Sweden was one of the few European countries not to buy Skippy , following advice from psychologists who deemed it damaging for children to grow up thinking animals could talk. Producers of the first series were Lee Robinson and Dennis Hill. Producers of the second series were Robinson and Joy Cavill, and Cavill was the producer for the third series. The scripts however were written by Australian writers. Contrary to popular belief, Skippy is a female kangaroo she has a pouch.
And it took many kangaroos to perform the role. Denham confesses that the various Skippys were kept in a hessian sack between takes and the fact that they were a bit dazed when they were let loose meant that they were less likely to run off. Many alternatives were tried including chewing gum, rubber bands, chocolate and, most successfully, grass. When filming ended Skippy continued to live in the film set in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, which was opened to the public in January as a theme park and animal sanctuary.
There is no doubt that Skippy struck a chord with audiences worldwide in a way that few shows have managed to do before or since. Write a script for a modern day episode of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Include the same characters as mentioned in the article and make sure the plot fits in with the original type of storylines used, but also include some things that make it clear that it is the year Perhaps the characters are using modern technology or mention a current celebrity or trend.
Extension: If Skippy were to become a popular show again, what type of modern merchandise do you think people would buy? Make a list. After reading the article, with a partner, highlight all the openers you can find in blue. Discuss if they are powerful and varied openers or not. Why do you think the journalists has used a mix of simple and power openers? Would you change any, and why? Jerry: Ah, no! Must be real panic going on out there.
Or this exchange from ep. Jerry: picking up distributor What is it? Jerry: Where did you get it? Then why the urgency?
Jerry: Jim? Is that it, Skip? Kangaroos make no such sounds. Producers of the first series were Lee Robinson and Dennis Hill. Hill was also instrumental in the development of the show, however he only worked on the first series.
Producers of the second series were Robinson and Joy Cavill, and Cavill was the Producer for the third series. Most episodes were directed by Max Varnel or Eric Fullilove, both of whom had extensive experience overseas.
Production, writing and directing were of a consistently high standard, and in addition to the action and adventure there was a fair amount of humour - many episodes had a deft comedic touch. Some episodes were simplistic, and some were fanciful bordering on ridiculous; yet others were cleverly crafted with depth and intriguing plot twists.
Skippy is the classic family adventure series - the line between good and evil is always clearly drawn, with good always triumphant. Accomplished musician, band-leader and composer Eric Jupp, who had a long career in Britain before moving to Australia, was responsible for the theme and incidental music for Skippy.
But the effort has proved worthwhile because about 30, records of the theme have been sold in Australia alone. The opening titles showed a scene of Sonny calling Skippy by whistling through a gumleaf, and Skippy responding. The cast members then received an individual credit, with the curious exception of Liza Goddard - for some reason she was never included in the opening titles. The opening neatly demonstrated the unique relationship between Sonny and Skippy, and showcased the bushland setting.
The closing credits were superimposed over a scene of the helicopter on the helipad. The first week of filming ep. The use of a vintage Rolls Royce for the episode was withdrawn when the owner saw the condition of the roads, and a substitute vehicle had to be hastily procured.
The episode showed scenes of Skippy being caught in a cattle grid and almost being run over by a truck, which prompted the RSPCA Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to investigate allegations of cruelty. That little kangaroo gets better treatment than us humans in the cast.
Skippy is pampered and cosseted like a Hollywood queen — and so she should be! It was now time to try and secure some overseas sales. Taking their half-dozen or so completed episodes, John McCallum and Bob Austin headed off abroad to flog their new show.
First stop was the offices of NBC in New York, where they previously had met with an enthusiastic response. Not so this time. The NBC executives did not like the stories, or the acting, or the Aussie accents; they said the series could not be sold in America, and, in any case, all the available timeslots were already occupied by cartoons.
So, somewhat dejected, it was off to London, where they met with a much better response. Global Television Services were impressed with the show, and sales were soon made to England, Holland and Belgium. Some regional channels also started showing the series, and it soon proved to be a ratings success everywhere.
Overseas viewers also liked Skippy , and more sales followed - Canada, Japan and many European countries, plus other Commonwealth nations all bought the series. There were many cash flow problems, and a number of emergency board meetings were convened to come up with ways to keep production going.
Packer helped out with a cash advance, and he took up his option - albeit at a bargain price - several years early. Potential investors, banks, friends - all came to the party, and the first series of 39 episodes were completed. In spite of the financial difficulties, continuing overseas sales inspired optimism, and in April a second series commenced production.
After four episodes, the opening was altered, commencing with ep. The same structure was retained, the only change being different scenes for the actors, necessitated in part by the fact that Garry Pankhurst, and to a lesser extent Ken James, were noticeably older. There was still no credit for Liza Goddard, however on the closing credits Liza was now listed with the other cast members whether she appeared in the episode or not , whereas in the first series her credit was included with the guest actors.
A menagerie of animals and birds were utilised for the show, including dingoes, possums, emus, galahs, koalas and, of course, kangaroos, all trained and managed by Scotty Denholm, a former NSW police dog trainer. In theory there was only one Skippy, but in reality there were many stand-ins. You either wait for her to do what you want or change the story. Two police dogs he trained, Zoe and Tess, both German Shepherds, won world renown for their feats which included tracking of criminals, locating bodies and finding lost children in the bush.
