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Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

From Alfawiki
Fauna Productions
Company typeProduction company
IndustryTelevision production
Founded1963
FounderJohn McCallum, Bob Austin, Lee Robinson
Headquarters
Sydney
,
Australia
Key people
Philip Austin, Nick McCallum
ProductsSkippy the Bush Kangaroo, Barrier Reef, Boney, Nickel Queen

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo—often simply called Skippy—is an Australian TV series developed by actor John McCallum, Lionel (Bob) Austin, and Lee Robinson. The show was produced between 1967 and 1969, with its original broadcast running from 5 February 1968 until 4 May 1970. It narrates the exploits of a young boy and his remarkably clever pet kangaroo set in the fictional Waratah National Park. Filming occurred in what is now known as Waratah Park, along with nearby sections of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park close to Sydney.

The program consists of three seasons totaling 91 episodes, each lasting around 25 minutes. Additionally, a feature film titled Skippy and the Intruders premiered in 1969. Fauna Productions and Norfolk-International Films Limited handled production, while the series aired on TCN Channel 9. Executive producers included John McCallum and Lionel Austin, with production led by Joy Cavill, Lee Robinson, and Dennis Hill.

Plot and setting

The series revolves around Skippy, a female eastern grey kangaroo who becomes the companion of Sonny Hammond, a nine-year-old boy, along with his older brother Mark, aged sixteen. They are the sons of Matt Hammond, a widower serving as head ranger at Waratah National Park. Storylines focus on various park-related incidents involving wildlife, environmental dangers, and visitors, often featuring prominent guest actors of the time. The boys' mother passed away shortly after Sonny's birth (revealed in episode 48 "The Mine").

Skippy is portrayed as an exceptionally intelligent wild kangaroo who was orphaned and discovered by Sonny. Though free to explore the park independently, she maintains a close relationship with the Hammond family. Demonstrating intelligence approaching that of humans, Skippy follows commands, opens doors, carries objects in her pouch, navigates streams using logs, foils criminals, rescues visitors in distress, unties knots, delivers mail, and even operates radios. In certain episodes, she plays drums and successfully places bets at Randwick Racecourse.

The ranger station also includes Flight Ranger Jerry King, a helicopter pilot in his mid-twenties. Female roles were introduced later on; these include Dr. Anna Steiner, a research scientist from Germany, and Clarissa "Clancy" Merrick, a teenage ranger's daughter who boards with the Hammonds while pursuing music studies. Members of the Aboriginal Theatre from Yirrkala in Arnhem Land appeared as guest performers in three episodes.

The series has frequently been likened to an Australian or kangaroo version of shows such as Flipper or Lassie.

Cast

  • Ed Devereaux as Matt Hammond, head ranger overseeing Waratah National Park
  • Garry Pankhurst as Sonny Hammond, Matt’s younger son
  • Ken James as Mark Hammond, Matt’s elder son
  • Tony Bonner as Jerry King (episodes 1-78), flight ranger and helicopter pilot
  • Liza Goddard as Clarissa "Clancy" Merrick (episodes 6, 9-75), daughter of a ranger who lives with the Hammonds to continue her music education; leaves after earning a scholarship to study in London
  • John Warwick as Sir Adrian Gillespie, head of the NSW National Parks Board
  • Elke Neidhardt as Anna Steiner, German doctor with a recurring role in season one
  • Morgan Brain as Sgt. Bernard Gillies
  • Skippy was represented by no fewer than nine different kangaroos throughout filming

Episodes

A total of three seasons comprising 91 episodes were created, with production concluding in September 1969. The decision was made not to continue beyond this number, as the producers deemed 91 episodes sufficient and took into account the advancing age of Garry Pankhurst, the young actor portraying Sonny.

Production

The television series Skippy was developed by Fauna Productions. During the preproduction phase of They're A Weird Mob in 1963, British director Michael Powell encountered actor and theatre entrepreneur John McCallum along with legal professional Bob Austin. Utilizing their expertise in the local industry, McCallum and Austin secured funding from Australian sources. Together with experienced producer Lee Robinson, they established Fauna Productions.

