User blog:Murrayfan54/VERSES: Wiggly Safari vs. The Wiggles Go Bananas

It's been way too long since my last review. High School is the definition of time-consuming. I'm starting a new thing called "verses" where I compare videos or albums - heck, I may do an episode comparison - and see which one is better. Today I am comparing "Wiggly Safari" to "The Wiggles Go Bananas", from 2002 and 2009, respectively.

First, we have Wiggly Safari. 95% of this this video was filmed in the Australia Zoo (The remaining 5% were two concert songs). Of course, this video guest-starred the late Steve Irwin and his Terri and his daughter Bindi, who is on "DWTS" right now. Anyway, keeping up with videos before this, all of the songs are earwormingly fun to listen to. My 5 top songs from the video are "Australia Zoo", "Cocky Want A Cracker", "Kookaburra Choir", "We're The Crocodile Band", and "You Might Like A Pet". Although the video isn't perfect, I still have fond memories of watching it as a kid and I still love it to this day. Also, it was around this time when The Wiggles started getting popular in the US and it was because of this video, at least I think.

Then, we have The Wiggles Go Bananas. Number one, I hate that title. "Go Bananas" is all it needs to be called, no need to have "The Wiggles" added to the front. This is the sixth Sam video filmed in 2008, but released in 2009. And, unlike WS, 98% of this video was filmed on a green screen. 2% of it was filmed in a zoo, but only most of the prologues were, not all but MOST. Look, nothing's wrong with green screening a video, but you can do so much more with live-action settings or real studio sets. Wiggly Safari felt real because they shot it in an actual zoo. Here, it just seems kind of empty. Also, the US back cover for the DVD has a medium sized picture of Dorothy, when she barely makes a cameo in the actual video. Come to think of it, any Wiggly Friend who's name isn't Captain Feathersword barely appears in this or doesn't appear at all! Wags gets a song here, but doesn't appear before or after that, and Henry isn't even in this video. Although it is justified because this is a "jungle" video and octopuses don't live in the jungle. Anyway, the songs here are a major step down from WS. For one, about seven songs barely exceed a minute, and when they do, they go on for too long. "The Lion is King" is a prime example of this. It falls into the classic case of "Good Tune, Repetitive Lyrics". The chorus is sung 4 1/2 times in under two minutes. Why? You can easily cut about 2 of those chorus reprisals and the song could have been saved.

So overall, if I had the choice between these two videos I'd clearly choose WS over TWGB. While GB is far from the worst Sam video (There been way worse), it's not one I'd recommend. Ironically, I said the same thing about Let's Eat, except that time I was talking about the worst Wiggles videos overall, not just from the Sam era. WS gets a 4/5 while GB gets 3.5/5. I hope you enjoyed.

Take care and keep on Wiggling!

- Fataday