HIT Entertainment (styled "HiT") is a production company/distributing company that was founded in 1983 and originally the international distribution arm of Jim Henson Productions called Henson International Television (later reincorperated as "HiT Communications plc."). However, following the death of Jim Henson in 1990, the business was sold to several members of the company's management, led by Peter Orton, and recorporated to its current name to prevent any future confusion between the two companies.
HIT Entertainment began releasing The Wiggles VHS in the United States and Canada in October 16, 2001 after a merger with their previous distributor Lyrick Studios. DVD releases followed in April 9, 2002. In April 4, 2006, they began distributing through 20th Century Fox, starting with Wiggle Around the Clock, at which time previous DVDs and some VHS were re-released with the 20th Century Fox logo on the label. HIT Entertainment's contract with The Wiggles for DVDs in the US and Canada expired on May 19, 2007.
In 2005, they began releasing The Wiggles VHS and DVDs in the United Kingdom, and continued to do so until 2012.
USA and Canada Releases
Retail releases
All VHS releases from Hoop-Dee-Doo! It's a Wiggly Party up to Here Comes The Big Red Car were available in small plastic clamshell cases in the United States, and larger clamshell cases in Canada (Yule Be Wiggling was in a large case in both countries). In the US, cardboard slipcase versions were also sold of all VHS except Yule Be Wiggling and Wiggly, Wiggly World.
Many DVDs released in both countries after 2003 also contained a Canadian Rating "G" symbol on the back of Canadian copies that the American releases lack. All DVDs except Yule Be Wiggling, Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas, and Santa's Rockin'! were re-released in 2006 with the 20th Century Fox logo and copyright notice on the disc art.
- Yule Be Wiggling (VHS) - 10/16/01
- Wiggly, Wiggly World! (VHS) - 1/22/02
- Hoop-Dee-Doo! It's a Wiggly Party (DVD and VHS) - 4/9/02
- Wiggly Safari (DVD and VHS) - 9/3/02
- Yule Be Wiggling (DVD) - 10/22/02
- Dance Party (DVD) - 2/4/03
- Yummy Yummy (DVD) - 2/4/03
- Magical Adventure! A Wiggly Movie - 2/4/03
- Wiggle Bay (DVD and VHS) - 5/6/03
- Space Dancing (DVD and VHS) - 9/9/03
- Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (DVD) - 9/30/03
- Top of the Tots (DVD and VHS) - 1/13/04
- Cold Spaghetti Western (DVD and VHS) - 3/30/04
- Toot Toot! (DVD) - 3/30/04
- Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins! (DVD and VHS) - 7/27/04
- Santa's Rockin'! (DVD and VHS) - 9/28/04
- Wiggle Time (DVD) - 11/2/04
- Wiggly Play Time (DVD) - 11/2/04
- LIVE Hot Potatoes (DVD and VHS) - 1/11/05
- Wiggly, Wiggly World! (DVD) - 4/26/05
- Lights, Camera, Action! (DVD and VHS) - 5/24/05
- Sailing Around the World (DVD and VHS) - 7/19/05
- Here Comes The Big Red Car (DVD and VHS) - 1/3/06
- Wiggle Around the Clock (DVD and VHS) - 4/4/06
- Splish Splash Big Red Boat (DVD) - 6/6/06
- Wiggledancing! Live In The U.S.A. ["Live in Concert" in Canada] (DVD) - 8/15/06
- Racing to the Rainbow (DVD) - 3/6/07
Canada Only
- Wiggly Play Time (alternate DVD) - 5/11/04
3-Packs
- Holiday Video 3-Pack! (VHS) - 9/30/03
- Wiggly Party Pack (DVD) - 5/24/05
- Holiday 3-Pack (DVD) - 12/13/05
- Wiggle and Dance Pack (DVD) - 12/23/05
- DVD 3-Pack (DVD) - 5/23/06
- A Wiggle-Tastic Collection (DVD) - 10/17/06
- Wiggly, Giggly Adventures! (DVD) - 3/6/2007
Lyrick Studios VHS re-releases
In Canada, some of the VHS released by Lyrick Studios in large clamshell cases were re-released with the HiT Entertainment logo added to it in 2002. In America, all of Lyrick's clamshell VHS releases continued to be printed by HIT Entertainment unchanged through 2006 (aside from Dance Party, which was re-released on VHS with HiT's logo in 2003). However, some of these titles were released by HiT in cardboard slipcases around 2003 to 2004, sold at the same time as Lyrick's original clamshell releases as an alternative to them. Toot Toot!, and possibly others, were re-released again in 2006 with the 20th Century Fox logo on the tape.
