Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles (originally titled "Here Comes a Song")[5] is a documentary about the general history of The Wiggles and the lives of the band's various members. After an initial world premiere at the South by Southwest Screen Festival on the 19th of October 2023, it was later released globally on Amazon Prime Video on the 24th of that same month.
This is the third documentary to be made about the band following 2011's Everybody Clap! Everybody Sing! and 2006's The Wiggles Take on the World, and the first to be a full feature-length film.
Overview[]
This is the improbable story of The Wiggles, four friends who record a one-off album of children’s music in the early ‘90s and change the global music industry forever. Recognizable by their blue, red, yellow and purple skivvies, Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt become an unlikely music phenomenon equipped with early childhood teaching fundamentals and a dose of self-belief. Surmounting numerous rejections from industry producers, The Wiggles take their career into their own hands and become the most successful children’s act of all time.
Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles is a backstage pass to one of the world's greatest entertainment stories and features decades of personal archive and intimate access to their sell-out shows. It’s the story of a life of music, friendship, joy and the enduring power of the child in all of us.
Awards[]
- Nomination - Best Factual or Documentary Program in 64th Annual TV Week Logie Awards, 2024 (lost to John Farnham: Finding the Voice)
Trivia[]
- The documentary marked the first time former members Sam Moran and Emma Watkins participated in a Wiggles project since their respective departures in 2012 and 2021.
- Founding member Phillip Wilcher only appeared in archival footage and photographs and was not asked to be interviewed for the documentary and only a portion of his music was used. However, Murray Cook, Anthony Field, and Greg Page briefly mentioned Wilcher by name.
- During production of the documentary, The Wiggles, on the behalf of Sam Content, reached out to fans via social media[6] requesting home videos and photos of people watching Wiggles videos and attending the band's live concerts, making this the first Wiggles documentary (and first Wiggles project in general) to use personal fan material.
- The documentary also featured rare behind-the scenes personal footage retrieved from The Wiggles' archives, as well as footage from the Melbourne and Sydney shows of The OG Wiggles Reunion Tour!, the band's performance at the 2022-23 Falls Festival, and the 2020 bushfire benefit reunion show.
- Some songs from ReWiggled: A Tribute to The Wiggles were played in the documentary,
- This was the first Wiggles project since The Wiggles Movie to be co-produced by a major film studio, in this case MGM.
References[]
- ↑ https://sxswsydney.com/screen/hot-potato-the-story-of-the-wiggles/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxi_rsHscPq/
- ↑ https://schedule.sxswsydney.com/sessions/053f3883-183e-505c-9c16-0795fbfa2b76
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CwgKjJEBx8y/
- ↑ https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/here-comes-a-song--the-story-of-the-wiggles-2023/39945
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CfK--Y9BKwS/