The Wiggles (partially found Taiwanese adaptation of children's series; 2003-2007)

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A fanmade version of the series' first logo.

Status: Partially Found

The Wiggles are a popular children's group that formed in 1991 in Sydney, Australia. They are known for their hits Hot Potato, Get Ready To Wiggle, Fruit Salad and many others. Between 1991 and 1998, they mostly released albums and videos, toured heavily, and gained popularity in Australia. By the turn of the century, the group gained global popularity and their albums, videos, television shows and tours would become hugely successful. The group's success led to many versions of the group in different countries, including a version in the Taiwan market.

History

The lineup first named The Taiwanese Wiggles was Danny Shao in the purple skivvy, Arthur Chen in the blue skivvy, Anni Hsu in the red skivvy and Carlos Chang in the yellow skivvy and was created by the Australian group and Walt Disney International as part of a licensing agreement the group signed in 2001[1]. The lineup would release two albums (大家來Wiggle! and 歡樂Party! in 2003), three videos (大家來Wiggle! on April 24, 2003[2], 歡樂Party! on December 10, 2003[3][4], and Arthur的烤蛋糕 on September 2, 2004[5]) and would appear in animated form in the short Wiggly Summertime! in 2004. A television series starring the lineup would air on Disney Channel Taiwan and would be based on Series One from 1998 with songs from the videos they released along with sketches at Wigglehouse, Henry The Octopus and Captain Feathersword. In 2005, the group underwent a change with a new name, The Mandarin Wiggles', and Carlos Chang and Anni Hsu left the group. Arthur Chen would switch from the blue skivvy to the yellow skivvy and Vivi Lin and Samuel Chung wearing the red and blue skivvies respectfully and Danny Shao would remain in the purple skivvy. Their television series would be revamped into The Wiggles Show (named after Series Four and Five) and would be similar to the respective series. The group would release one final video Lights, Camera, Action! 好戲上場 on December 15, 2006[6]. Their final appearance would be a Spring festival concert at Taipei's Family Fun Theater in Taipei City, Taiwan on April 7, 2007, the group would disband after the performance and the television series would be discontinued shortly thereafter in favor of dubbing the original Australian series.

Availability

The exact date the series ended is unknown, but what is known is that the show aired weekdays at 7:30 am and 11:00 am and on weekends at 6:00 am and 8:55 am[7] and it premiered on Disney Channel Taiwan on March 31, 2003[8]. Very little of the television series has survived in the years since. Oddly enough, the group's entire discography[9][10] and videography can be found online with a quick YouTube search. Various clips from the series have made it online in varying quality. Clips including the show's first intro, an alternative performance of Captain's Magic Buttons that wasn't present on 歡樂Party!, a performance of Can You (Point Your Fingers And Do The Twist?) from later in the series, a promo for the series and the show's final intro. A performance of The Monkey Dance including the show's second intro was included as a special feature on the Australian group's 2010 compilation video "Hot Potatoes! The Best of The Wiggles".

The Wiggles (2003)

Status: Partially Found
It is primarily an adaptation of the first Australian TV series of the same name. It aired on Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney block beginning on March 31, 2003. As the series was exclusively produced by Disney, The Wiggles do not own the series and they cannot release it by any method, including their YouTube channel. This only episode is the rarest to come by surfacing in its entirety, Although a Wikia user under the name of Secretpedia Founder reached out to Choreographer of the series Yvette Lee and said that she thinks she has lots of episodes in storage and will try to get them out in some stage of time.

# Episode Title Known Airdate Status Notes
1 Arthur's Story Telling Contest Mar 31, 2003 Found
2 TBA Lost
3 TBA Lost
4 TBA Lost
5 TBA Lost
6 TBA Lost
7 TBA Lost
8 TBA Lost
9 TBA Lost
10 TBA Lost
11 TBA Lost
12 TBA Lost
13 TBA Lost
14 TBA Lost
15 TBA Lost
16 TBA Lost
17 TBA Lost
18 TBA Lost
19 TBA Lost
20 TBA Lost

The Wiggles Show (2006)

Status: Lost
As with the previous Taiwanese series, it aired on Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney block in Taiwan. Unlike that series, however, this was not produced by Disney, but rather in-house with The Wiggles in Australia, as the similar to Latin American TV series had been. It was released circa 2006. As a result of the hiatus following the previous series, as well as the change in filming location from Taiwan (Asia) to Australia, the group was partially recast. Samuel Chung and Vivi Lin became the blue and red Wiggles, respectively, while Arthur was changed from blue to yellow.

# Episode Title Notes Status
1 TBA Lost
2 TBA Lost
3 TBA Lost
4 TBA Lost
5 TBA Lost
6 TBA Lost
7 TBA Lost
8 TBA Lost
9 TBA Lost
10 TBA Lost
11 TBA Lost
12 TBA Lost
13 TBA Lost
14 TBA Lost
15 TBA Lost
16 TBA Lost
17 TBA Lost
18 TBA Lost
19 TBA Lost
20 TBA Lost
21 TBA Lost
22 TBA Lost
23 TBA Lost
24 TBA Lost
25 TBA Lost
26 TBA Lost

Resurfacing

On May 22, 2021, Anthony Field (from the Australian group) revealed on Twitter that the international versions of The Wiggles will be making their way onto the group's YouTube channel. Among the other international versions of the group were the Taiwanese and Mandarin lineups.[11] The television series may be among the content from the lineups coming to the channel, though it's unknown exactly when it'll be on the channel.

Gallery

Videography

First part of 大家來Wiggle! (Get Ready to Wiggle) (Apr 24, 2003) (Note: This 4:3 video was stretched into widescreen)

Second part of 大家來Wiggle! (Get Ready to Wiggle) (Apr 24, 2003) (Note: This 4:3 video was stretched into widescreen)

歡樂Party! (Wiggly Party) (Dec 10, 2003) (Note: This video was slightly cropped)

小小劇場: Arthur的烤蛋糕 (The Wiggles' Little Theater: Arthur's Baked a Cake) (Sep 2, 2004)

Lights, Camera, Action! 好戲上場 (Lights, Camera, Action!: It's Showtime!) (Dec 15, 2006) (Note: The DVD release of the video features significant visual artifacts, specifically sharp edges and a noticeably darker color)

Clips

The series' first intro

Brief clips from the First series (from 60 Minutes Australia) at (11:52 and 12:54)

Alternate/Unused performance of Captain's Magic Buttons (incomplete)

Wiggly Summertime! (Flash animated short)

Promo for the second series

Brief clip from the second series at (0:07)

The series' second intro and performance of The Monkey Dance

Misc

kai's place's video on lost media surrounding The Wiggles (mentions the Taiwanese adaptation at 9:43)

Photos

See Also

TV

Concerts

Videos

Music

Miscellaneous

References