- Yummy Yummy (Canadian large clamshell & US slipcase VHS) - 2002 & 2003
- Wiggle Time (Canadian large clamshell & US slipcase VHS) - 2002 & 2004
- Toot Toot! (Canadian large clamshell & US slipcase/Fox re-release VHS) - 2002 & 2004/2006
- Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (Canadian large clamshell VHS) - 2002
- Wake Up Jeff! (US slipcase VHS) - 2004
- Wiggly Play Time (Canadian large clamshell VHS) - 2004
Rental Videos
Two videos on one tape or disc were made available exclusively for renting at places like Blockbuster. The DVDs contained no menus or special features.
- Wiggle Mania (VHS and DVD) - 6/3/03
- The Wiggles Show (DVD) - 8/9/05
- Wiggly Giggly Adventures (DVD) - 2/7/06
Screeners
Some VHS and DVDs were available ahead of official retail release for screening purposes. These exclude the trailers included in the final releases, and contain the HiT Entertainment logo in the corner of the video throughout. Some of these were released in unique packaging, while others used the final retail packaging with a sticker on the back reading "Not for Individual Sale" (please note that a release containing this sticker is not necessarily a screener, as it was also used for VHS and DVDs released in multipacks). The ones listed are ones where photo or video evidence exists online (i.e. YouTube uploads of opening/closing), but there may be more out there.
- Yule Be Wiggling (VHS) - 9/18/01
- Wiggly, Wiggly World! (VHS) - 12/25/01
- Hoop-Dee-Doo It's a Wiggly Party 3/12/02
- Wiggly Safari (VHS) - 8/6/02
- Magical Adventure! A Wiggly Movie (VHS) - 1/7/03
- Wiggle Bay (VHS) - 4/8/03
- Space Dancing (VHS) - 8/12/03
- Top of the Tots (VHS) - 12/16/03
- Cold Spaghetti Western (VHS) - 2/24/04
- Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins! (VHS) - 6/29/04
- Santa's Rockin'! (VHS) - 8/31/04
- LIVE Hot Potatoes (DVD) - 12/14/04
- Lights, Camera, Action! (DVD) - 4/26/05
United Kingdom Releases
- Toot Toot! plus Yummy Yummy (DVD and VHS) - 1/31/05
- Magical Adventure! plus Wiggle Time (DVD and VHS) - 6/20/05
- Hoop-Dee-Doo! It's a Wiggly Party plus It's a Wiggly Wiggly World! (DVD) - 9/12/05
- Yule Be Wiggling plus Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (DVD) - 11/21/05
- Here Comes The Big Red Car (DVD) - 1/30/06
- Top of the Tots (DVD) - 4/24/06
- Wiggly Safari (DVD) - 8/7/06
- Santa's Rockin'! (DVD) - 11/27/06
- It's Time to Wake Up Jeff! (DVD) - 2/12/07
- Wiggledancing! Live In Concert (DVD) - 5/7/07
- Splish Splash Big Red Boat & Wiggle Bay (DVD) - 7/23/07
- Racing to the Rainbow (DVD) - 10/29/07
- Space Dancing! An Animated Adventure (DVD) - 2/18/08
- Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins (DVD) - 4/21/08
- Here Comes The Big Red Car (Handle-case DVD) - 6/2/08
- LIVE Hot Potatoes! (DVD) - 7/14/08
- Magical Adventure! A Wiggly Movie (Handle-case DVD) - 7/28/08
- Pop Go The Wiggles! (DVD) - 10/13/08
- The Wiggles Go Bananas! (DVD) - 4/13/09
- You Make Me Feel Like Dancing (DVD) - 6/15/09
- The Wiggles Big, Big Show! (DVD) - 9/28/09
- Sing a Song of Wiggles (DVD) - 1/18/10
- Hot Potatoes! The Best of The Wiggles (DVD) - 3/22/10
- Hot Poppin' Popcorn (DVD) - 6/7/10
- Getting Strong! (DVD) - 8/30/10
- Ukulele Baby! (DVD) - 5/30/11
- Let's Eat! (DVD) - 10/10/11
3-Packs
- Triple Pack (DVD) - 7/27/10
- Triple Pack - 3 Wiggly Festive Favourites (includes exclusive DVD, Dorothy the Dinosaur Meets Santa Claus) - 12/6/10
- Wiggle Pack (DVD) - 6/4/12
Trivia
- A 4:3 cropped version of the CGI logo can be found on some Wiggles UK DVDs.