HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY SKIPPY!
We raise a glass to Australia’s first ever superstar and friends!
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo brought joy and wonder to generations of adoring Aussie kids – and their parents – and lives on today as one of our favourite TV stars, in what became a legendary success story.
Skippy was only filmed for three seasons, yet it was watched by a global audience of more than 300 million viewers in 128 countries each week, and all because of a rather remarkable roo and his best friend, park ranger’s son Sonny Hammond.
Skippy, or Skip as he was affectionately called, could understand Sonny and the rest of his human family and almost speak to them with his distinctive “click, click, click”, which he used to alert them to danger or calamity.
“Skippy is a lasting childhood memory for so many people,” says Ken James, who played Sonny’s big brother Mark. “It was wholesome. The goodies always won, the baddies always lost.”
The first Aussie TV show to be shot in full colour, Skippy and Sonny (Garry Pankhurst) fought thieves, animal smugglers and escaped criminals, and saved the fictional Waratah National Park from bushfires and other natural disasters.
Skippy became a hero to millions of children as she was able to open doors, tie and untie knots, operate a radio, play piano and drums, collect the mail and hold things in her pouch.
Inspired by the success of America’s favourite dolphin, Flipper, Skippy featured handsome chopper pilot Jerry King (Tony Bonner), Sonny’s ranger dad, Matt Hammond (the late Ed Devereaux) and housekeeper Clancy Merrick (Liza Goddard).
Producers insisted there was only ever one Skippy, but in fact nine to 15 eastern greys (some eagleeyed fans say they were wallabies) were used to make each episode.