''Rubbery Figures'' was a satirical rubber puppet series and segment that screened in Australia in various forms from 1984 to 1990. The series ran on the ABC until 1988, when it was axed and subsequently revived as a segment on

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

's '' Fast Forward'' in April 1989. It featured puppets of major political and social characters.

Production

The ''Rubbery Figures'' programs were made in the Melbourne film studio of Peter Nicholson, who also made the puppets themselves. Almost all the character voices for the puppets were performed by Melbourne voice actor Paul Jennings.

Fast Forward's ''Rubbery Figures''

Steve Vizard, the man behind Channel Seven's ''Fast Forward'', had seen ''Rubbery Figures'' on the ABC and thought they would make a good point of difference from competing comedy sketch series. Due to budget constraints, Peter Nicholson semi-autonomously produced five minute segments that could be inserted into the programme. During this period the figures expanded into less current political satire; for example the puppets of Prime Minister

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

and then Treasurer

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

played the parts of Captain Kirk and Mr Spock on board the enterprise.

Characters

Australian politicians

The primary characters of ''Rubbery Figures'' were politicians native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The ''Rubbery Figures'' political characters included: *

– portrayed as a self-centred, power-hungry opportunist *

– depicted as Hawke's down-to-earth but ambitious crony *

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

– an irritating, nerdy loser * Andrew Peacock – vain and snobbish, often seen filing his nails *

Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the Co ...

– senile and rambling, with a tendency for

malapropism A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An exam ...

("you mark my verbs") * John Elliott – a beer-swilling "yobbo", with his catchphrase of "pig's arse"

International politicians

''Rubbery Figures'' also satirised prominent world politicians of the time, among them were: *

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

– the then-

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

; an eccentric profiteer, eager to sell to the Australian government *

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

– the then-

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

; portrayed as a lumberjack, making decisions based on his

horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

– former

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the Party leader, leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, country's dissoluti ...

; an easygoing liberal who was always giving himself time off *

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...

– former ruler of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, whose puppet was permanently impaled by a missile with the letters ''" USA"'' painted on one side

Comparison with ''Spitting Image''

The ''Sunday Mail'' noted in 1988 that "People think creator Peter Nicholson borrowed the idea for Rubbery Figures from the British puppet show ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

''. But Nicholson quickly points out he created his puppets before ''Spitting Image'' was shown in Australia". Nicholson told the ''Herald'': "The programs are from slightly different traditions...Ours springs more from the newspaper political cartoon than the comedy tradition of ''Spitting Image''. They are probably more gratuitous. Their people are a bit unkind. They set out to deliberately make people look terrible, whereas I think our people should look a bit redeemable".

Music

In 1991, a music track called "The Recession Rap" with the rubbery figures was released. The music and lyrics were written by David Atkin, Peter Benson and Troy Hazard, the music was produced by David Atkin and Peter Benson and the characters were sung by Paul Jennings. It reached #60 on the ARIA Chart in August.

On Exhibition

Although no longer being viewed on television, the Figures appeared at several exhibitions in the 1990s. In 1993, they were recast and refurbished to take part in "The Exhibition We Had To Have" at the National Gallery of Victoria as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival. In 1994, "The Rubbery Years" in conjunction with the National Museum ran for six months at Old Parliament House in Canberra.

Discography

Singles

Awards

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - , rowspan="2",

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, "The Recession Rap" , Best Comedy Release , , , -

References

External links

Official Site
* {{IMDb title, id=0222622, title=Rubbery Figures 1984 Australian television series debuts 1990 Australian television series endings Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming 1980s Australian comedy television series Australian satirical television shows Australian television shows featuring puppetry