Zoe became the first dog in the world to work from instructions relayed to a radio which was strapped to her back.
But they, like all animals, respond to kindness. Skippy, of course, is the best of the bunch. However, tragedy struck when one young kangaroo died after students from the University of NSW attempted to kidnap Skippy and hold her for ransom.
On the night of June 30, , the students raided an enclosed compound where six young kangaroos, being trained as stand-ins for Skippy, were grazing. Unfortunately, during their bid to capture a kangaroo, one of the terrified animals in a panic rushed against a high wire fence around the compound and broke its neck.
Scotty Denholm tried to nurse the injured animal for 24 hours before it died. Although Scotty Denholm did a marvellous job training the animals, there are limits to what you can get a kangaroo to do. Often the actors can be noticed patting the kangaroo to get her to move, or holding her to prevent her moving. It was originally intended to train the animals for most tasks required of them, but an early attempt to film Skippy posting a letter cost Fauna Productions a hefty amount in lost time and exposed film, so out of necessity inanimate stand-ins were introduced.
Kangaroo-paw bottle-openers, of a type that could be purchased at any souvenir shop, were utilised for close-up scenes of Skippy opening doors or picking up objects. Put it together - editing - and it looks like the kangaroo is trying to open a letter. To get the kangaroo to do what you required him to do in the script took patience, to just wait and get the shot that was needed of the kangaroo looking somewhere, of reacting or doing something.
So it was difficult from that technical point of view to get the shots you needed. And of course for those little shots of turning a television on or off, or any of those other wonderful things that Skippy did, the old bottle-openers snuck into frame and did it.
Hector the emu, however, had some larger roles in a few episodes. If they gave it a bottle of course it fell over drunk, and the next day had a hangover and was even worse. I have four boys of my own. And I like Garry. Garry Pankhurst was required to spend at least 20 hours a week studying, to satisfy Department of Education regulations. To that end, a caravan was specially equipped for use as a classroom and a qualified teacher, Pat Barker, was employed to tutor him.
The exact location of Waratah National Park within the state of New South Wales is not specified, but in a number of episodes it is shown to be within a couple of hours drive of Sydney, which hardly seems sufficiently remote to justify a School Of The Air. Nonetheless, it added an interesting touch to a series which already highlighted many of the unique aspects of living in the Australian bush.
In common with most productions of the time, actors often performed their own stunts. In addition to her diving prowess, Kathy also happened to be a pretty girl who could act, which made her an obvious choice for a number of parts in various film and television series including Riptide , Chopper Squad and the film Blue Lagoon , particularly if diving or swimming scenes were required. However, she only appeared in one episode of Skippy.
Diving scenes were featured in a later episode No. Character actor Gerry Duggan appeared in ep. Trundle, an old tramp who befriends Sonny and Skippy, but who actually was Miles Vincent Archer, the head of a vast corporate empire. He reprised the role in ep. Although Duggan had appeared in guest roles in many Australian series, it is those two episodes for which he is best remembered. While in the procession, action was staged on the float which was used in the episode.
A neat two-pronged plan - publicity for the series in a high-profile community event; and a unique setting to film an episode of the series. To keep an emu and a kangaroo on a float on the back of a jeep, pulling it around with eight million people screaming is not logistically the easiest thing to do!
That was an interesting one to do, just purely for the ludicrous aspect of trying to shoot a kangaroo and an emu, shoot a drama episode, A and B cameras, people talking and walking — it was chaos! In the episode, Skippy stars in a film, performing a number of far-fetched extraordinary deeds - very similar to that featured in the series! Many of the Skippy crew appear in the episode as extras portraying the film crew of the story. Four of the six members of the group took part in the episode, with actor Fred Sims playing the fifth band member.
They perform two songs in the episode, one being a specially written variation of the Skippy theme tune. Being the talented kangaroo that she is, Skippy even joined the group as a drummer! In some places it was shown early in the series run, whereas most cities including Sydney and Melbourne showed it towards the end of the first series or during the second series.
There were some differences in the pilot: Garry Pankhurst as Sonny looks noticeably younger, and Ranger Headquarters is a completely different building - the house used in the series was not constructed until after the pilot had been made. The end credits feature a view of the different Ranger HQ instead of the usual helicopter on the helipad scene, and the original opening titles were later substituted for the series two stock opening.
Many guest actors of note appeared in Skippy episodes, including Chips Rafferty in ep. An accomplished actor, McCallum was seen in his later productions Barrier Reef and Boney , but never fronted the cameras for Skippy. His part in the episode led directly to him being cast in a lead role opposite Googie Withers in the film The Nickel Queen.
John McCallum, who was also Producer of The Nickel Queen , said casting an inexperienced actor paid off: "There were a lot of people opposed to us casting Laws for such an important main role. They said 'You're crazy'. It was a big gamble, but we liked what we saw of him in Skippy. We felt he had the personality and was the right type for the part.
When the second series commenced, plans were formulated for the production of a feature-length movie for cinema release, to be filmed after 13 episodes of the second series had been completed. Script and budget are complete and we expect to start work on it around June.
Filming of the Skippy movie commenced on October 11, With a working title of Mallacoota , a reference to the location where much of the action took place, the movie was eventually titled The Intruders although it was often referred to as Skippy And The Intruders.
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