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Toot Toot! is the seventh Wiggles video special released on October 17, 1998.

In international markets (and an Australian re-release in 1999), the video was re-released in a 'Wiggly World' version to reflect changes made in Series 2, including new background animation. This is the version that was made available on DVD in all territories and uploaded to YouTube as part of the Classic Wiggles collection.

Overview[]

Driving in The Wiggles' Big Red Car is a lot of fun – you can hear The Wiggles singing 'Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car' wherever they go. But what happens when the Big Red Car doesn't start?

Production[]

The video was filmed from February – April 1998, right after the filming of Wiggle Time & Yummy Yummy '98.

The song segment for 'Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car' was filmed in February 1998 behind a green screen. The outside scenes were filmed in March 1998, and then the studio scenes were filmed in April 1998 (where most of the filming took place).

The AU re-release/US amended scenes were filmed during the production of TV Series 2 from May – August 1998.

In the VHS version of The Wiggles Movie, at the beginning of the film, the Wiggles are in front of the camera talking and behind them is the Big Red Car on top of green screen, proving it was the same day the filmed the video for 'Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car'.[10]

Songs[]

TootToot!-InsideVHSCover

Inside VHS cover

Each song title card is revealed by something scrolling across the screen, either a Big Red Car wheel, The Wiggle Puppets, or a horn. 'Bathtime' and 'Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car' have no title cards. 'Do the Wiggle Groove' is shortened to 'Wiggle Groove'. In the 1999 version, song title cards are similar to the ones used in TV Series 2, although the style of the text is different.

Plot[]

Intro - A red dot on the yellow part of The Wiggles logo is shown that flashes with a pop sound as when they say Toot. After that, The Wiggles writing comes up and then the names appear sliding through the centre and then The Wiggles appear through a rainbow circle by doing 'Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car (Karaoke)' and then the title appears after.

The Wiggles introduce themselves and they're sitting in the Big Red Car. They put on their seat belts and are ready to go. Murray says, '1, 2, 3, Greg, start the engine!'. Greg turns the ignition but there's a sputtering sound. He tries again but the car sputters again. He says it won't start. Anthony asks if there's no Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga. Greg says that they'll have to fix the Big Red Car. Jeff gets out and says it's a nice day for a walk, maybe they can meet their friends Captain Feathersword, Wags, Henry and Dorothy. Jeff tells everyone to 'walk this way' as he leaves. The Wiggles get out of the Big Red Car and follow him, all walking in the same way.

Wags joins the Wiggles to help get the Big Red Car started. He has goggles and a drill. Murray says we'll leave him to it and when they come back it should be fixed! Anthony asks how long it will take. Wags woofs five times. The Wiggles interpret that as five minutes and reply with a 'Beauty, Mate!' They say goodbye to Wags and run off. Wags does some drilling, then tries to push the car to see if he fixed it, but it's no use. He kicks one of the wheels, but hurts his toe as he bounces around barking in pain.

After the 'John Bradlelum' song, The Wiggles roll down the hill and back up again while some piano music plays in the background.

Anthony asks Wags if he had any luck with the Big Red Car. Wags sadly responds by shaking his head. Anthony says not to worry since he tried his best and they can fix the car later. Anthony feels hungry, so does Wags and Anthony says, that the viewers are hungry too, so let's get some beautiful food.

Foodman flies around and introduces himself. He hopes the Wiggles are eating good food.

Captain Feathersword arrives and hails the audience. He sees the Big Red Car, but no Wiggles. Maybe he should drive the car to The Wiggles? He gets on board and buckles up. He gets ready to ride and hums the Toot Toot song in falsetto. But the car continues to just sputter. It isn't working. Maybe he can fix it? He heads to the back of the car and tries to do some stuff, but something explodes briefly in the back and Captain stands up with a face full of black soot. Oops. He concludes he should fix pirate ships before laughing nervously and leaving.

Greg is dirty after trying to fix the Big Red Car. Jeff notices that and tells Greg to clean up and have a bath and they'll think of a way to get the Big Red Car going again. Greg looks at his sooty face and hands and agrees. Jeff hands him some rubber duckies to take with him.