Fauna gained recognition through Skippy, produced in collaboration with Frank Packer's TCN Channel 9 Sydney. Subsequently, the company created other television programs such as Barrier Reef and Boney, as well as the feature film Nickel Queen. Fauna continues its operations today under the leadership of Philip Austin and Nick McCallum, sons of the founders, who retain copyright ownership of the original Skippy series; meanwhile, the Nine Network holds the trademark rights.

The majority of episodes were directed by Max Varnel or Eric Fullilove and featured scripts written by Australian authors. Producer Lee Robinson highlighted wildlife conservation as a fundamental message throughout the series.

Composer Eric Jupp was responsible for both the theme and incidental music, achieving sales of approximately 30,000 records of the theme tune within Australia alone.

Location filming

Shooting took place on Crown land located west of Namba Road (currently known as Waratah Park) in northern Sydney, with authorization granted by Warringah Council. Additional access to roughly 500 acres within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park was provided through cooperation with the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service and Ku-ring-gai Chase Trust. Filming commenced in May 1967.

A ranger station and residence were constructed specifically for filming interior and exterior scenes, necessitating infrastructure such as electricity supply, water systems, roadways, a helipad, and helicopter maintenance facilities. Further sequences were filmed in various national parks and locations around Sydney. The natural Australian bushland offered an attractive setting that resonated with audiences both locally and internationally.

Animal actors

Each episode featured between nine and fifteen kangaroos, with their apparent manual dexterity often achieved by human handlers manipulating individual limbs. The iconic "tchk tchk tchk" sound attributed to Skippy was fabricated; kangaroos do not produce such noises naturally. To recreate this effect, tongue-clicking sounds were employed, while to animate Skippy’s mouth movements, crew members occasionally fed the kangaroos chocolate, chewing gum, or grass or used elastic bands around their jaws.

Additional animals appearing included dingoes, possums, emus, galahs, and koalas, all under the supervision of Scotty Denholm, a former trainer for NSW police dogs. Although Skippy was depicted as a single kangaroo character, multiple animal stand-ins were utilized depending on specific performance requirements. Producer Dennis Hill remarked that some kangaroos displayed higher intelligence than others; however, training capabilities had limitations. Close-up shots of Skippy manipulating doors or objects involved using kangaroo-paw-shaped bottle openers sourced from souvenir shops. For scenes requiring confined spaces or rear perspectives, a taxidermied kangaroo was also employed.

Feature film

Production of the feature-length movie The Intruders, also referred to as Skippy and the Intruders, commenced in October 1968. The majority of filming took place at the Waratah Park set and locations near Mallacoota along the southern coastline. This film served as an extended episode of the series and was well-appreciated by viewers for its captivating adventure storyline.

Popularity and awards

Skippy stands as Australia's pioneering television series with extensive merchandising. The Skippy Club amassed a membership exceeding 67,000. In Japan, short 8mm color film reels were marketed. Internationally, a wide range of merchandise was produced, including sleepwear, toys, jewelry, soap products, comic books, stationery, toothpaste, shampoo, T-shirts, towels, soft drinks, and even bank moneyboxes paired with Skippy-branded passbooks. The franchise also released LP and EP records featuring narrated adventures by John McCallum, published multiple books, and as recently as 2009, Skippy-themed Corn Flakes were still on sale. Kevin Gleeson, Fauna’s marketing director, described Skippy’s charm as "clean, non-violent fun without sexual content," highlighting its appeal as wholesome family entertainment.

Among the accolades earned by Skippy are:

  • 1968 Logie Special Award for Best Export Production and a Logie awarded to Michael Wright (writer of episode four, "The Poachers")
  • 1968 Penguin Award for Best Live Show
  • 1969 Charlie Award recognizing Best Promotion and Contribution to the Australian entertainment industry

All three seasons along with The Intruders have been made available on DVD. The series was distributed to approximately 128 countries and continues to be broadcast in certain regions more than fifty years later. Despite its widespread popularity, producer Lee Robinson acknowledged that the series only broke even by 1976.

