956. Mr Squiggle touched generations of television audiences, said museum deputy director Sophie Jensen. "You should see the level of interest, interaction, warmth, memory, and humour that we get every time we talk about this collection," Dr Jensen said. As part of the exhibition, the National Museum is re-publishing some vintage Mr Squiggle books: Mr Squiggle and the Preposterous Purple Crocodile, and a set of three colouring books. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington opens on Friday at the National Museum in Canberra and runs until October 13 before touring nationally. One of Australia's most beloved television characters, the pencil-nosed blue-haired puppet Mr Squiggle, is being celebrated with an exhibition at the National Museum. Mr Squiggle and Friends was the life's work of multi-talented puppeteer Norman Hetherington and was on television for four decades, with the program's final episode airing on July 9, 1999. As the voice and operator of the Mr Squiggle puppet, he completed more than 10,000 drawings during that time - many of them upside down, and with his friend Blackboard telling him to "Hurry up!". The museum acquired the Norman Hetherington collection in 2024, including more than 800 objects, such as scripts, props and production notes. About 300 of those are going on show at the museum in Canberra and, don't worry, Mr Squiggle's friends Blackboard, Rocket, Bill the Steam Shovel and Gus the Snail will be on display too. Visitors can also try an interactive squiggle drawing exercise, so those who grew up in the post-Squiggle television era can see what drawing one is like. Norman Hetherington's daughter Rebecca presented Mr Squiggle and Friends as "Miss Rebecca" during its final decade. She worked with the museum for years to help curate the collection that showcases her father's life's work. Hearing from the public over the years since the show finished has made her realise the special place Mr Squiggle has in people's hearts. "It was meaningful, and people really treasure it, which is lovely," she said. The first inkling of the television show came from the quick sketches her father would do - upside down - as part of an entertainment act while he was in the army in the 1940s. Later, he joined the ABC TV Training School, with his early puppets Nicky and Noodle appearing on the first night of ABC television on November 5, 1956. Mr Squiggle touched generations of television audiences, said museum deputy director Sophie Jensen. "You should see the level of interest, interaction, warmth, memory, and humour that we get every time we talk about this collection," Dr Jensen said. As part of the exhibition, the National Museum is re-publishing some vintage Mr Squiggle books: Mr Squiggle and the Preposterous Purple Crocodile, and a set of three colouring books. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington opens on Friday at the National Museum in Canberra and runs until October 13 before touring nationally.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Hurry up! Moon man Mr Squiggle lands at National Museum
One of Australia's most beloved television characters, the pencil-nosed blue-haired puppet Mr Squiggle, is being celebrated with an exhibition at the National Museum. Mr Squiggle and Friends was the life's work of multi-talented puppeteer Norman Hetherington and was on television for four decades, with the program's final episode airing on July 9, 1999. As the voice and operator of the Mr Squiggle puppet, he completed more than 10,000 drawings during that time - many of them upside down, and with his friend Blackboard telling him to "Hurry up!". The museum acquired the Norman Hetherington collection in 2024, including more than 800 objects, such as scripts, props and production notes. About 300 of those are going on show at the museum in Canberra and, don't worry, Mr Squiggle's friends Blackboard, Rocket, Bill the Steam Shovel and Gus the Snail will be on display too. Visitors can also try an interactive squiggle drawing exercise, so those who grew up in the post-Squiggle television era can see what drawing one is like. Norman Hetherington's daughter Rebecca presented Mr Squiggle and Friends as "Miss Rebecca" during its final decade. She worked with the museum for years to help curate the collection that showcases her father's life's work. Hearing from the public over the years since the show finished has made her realise the special place Mr Squiggle has in people's hearts. "It was meaningful, and people really treasure it, which is lovely," she said. The first inkling of the television show came from the quick sketches her father would do - upside down - as part of an entertainment act while he was in the army in the 1940s. Later, he joined the ABC TV Training School, with his early puppets Nicky and Noodle appearing on the first night of ABC television on November 5, 1956. Mr Squiggle touched generations of television audiences, said museum deputy director Sophie Jensen. "You should see the level of interest, interaction, warmth, memory, and humour that we get every time we talk about this collection," Dr Jensen said. As part of the exhibition, the National Museum is re-publishing some vintage Mr Squiggle books: Mr Squiggle and the Preposterous Purple Crocodile, and a set of three colouring books. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington opens on Friday at the National Museum in Canberra and runs until October 13 before touring nationally.
