Animated Reflections: Skippy - Adventures in Bushtown

So here's one that has confused me for a little while. Apparently aired in 1998, I really only discovered this one when NITV (National Indigenous Television) went free-to-air I believe (my memory is a little hazy on this one). Anyway, while I do remember the continuous repeats of the Blinky Bill cartoon from Yoram Gross, I never saw this one when it was released. I'm not sure why, as Yoram Gross was a well known name when it came to children's animation in Australia. Well, back then he was, though most people I talk to about it don't seem to remember, which is a real shame in my opinion. But that's something I'll get to in another time. Instead, let's look at:

So to break this show down quickly, it's about a Bush Kangaroo name Skippy, who has to foil the plans of a corrupt Mayor named Croco with the help of his friends. A simple straight forward formula that works well for the most part. Bushtown is a mystery unto itself as I honestly can't even determine what what time it exists in. I mean, it's obviously influenced by Australian outback towns, but when you have shacks and black & white television next to limousines and an inventor who builds a robot, you can understand some of the confusion. The location of Bushtown itself is a mixture of places, being close to a national park, wetlands, dry desert areas and even the ocean. In fact, the only place I don't recall is a snowy mountain. Beyond that, it's really is in a prime location. Common places in the show include the television station (why hasn't it fallen down, it doesn't look like it could even stand), Croco's mansion and the professor's home.

The main character of the show is Skippy (if the near two minute theme song talking about him wasn't a clue) and the name is a well known Australian icon. Yes, it appears this character was based/inspired on the original Skippy show and yes I am aware that Skippy was a female. The point is he is the star of the show and his career is that of a Park Ranger (though he is also apparently part of the council and is a volunteer for a tone of other things too). That said, for the shows goody-goody, he tends to break a lot of laws. He's trespassed, spied, break and entered, impersonated and a whole lot more, all under the justification of trying to catch out the crooks. He also tends to dress up in disguises, some of them not very good (and yet he still gets away with it). Despite being the hero, he still messes up and not all of his plays go they way they should. He comes off as a genuine good bloke and is rather likeable.

His best friend is Matilda, a female Bush Kangaroo who runs the local television station and is their news and current affairs host and reporter. She is Skippy's best friend, though some moments suggest that they have a romantic connection at times, though sadly this is never explored. Unlike some cartoon reporters, Matilda wants to get to the bottom of most stories and works with her crew to get it. Her crew consists of Pos (a Possum who is their main camera man) and Bomba (Wombat I believe, boom mic operator and general assistant). Two other major characters are the absent-minded Professor Angus McPouch, who is a Pelican with a Scottish accent and Kooka (Yeah, both the spelling for her and Bomba are no where to be found) who is a Kookaburra who is the Professors housekeeper and the reason his place hasn't fallen apart.

The main antagonist is the Mayor Croco. Proving that the legal system doesn't work, Skippy rescues Croco during the Mayor election and the exiting Mayor (a Platypus who is going blind and deaf) accidentally declares Croco the new Mayor despite him not even running and apparently that is all legal. Anyway, he's greedy, corrupt and is usually the cause of Bushtown's problems. His wife Suka, while greedy, is more self absorbed and is always wanting the fame. She is also a terrible singer, which runs into one gag when at a dinner event she goes to sing, Skippy tries to leave only to find that they are locked inside until after her performance. The last set are the three henchmen of Brusier (a Boar), Sirloin (a Bull) and Damon (a Rat). The three a fairly stupid when it comes to most things.

The show itself has only had three voice actors from what I've found, with Keith Scott doing most of the voices, Robyn Moore as Matilda, Suka and Wallaby with Jamie Oxenbould as Skippy. Looking into it further, I was surprise to find that Keith Scott and Robyn Moore were basically the entire voice cast for the Adventures of Blinky Bill cartoon show, which was another Yoram Gross series (Seriously, I really need to look into this more. I feel like I've missed a major piece of Australian history here and now have new voice actors to add to my list of inspirations). What gets me is that a number of character voices seem to be based of famous people. The three henchmen for instance, with Sirloin based on Sylvester Stallone, Brusier with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Damon being the parody voice of former Prime-Minister Bob Hawke (I was seriously waiting for him to say Paul after a while). Kooka seems to be based on Barry Humphries' Dame Edna Everage character and in one episode where the three henchmen seek to be trained as spies, the frog in charge of the Spy School seems based on Don Adam's Maxwell Smart character. Heck, the first episode seems to have what appears to be Winston Churchill and Margret Thatcher (I think?) running for Mayor.

The animation is something I enjoy. The backgrounds are a completely different style to the animated sections, being more of a painted image which can be reused when needed, often being blurred in some sections to help add depth when closer in on characters. The character animation seems smooth enough, though I guess I do have to address the issue of animation recycling. It does happen a lot, mostly cause it's a small studio and when trying to produce hand drawn animation for a series, it's a lot easier. For the most part it does appear to be less noticeable (with the exception of the intro theme song), though if you do watch some episodes out of order, it can be a lot more noticeable. For instance, Episode 5: The Big Drought would have several scenes reused in Episode 24: First Croc on the Moon.

Same scenes altered

Sometimes spotting errors is fun

Character designs were also reused from the previous animated series of Blinky Bill. Honestly, I don't see this as a bad thing as a number of character designs were just as suited in this show. The Dingo's got themselves in big, with the designs of Meatball, Daisy and Ma making appearances in the second episode. Some might consider this a bit cheap, I feel it keeps to the style of the characters and a slight nod to the fans and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing (if done right, which I feel was in this case).

I enjoy the music, which suits the show quite nicely. That said, that theme song. Sure I keep bringing it up, but it really is a mixed bag for me. The lyrics are, what would you call them? Cheesy? I feels like an upbeat song praising Skippy as 'the best ever' type song. Hero worship perhaps. However, once you've heard it, it's damn impossible to get the bloody thing out of your head. That said, it is great if you want to pull off a silly dance with it, just be prepared to be humming it the next day.

Overall, it was great watching these episodes again. I can almost call this a guilty pleasure to watch, something fun to enjoy when days ain't the best. It's another great Yoran Gross series and one that really makes me wish my Australia was more like this sort of show. Well, minus the corrupt and uncaring politics. I think we've had enough of that already.