  • Song 7 - 'Bathtime' (1998 version only) - Greg sings on top of a yellow soap bar. The bottom half of the screen is distorted to emulate water. The female kid dancers are dressed as yellow ducks.

Greg is sitting in the car, same problem. He tells everyone the car's still not toot toot chugga chugging. He thinks about folks who could fix the car. Maybe a baker? Jeff disagrees, saying that bakers bake bread. Greg suggests a cowboy? Murray arrives in a cowboy hat, saying cowboys and cowgirls are too busy minding the cattle to come and fix the car. Greg considers a doctor, maybe a vet? Anthony arrives with two dogs and says that vets look after puppies and are too busy to fix the car. The puppies are licking Anthony while he talks and he giggles at the same time. Greg replies they need someone who can fix the car, but who? Murray has an idea; a mechanic. Greg praises Murray for the idea and then gets everyone to follow him in search of a mechanic as they do the Wiggle Groove.

Anthony comments how the words 'Balla Balla Bambina' mean to ask the little girl to dance. We'd love not just Amy (the girl next to Anthony) to dance, but everybody to. He says a phrase in Italian.

Murray is with some kids who are at a table decorating paper cut-outs of Henry the Octopus that are glued onto a stick. Dominic is colouring Henry's head with purple chalk. Tara has done some different coloured squiggles for Henry's 'eight legged-pants'. Gabrielle colours Henry's legs purple. Ceili colours Henry's legs different colours. She holds up the stick and shows Murray her octopus. After praising each of the kids, Murray holds up his cut-out and comments that you can shake the stick. Henry's legs move up and down and 'round and 'round.

The Wiggles stand around the Big Red Car. Jeff is in the front and he's fallen asleep. Murray comments there's no sign of the mechanic. He, Greg and Anthony start singing a quacking tune unenergetically. Jeff snores. The other three just stand there bored.

Murray is on the phone with Officer Beaples. He thanks her and hangs up. Murray has some good news and bad news. The Wiggles ask what is the bad news. Murray replies the mechanic will still be a while. The Wiggles ask what is the good news? Murray replies that Officer Beaples invited them to the police ball. Officer Beaples arrives and gives them a set of uniforms. Officer Beaples blows her whistle and them does a tango. Anthony interprets that as Wags will be attending. Let's all go. They tango off the scene.

The Wiggles flap back to their car. Anthony says they had lots of fun here. Greg says there is still no sign of the mechanic, but then there's a sound of a panel closing from behind the car. After each of the Wiggles give a 'Huh?' in sequence, Raiffe The Mechanic appears from behind the car and announces that the car is ready. Anthony asks what was wrong with the car. The mechanic gives some complicated answer that confuses the Wiggles, saying that the Crankin' shaft was disconnected from the Cam shaft which disconnected the defibrillator, causing the gozontropy distributor to shut down and the car couldn't move along at all. they again each give a, 'Huh?' He then says it's all right and then says there's one more thing it needs. The car runs on music, so they'll need to sing a song to get it going. Anthony calls everyone to sing and make music.

The Wiggles are gathered with everyone from the previous dance. They thank everyone for their help singing and dancing. The Big Red Car should be charged up now, so they'll see you next time. Wiggles, to the Big Red Car!

'The End' title comes up and then the credits come up with 'Zardo Zap' for background music while they show bits of clips from the songs in the video in slow motion. The 1999 version, however, has 'Morty's Theme' for the credits instead of 'Zardo Zap'.

In memory of John Patrick Field

(March 11, 1932 - May 7, 1998)

1999 Re-Edit[]

Toot Toot! 1999 Version

1999 Version

BigRedCar1999

UK VHS release titled as 'Big Red Car'

In 1999, a year after its initial release, Toot Toot was, rather uniquely, re-edited. This was likely done for international releases, as the original 1998 version contained Bathtime, a song neither owned by the Wiggles nor in the public domain, which would have forced international distributors to pay royalties to Raffi, the original artist. Still, other videos that contained Wiggles covers of copyrighted songs, such as Wake Up, Jeff! and the 1998 re-edit of Yummy Yummy, were never completely re-edited for their international releases - in fact, the only changes made to these videos at all were to remove/replace the songs in question. This makes the decision to completely re-edit Toot Toot! rather unique - perhaps The Wiggles wanted to update the video to match their TV Series 2 'Wiggles World' aesthetic at the time.

