Bob and Paul. The puppets' heads were about 20cm high, and they were operated as glove puppets.
There were about 45 Rubbery Figures characters.
A new John Elliott puppet is born in the Melbourne studio. The puppets were made of latex rubber, poured into a plaster mould.
Matthew McCaughey operating the modified Bolex camera and sound system, improvised by Peter Nicholson for Rubbery filmmaking.
Maggie on a bad-hair day. This sculpture started life as a puppet and was stuffed and turned into a sculpture for a travelling exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, and the National Museum of Australia.
Andrew Peacock discusses his leadership ambitions with a Rubbery journalist in one of 600-odd segments shot in Nicholson's Melbourne studio 1987-1992.
Pigs Arse!! John Elliott with his ration of beer and cigarettes. In one Rubbery Figures sketch John Elliott exclaimed Pigs arse!! Thereafter, the public came to believe it was Elliott's favourite expression.
A bald Bob Hawke examines his charisma, while a Rubbery Keating scowls.
Dining at the Table of Power: These puppets, stuffed with foam not food, were turned into a tableau-rubbery for a special exhibition instigated by Gordon Darling in 1992. Called Towards a National Portrait Gallery the exhibition got the National Portrait Gallery on the road. Dining provided light relief from the serious heads on canvass.
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The Rubbery Figures programs were made in a small film and puppet studio set up in Melbourne by Peter Nicholson. They were designed to be the equivalent of a political cartoon on television ... funny, topical, quick, biting, and informed. The programs were shot on film with an ultra-low budget in an innovative style, combining cut-out animation with live footage of the puppets shot on an adapted 16mm Bolex camera at 18 frames per second ... a slightly pixillated speed. This system made it easier for the puppeteers to mime the words of the pre-recorded soundtrack. The puppets were glove-sized latex puppets generally operated by one person per puppet. There was a small team of skilled and talented puppeteers. The weekly five-minute program, including scripts, story-boards, voice, animation, shooting, sound-effects and mix, was made in the three or four days before going to air. It was shot on reversal newsfilm and edited and sound-mixed at rapid pace, rough edges and all. The voices were pre-recorded in the studio by the brilliant Melbourne voice-mimic Paul Jennings. Michael Nicholson, (the brother of Peter) shot most of the animation, also on a Bolex camera. Cynthia Mann was studio manager, art director and production manager for much of the period.
How did Rubbery Figures start? In 1984, an imaginative ABC current affairs producer, Ian Carroll, wanted a weekly satirical segment. Carroll commissioned Peter Nicholson to make the puppets. The talented and versatile TV journalist Paul Murphy did the voices, and fellow journalist Andrew Sawer did the scripts. The segment ran successfully on Friday nights for a year and a half. Unfortunately, with the demise of the ABC's current affairs program "The National", the puppets lost their home and Nicholson was told the ABC did not want to use them again. Nicholson owned the copyright to the puppets, so he converted his sculpture studio in Melbourne into a mini film studio, made additional puppets, and one year later, in 1987, produced a new program with a new name ... Rubbery Figures.
The ABC on Eight Cents a Day: The new program was a stand-alone six minute program, consisting of six to eight short segments on various themes with numerous puppets in diverse settings. The first three-month series was in 1987, followed by three series in 1988. At the end of 1988 the ABC dropped Rubbery Figures and told Nicholson they would not use Rubbery Figures again in the foreseeable future. No reason was given, but at that time there was considerable opposition within the ABC to the contracting out of production. The Rubbery Figures programs made in the Rubbery Figures studio cost the ABC less than half as much as if they had been made at the ABC. Some years later the ABC changed its attitude to externally produced programs, and now uses them often ... SeaChange is a well-known example.
Fast Forward: In early 1989 Steve Vizard commissioned the Rubbery Figures studio to produce segments for his new comedy program Fast Forward. During 1989 and 1990, the Rubbery Figures studio produced countless short segments for four series of Fast Forward. They included Charismatrek (Bob Hawke's space odyssey), and the infamous segment in which John Elliott first uttered the words "Pigs Arse!" Fast Forward director Ted Emery cut back to this snippet repeatedly, and eventually in the mind of the public it became John Elliott's catchcry.
The Sounds of Rubbery Figures: The gifted Melbourne voice mimic Paul Jennings did virtually all the voices for Rubbery Figures in the studio's tiny recording booth. He would do the voices one after the other, changing voice (and facial expressions) at lightning speed. Afterwards, the sound editor would choose the best takes, and make a tight, final voice track. The puppeteers mimed to this track and the cartoon sound effects were added last.
Some of the people who worked on Rubbery Figures at different times over six years:
Scripts: Tony Martin, Andrew Knight, John Alsop, Paul McDonald, Brendan Luno, David Marshall, Gordon Badham, Steve Vizard, Patrick Cook, Michael Nicholson, Rod Quantok, Alan Pentland, Gary McAffery, John Glade-Wright, Kaz Cooke.
Voices: Paul Jennings
Script Editing, Voice Direction: Peter Nicholson
Direction: Peter Nicholson, Leigh Tilson, Matthew Lovering, Matthew McCaughey,
Animation: Michael Nicholson, Steve French
Art Direction: Cynthia Mann, Jodi Borland, Marion Rennie
Sound: Tony Martin, Piers Douglas, Ray Boseley, Peter Frost, Vince Agostino.
Production Manager: Piers Douglas, Esther Haskell, Jan Lucas. Puppeteers: Jenny Sherlock, Esther Haskell, Jenny Ishmakovitch, Michelle Spooner, Cassie Serpell, Astrid Judge, Maeve Vella, Kath Gordon, Rebecca McLean, Cathy Shehata.
Business Manager and Producer: Cynthia Mann
Costumes: Trish Simmonds
Camera: Michael Nicholson, Matthew McCaughey, Leigh Tilson, Gary Richards
Editing: Tony Patterson, Clayton Jacobson, Aleksi Vellis, Catherine Birmingham, Virginia Murray.
Caricature Sculpture: Peter Nicholson
Sculpture and Moulds: Smiley Williams, Peter Degaris, Lisa Caldwell, Jeffrey Smart.
Equipment: Peter Watt, Tim Robinson, Paul Myers.
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