Kangaroo Creek Gang
Australian bush animals in books, tapes, and television.
Last updated
The Kangaroo Creek Gang began as a series of reading books from 1981 about Australian bush animals. In 2002, it became a cartoon on the Nine Network, produced by Southern Star Group. Earlier, in the 1980s, read-along cassette tapes were recorded in Perth, featuring voices by Gregory Ker and songs by jazz singer Helen Matthews.
History
The Kangaroo Creek Gang started out in a book series that grew to 40 titles, selling over a million copies across Australia. A comic strip for the group ran in the children’s sections of News Limited’s Sunday papers in most states. The characters appeared in multimedia kits sent to primary schools and in children’s activity packs on Australian Airlines and Ansett flights.
In 1990-91, they starred in a TV ad for the State Bank of South Australia, with the jingle “saving makes sense is what we say.” One character, Kenny Kidna, had a nightly 30-second ‘Goodnight girls and boys’ segment at 7:30pm on Perth’s NEW-10. The animated series first aired in April 2002 on the Nine Network, and later on Starz Kids & Family. The gang also performed live in costume and puppet shows, mainly at shopping centres across Australia.
Did You Know?
- The read-along cassette tapes were recorded in the early 1980s in Perth, Western Australia.
- Gregory Ker voiced Kevin Kangaroo, Wal Wombat, Tiddles Tiger Snake, Ranger West, and the narrator for some read-along books.
More in 2000s Australian Animated Television Series
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Kangaroo Creek Gang (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced