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Quartet Wiggle their way to stardom
CALIFORNIA, U.S. -- The Wiggles, four men in tight-fitting colorful shirts with an uncanny ability to make pre-schoolers laugh, dance and stop pestering parents, are translating their Australian fame into international success. The Wiggles have been grabbed by the Disney Channel in the United States and will appear on the channel's 'Disney Playhouse' from January 28. The Wiggles' appearances will feature the four "mates" from Down Under who wear distinctive, brightly colored skivvies (Aussie-speak for clingy T-shirts) -- Anthony Field (The Blue Wiggle), Murray Cook (The Red Wiggle), Greg Page (The Yellow Wiggle) and Jeff Fatt (The Purple Wiggle). Anthony, Murray and Greg met while studying early childhood education, and this valuable background is reflected in their imaginative words and music. During the past eleven years in Australia, The Wiggles have achieved great success in all entertainment categories -- television, film, live concerts, and video and record sales. Their videos have sold more than 3 million units cumulatively, comprising 39.5% of the total overall sales of children's videos in the market. Their audio CDs and cassettes have generated sales in excess of 1 million units. Accolades galoreTheir debut motion picture, "The Wiggles Movie," was the second highest grossing Australian film for 1998. "`The Wiggles' have a proven track record with preschoolers around the world, and we are very excited to have them as part of `Playhouse Disney,'" said Rich Ross, general manager and executive vice president, programming and production, Disney Channel. Among other accololades bestowed upon the quartet are four prestigious APRA (Australasian Performing Rights Association) awards, three ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) awards, and four AVSDA (Australian Video Software Distributors) awards. When not recording, "The Wiggles" perform an average of 500 live concerts a year to capacity-filled auditoriums internationally. Since arriving in America in 1999, "The Wiggles" have sold over 2.5 million videos and music CDs and cassettes. Playhouse Disney, showcasing series for preschoolers with new, original characters and classic Disney favorites, is available in 78 million U.S. homes. |
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