Why, one wonders, would readers of The Imaginative Conservative be interested in hearing of my enjoyment of music videos designed for very young children? The answer is that the Wiggles offer children (of all ages) entertainment that is both imaginative and conservative.
I have a confession to make. For almost twenty years I’ve been a keen fan of the Wiggles. I own dozens of their DVDs, all of which I’ve watched countless times. For those who haven’t heard of the Wiggles, they have been a hugely popular music and dance group, catering to the pre-school and grade school children’s market. Their greatest hits include Get Ready to Wiggle, Rock-a-bye Your Bear and Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car. No, I haven’t lost my senses. And, yes I am being serious.
Perhaps some further explanation is needed.
Back in 2002, my wife and I were gifted with a son, Leo, who has Down syndrome and subsequently developed autism. One of the things that he enjoys is watching videos and one of the things that I enjoy is watching them with him. Since, however, he is easier to please than I am, I find myself losing patience with many of the DVDs produced for children. I find Barney simply banal, at best. Veggie Tales are good, of course, offering Christian entertainment with quirky humour. But my favourite DVDs are indubitably those by the Wiggles, which seem to retain their freshness, even after multiple viewings.
But why, one wonders, would readers of The Imaginative Conservative be interested in hearing of my enjoyment of music videos designed for very young children? The answer is that the Wiggles offer children (of all ages) entertainment that is both imaginative and conservative. And one presumes that many readers of The Imaginative Conservative have young children or young grandchildren who would benefit from watching, singing and dancing to imaginatively conservative music and dance videos. Furthermore, I believe that parents and grandparents would also enjoy watching, singing and dancing along with the children. What better way to become as little children, as we must, than by playing with little children!
Wiggles videos contain a cornucopia of cultural treasures, rooted in the best of western civilization. Those sitting down to watch and listen to the Wiggles will experience opera, classical music, jazz, country, modern popular music (which is never objectionable) and, best of all, folk music from various cultures but especially Irish and Scottish traditional music, all of which is presented and performed as children’s entertainment.
Those wishing to move beyond the tapping of the feet to the wiggling of the hips, can join the Wiggles and the Wiggly Dancers as they waltz around the ballroom or do the polka. There is ballet dancing, Irish and Scottish dancing, tap dancing, and traditional folk dances from Italy, Greece, Spain and Mexico. There’s also a dabbling with more modern musical styles. We can watch the Wiggles point their fingers and do the twist, or we can watch them dressed and sounding like the early Beatles, singing The Shimmy Shake.
The original four Wiggles, the “Wag Four”, Greg Page, Anthony Field, Murray Cook and Jeff Fatt are all from Australia and are, respectively, of English, Irish, Scottish and Cantonese descent. This was the line-up from the group’s founding in 1991 until 2006 when Greg was forced to retire for health reasons and was replaced by Sam Moran. In 2012, three of the Wiggles retired. Although Anthony Field continued with a new cast of characters, the magic was lost.
And this brings us to the wiggly Christmas that I’m wishing everyone. Such a Christmas can be enjoyed by the purchasing of any of four seasonally festive DVDs: Yule Be Wiggling (2002), Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (2003), Santa’s Rockin’! (2004) and It’s Always Christmas with You! (2011). Although, as these titles suggest, there are many jovial tunes about Santa Claus, reindeer and elfs, there are also many traditional Christmas carols that are filmed and performed with great reverence: Angels We Have Heard on High, Ding Dong Merrily on High, Unto Us, This Holy Night, Away in a Manger, Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful, to name but a representative few.
A bilingual performance in Spanish and English of Noche de Paz (Silent Night) is preceded by a song in Spanish to Our Lady of Guadalupe, during which film footage of a shrine in Mexico City is shown, including images of nuns praying reverently. It is significant that Anthony Field, the “blue Wiggle”, is a devout Catholic who has a tattoo of Our Lady of Guadalupe on his arm. In most of these videos, carols are sung at the manger, with children playing the roles of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, angels and animals. During one song, This Little Baby is Born Again, video footage is shown of mothers cradling or kissing their babies, the effect of which is a celebration of life shining like a candle of goodness and hope in the midst of the death culture.
Wiggles videos in general, and the Christmas videos in particular, feature many celebrity guests. A highlight for me were the guest appearances on It’s Always Christmas with You of the Irish choral ensemble, Anúna, who specialize in medieval Irish and Latin music. Filmed live in the beautiful Irish countryside, in churches or amidst ruins, the Wiggles sang carols with these wonderful Irish singers, including one of my favourites, The Cherry Tree Carol.
This Christmas, I will give thanks for the birth of the Christ Child and thanks for the birth of own child, Leo Patrick Pearce. He is both blessed and a blessing. I will be celebrating that blessing by watching and rewatching the Wiggles with him. We will be having a wiggly Christmas in the heartwarming presence of Greg, Anthony, Murray and Jeff, and with their friends, Henry the Octopus, Wags the Dog, Dorothy the Dinosaur and Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate. I hope that everyone will be as happy this Christmas as we will be in such company. In fact, I wish everyone a wiggly Christmas!
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The featured image is a photograph of The Wiggles performing in front of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, 2018. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