West Australian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Hurry up! Moon man Mr Squiggle lands at National Museum
One of Australia's most beloved television characters, the pencil-nosed blue-haired puppet Mr Squiggle, is being celebrated with an exhibition at the National Museum. Mr Squiggle and Friends was the life's work of multi-talented puppeteer Norman Hetherington and was on television for four decades, with the program's final episode airing on July 9, 1999. As the voice and operator of the Mr Squiggle puppet, he completed more than 10,000 drawings during that time - many of them upside down, and with his friend Blackboard telling him to "Hurry up!". The museum acquired the Norman Hetherington collection in 2024, including more than 800 objects, such as scripts, props and production notes. About 300 of those are going on show at the museum in Canberra and, don't worry, Mr Squiggle's friends Blackboard, Rocket, Bill the Steam Shovel and Gus the Snail will be on display too. Visitors can also try an interactive squiggle drawing exercise, so those who grew up in the post-Squiggle television era can see what drawing one is like. Norman Hetherington's daughter Rebecca presented Mr Squiggle and Friends as "Miss Rebecca" during its final decade. She worked with the museum for years to help curate the collection that showcases her father's life's work. Hearing from the public over the years since the show finished has made her realise the special place Mr Squiggle has in people's hearts. "It was meaningful, and people really treasure it, which is lovely," she said. The first inkling of the television show came from the quick sketches her father would do - upside down - as part of an entertainment act while he was in the army in the 1940s. Later, he joined the ABC TV Training School, with his early puppets Nicky and Noodle appearing on the first night of ABC television on November 5, 1956. Mr Squiggle touched generations of television audiences, said museum deputy director Sophie Jensen. "You should see the level of interest, interaction, warmth, memory, and humour that we get every time we talk about this collection," Dr Jensen said. As part of the exhibition, the National Museum is re-publishing some vintage Mr Squiggle books: Mr Squiggle and the Preposterous Purple Crocodile, and a set of three colouring books. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington opens on Friday at the National Museum in Canberra and runs until October 13 before touring nationally.
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
The blue-haired man from the moon celebrated for 40 years on television
The squiggle lives. For 40 years Norman Hetherington was known for his creation, Mr Squiggle, a blue-haired man from the moon who used his pencil nose to turn a child's squiggle into a giggle. From 1959 to 1999 on ABC television, Mr Squiggle, a puppet made, voiced and operated by Hetherington, transformed 10,000 children's drawings into what they saw as masterpieces. 'It's a duck that wants to be a ballet dancer,' he said of one. Very often they were drawn upside down. Now the next generation can have a squiggle. A new exhibition, Mr Squiggle and Friends, The Creative World of Norman Hetherington opening at the National Museum of Australia on Friday includes an interactive screen where a new generation can turn an original squiggle into a drawing of their own. It includes nearly 300 objects from the Hetherington collection of more than 800 items, including hundreds of puppets, and was curated by museum deputy director Dr Sophie Jensen. Jensen said that as a unique piece of Australian history, it was hard to imagine another television program that had touched as many people as Mr Squiggle. 'It doesn't matter who you talk to,' she said, someone will have been on the show, watched it or knew someone who was on it. 'It's part of its magic. You only get that with a show that was on the air for 40 years, that covers generations. And 1959 to 1999 was a pretty remarkable stretch in Australian life.