Domestic

Created with international audiences in mind and filmed in color, the show first premiered outside Australia. Its initial Australian broadcast occurred on Monday evening, 5 February 1968, airing on TCN-9 in Sydney and GTV-9 in Melbourne.

Following Australia’s transition to color television in 1975, the Nine Network frequently re-aired the series. In 2009, it appeared again during early morning time slots. By 2013, 9Gem scheduled Skippy for a 6:30 am broadcast.

International

Skippy emerged as one of Australia’s most successful television exports, reaching audiences throughout Commonwealth nations. In Canada’s Standard French market, it was adapted under a localized title.

Its UK debut took place on 8 October 1967 via ATV, preceding the Australian premiere by four months. There it competed with popular programs such as Doctor Who and The Avengers, achieving considerable popularity.

In Mexico and Spanish-speaking countries, it was known as , enjoying strong followings in Cuba and Spain. During the 1970s it aired on free-to-air television across Latin America and later appeared on pay TV through Sundance Channel on DIRECTV.

Between 1969 and 1972, the show was broadcast in the Netherlands. In Germany it carried the title , while in Italy it was shown on RAI Television under a different name. The series also found an audience in Scandinavia; notably inspiring the name of a Norwegian shopping mall chain. Remarkably, it crossed the Iron Curtain, airing in both Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It enjoyed widespread distribution in Ghana via GBC and was also televised in Iran. In the United States, Skippy entered syndication during the late 1960s, typically scheduled on weekends alongside other children’s programming blocks.

The Adventures of Skippy

In 1992, the series was brought back under the title The Adventures of Skippy, centering on Sonny Hammond as an adult, portrayed by Andrew Clarke. Now a wildlife park ranger, Sonny is shown managing his own family life alongside his pet kangaroo, Skippy.

This iteration was broadcast in the United States on Animal Planet in 1997 and later featured on the Smile of a Child channel operated by TBN until 2019.

Umbrella Entertainment issued a DVD collection comprising 39 episodes.

Later history

An animated adaptation titled Skippy: Adventures in Bushtown premiered in 1998, depicting Skippy as a male, anthropomorphic kangaroo serving as a park ranger.

In 1999, Skippy was utilized in promotional campaigns for Rolo Cookies.

Actor Tony Bonner initiated legal action against the production company in September 2008, seeking unpaid royalties from merchandise sales and DVD distributions.

The documentary Skippy: Australia's First Superstar, produced by Electric Pictures from Western Australia, was broadcast on ABC Australia and BBC UK on 17 September 2009.

In popular culture

The original show inspired a parody on the British comedy series Goodness Gracious Me, where it was humorously reimagined as "Skipinder, the Punjabi Kangaroo," featuring redubbed footage from Skippy. Additionally, it was satirized in the Australian sketch program Fast Forward which aired between 1989 and 1992.

Home media

Title Format Ep # Discs Date/Region Special Features Distributors
The Adventures of Skippy DVD 39 3 30 December 2003 1 (United States) None Platinum Disc Corporation
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo DVD 8 1 2004 2 (Netherlands & Belgium) None Indies Home Entertainment
The Adventures of Skippy: The Vandals DVD 4 1 2005 0 (United States) None Digiview Entertainment
Skippy: The Bush Kangaroo: The Complete First Season DVD 39 5 10 July 2006 2 (United Kingdom) None Fabulous Films
The Complete Skippy: The Bush Kangaroo DVD 91 14 1 June 2011 4 (Australia) None Umbrella Entertainment
Skippy and The Intruders DVD Film 01 1 April 2015 4 (Australia) None Umbrella Entertainment
Skippy: Australia's First Superstar DVD Film 01 1 February 2017 4 (Australia) Bonus Scenes with Directors Commentary, The Academics' View, The Crews' View, Photo Gallery Umbrella Entertainment
The Adventures Of Skippy (Complete Series) DVD 39 5 4 April 2018 None Umbrella Entertainment

External links

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