| Asia gets a wiggle on
June 24 2002 Would you like fries with that Wiggle? They've made a mint entertaining pre-schoolers across Australia for the past decade; now those skivvy-clad Wiggles are about to be franchised around the world - Big Mac style. In partnership with Disney, the Wiggles' concept is being launched in Taiwan, Japan and Korea over the next six months. Local musicians and singers in each country will be selected to take on the four Wiggles' roles complete with the colour-coded skivvies made famous by the originators, Anthony Field, Greg Page, Murray Cook and Jeff Fatt. Also along for the ride will be the Wiggles' friends: Dorothy the Dinosaur; Wags the Dog; Henry the Octopus; and friendly pirate Captain Feathersword. The Wiggles' general manager, Paul Field, told Spike that hundreds of hopefuls auditioned for the Taiwanese Wiggles last week. Japanese and Korean Wiggles are expected to be up and wiggling in the first half of next year. "The boys own the intellectual property rights to the Wiggles. This is basically a licensing agreement," Field said. "We've had a relationship with the Disney organisation for a number of years in Australia and in the United States. We've sold 2.5 million Wiggles' videos in the US ... Disney saw there was a lot of potential in the concept, but it would be impossible for the boys to launch into non-English-speaking markets. That's why the idea of setting up local Wiggles across different parts of the world has come about." Once the Wiggles conquer Asia, it will be on to Latin America and Europe |