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Can you name Australia’s highest earning performers?
Actors Russel Crowe, Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett probably spring to mind; or how about pop icons like Kylie Minogue or age-old rockers AC/DC? While all of these figure prominently in BRW magazine’s latest list of the top 50 Australian entertainment earners, none of them made it to the top spot.
That honour goes to “The Wiggles” – four guys from Sydney who gambol around in front of the camera and on stage in multi-coloured outfits generally making fools of themselves. Surprisingly the wacky children’s group beat Ms Kidman into second place in this year’s list, recording earnings of a staggering AU$45 million (€27 million) in 2004.
Who’d have thought that a children’s entertainment act could out-earn some of Hollywood’s biggest names? But another children’s group, Hi-5, also made the top 10, coming in at number 6 and reinforcing just how lucrative entertaining the kiddies can be.
The Wiggles have apparently found that elusive balance of entertainment and educational content that appeals to both their young audiences and to the all important parents who pay for everything. Their recipe of keeping things simple, not dictating to children and of viewing things from the kids’ perspective also seems to travel well. Already successful in the US, Canada, Portugal, France, the UK and New Zealand, The Wiggles’ formula seems to cross international and cultural boundaries without losing any of its appeal.
From a parent’s perspective it’s easy to see why anything that keeps the children entertained while at the same time delivering an educational message would get the thumbs up. So much of what passes for children’s TV these days is complete dross. When a show comes along that keeps the youngsters entertained and simultaneously offers tangible benefit it’s little wonder that beleaguered parents sit up and take notice.
It’s not just TV shows that make children’s entertainment such a money spinner of course. With children there’s enormous scope for spin-offs. Books, videos, stickers, toys, lunch-boxes, quilt covers, clothes and other merchandising options exploit children’s insatiable appetite for new things.
I get very cynical sometimes about the callous way marketing and merchandising attempt to manipulate children’s natural curiosity and enthusiasm to pry even more cash from parents’ pockets. While the initial offering may well have merit, the spin offs serve no other purpose than to line the pockets of the creators.
My own favourites when it comes to on-screen children’s entertainment are those cleverly written gems that cater for the parents as well. Good examples are animated features like Shrek, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles… all of which entertain the children on the surface, but are full of subtle subtexts and double-entendres that keep adult viewers amused as well. In Ireland RTE’s “The Den” falls into this category, where Dustin the turkey continues where predecessors Zig and Zag left off, leaving many a parent chuckling alongside the kids on weekday afternoons.
TV has had bad press over recent years, and has been blamed at one time or another for almost every childhood woe. Personally I don’t think it deserves that reputation. Monitoring what children watch on television is down to parents. If we’re careful about how much time they spend in front of the box, and what they watch, there’s no reason why television can’t play a constructive role in a child’s development. |
