Rubbery Figures


Rubbery Figures was a satirical rubber puppet series that screened in Australia in various forms from 1984 to 1990. It appeared on TV comedies like The ABC's Rubbery Figures and Fast Forward. 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. The programs featured inserts of animation of puppet photo cutouts done mainly by Michael Nicholson, in a manner reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's work on Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Fast Forward's ''Rubbery Figures''

Fast Forward included Rubbery Figures during its 1980s run, lasting until 1990. It was during its appearance on Fast Forward that Rubbery Figures acquired so many of its characters.

Characters

Australian politicians

Like shows such as Spitting Image or Hurra Deutschland, the primary characters of Rubbery Figures were politicians native to the program's country. The Rubbery Figures political characters included:
Rubbery Figures also satirised prominent world politicians of the time, among them were:
In 1991, EMI Music released a RUBBERY FIGURES music track called "The Recession Rap". It hit #60 on the ARIA Chart in August 1991.
The music & lyrics to "The Recession Rap" were written by David Atkin, Peter Benson & Troy Hazard, and the music was produced by David Atkin & Peter Benson for Keynote Audio Productions.