A new title sequence was created which took place along a CGI set of the road in front of Wigglehouse. This same CGI set was also used as the chroma key background for all prologue scenes, replacing the garage background previously utilised in the 1998 version. Keeping with this motif, the original 1998 chroma key backgrounds in 'Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car' were also replaced with CGI Series 2 'Wiggles World' backgrounds (with the exception of the UK VHS, as mentioned below). Stills of this same CGI world were also used over a new rolling credits sequence, replacing the slow-motion music video shots used in the 1998 credits. This credit sequence also now featured 'Morty's Theme' (the piano interlude also used in all prologues) instead of the 'Zardo Zap' instrumental. A version of 'John Bradlelum' filmed in chroma key for TV Series 2 replaced the original music video from the 1998 version, which took place outside on a hill. This made 'Head, Shoulders, Knees And Toes' the only song that took place in this outdoor setting and so the 'rolling down the hill sequence' used a transition between 'John Bradlelum' and 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' in the original version was removed. Instead, the TV Series 2 music video for 'Henry's Underwater Big Band', chosen as the replacement to 'Bathtime' (which, due to the aforementioned rights issues, was removed along with its prologue), was sandwiched in between these two songs. Other changes include replacing the 'flag transitions' in the 1998 version with generic screen wipes, and swapping the various title card styles in the 1998 version (i.e. the puppet and Big Red Car wheel title cards) with one, universal title card style: the 'rainbow' title card also seen in TV Series 2. There are also small changes seen in various music videos, such as the use of extended or unused shots, or the removal of the 'Wiggle Groove' graphic from 'Do the Wiggle Groove' (a more comprehensive list of these minute changes exists below).

This re-edit was released in various countries on VHS throughout 1999 and 2000, including the US, UK, South Africa, and even Australia (albeit as a re-issue of the original 1998 video). It is worth noting that there are small variations between what was released in different countries: for instance, the stills of CGI Wiggles World used in the end credits vary between the Australian, British and American VHS. However, there are also some further notable differences in the UK VHS variant. Firstly, because Disney UK released the video under the name 'Big Red Car' (not to be confused with the 1995 video of the same name), there is a somewhat different opening sequence to reflect this title change, though this sequence still takes place on the CGI Wigglehouse set. Additionally, despite retaining all other 1999 re-edits, the UK VHS uses the 1998 version of 'Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car'. It is possible that the re-edit of this music video, featuring CGI Wiggles World backgrounds, was simply not finished in time, as Disney UK was the first to release the 1999 re-edit.

By the early 2000s, the variant originally released in the US became standard. This was the version put to DVD not only in the US, but in Australia, and even the UK (by this point, HIT Entertainment had acquired British distribution rights, and was marketing the video under its original name). The US variant of the 1999 re-edit seems to have also become The Wiggles' go-to when using clips from Toot Toot!, as it was featured in both the 2010 and 2014 version of Hot Potatoes! The Best of the Wiggles, the 2021 We're All Fruit Salad compilation video, and Classic/OG Wiggles YouTube uploads. Currently, the full original 1998 video seems to only be available through its Australian VHS release (there are rumours that the original 1998 version was used for a VCD release in Asia, but this has yet to be proven).

Album[]

TootToot!Album

The original CD release cover (1998)

The 'Toot Toot!' album was released on February 10, 1998, with the original cover, which shows The Wiggles in the Big Red Car driving through a field of flowers with Dorothy The Dinosaur. Later that year during the filming of the video, the cover was redesigned, with The Wiggles and their friends and the Big Red Car, which was also used as the front cover on the video.

CD-only Songs[]

Trivia[]

Differences in the 1999 version[]

Goofs[]

Video[]

The Wiggles' YouTube Channel[]

External links[]

References[]

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