ABC Kids’ Giggle and Hoot to finish up in early 2020 after its 11th season
ABC Kids’ series Giggle and Hoot will finish up at the end of its current series, after 10 years.
The 11th and final season will run throughout the end of 2019 and early 2020. Episodes of Giggle and Hoot will remain on the ABC Kids’ channel, app and iView.
Jimmy Rees will finish up as Jimmy Giggle following its 11th and final series
The program follows the adventures of Jimmy Giggle, played by Jimmy Rees, his owl pal, Hoot, and their friends Hootabelle, Giggle Fangs, Hoot Pa, Pirate Hootbeard and Hootagadget.
Giggle and Hoot was first broadcast on 29 June 2009.
Libbie Doherty, head of ABC Children’s, said the network came to the decision together with Rees after the program celebrated its 10th birthday.
“Giggle and Hoot has had a remarkable production run over more than a decade, capturing the hearts and minds of generations of pre-schoolers and their families. After celebrating the show’s 10th birthday, Jimmy spoke with us and we both agreed the time was right to opt out while we were still on top,” Doherty said, continuing to thank the cast and crew of the program.
“The ABC is continually evolving its outstanding content for younger viewers, particularly on our digital services. Thank you to the incredible cast and crew who worked on the show over the years for their hootastic songs, games and adventures. And I would especially like to thank Jimmy, who is one of the hardest working TV Presenters – the passion and professionalism he brings to set every day is second to none. His contribution to sparking the curiosity and imagination of Australia’s children will be treasured by his fans. Happily, Giggle and Hoot remains central to the ABC Kids’ family and will be shown on screen and online for a long time to come.”
Rees’ television career began with his role as Jimmy Giggle in 2009, at the age of 22. In February this year, Rees began a turn on Ten’s revival of Dancing With The Stars.
Rees said that the time was right for him to take on the next challenge in his career.
“I’ve loved every day as Jimmy Giggle. I’ve worked with some of the very best people at the ABC and it’s been a complete joy to laugh and sing along with Aussie pre-schoolers across the country. After 10 years I decided that it was time to take on the next exciting challenge in my career, while also being able to dedicate more time to performing as Jimmy Giggle live in concert, a part of the job that I love so much,” Rees said.
“We’ve been working super hard these past few months to produce loads of content for everyone to watch and I will see all of my owl pals out on the road. Hoot! Hoot!”
“Performing on Dancing With The Stars was pretty incredible and I have since tried my hand at FM radio, which has been great. I am feeling really great about 2020 – bring it on.”
Puppeteer, Damien Carey, plays Hoot the Owl and also provides the voice for Giggle Fangs the bat. Carey took over the role from David Simes in 2018, when he departed the show to take the role of James Potter in the Melbourne stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Simes played Hoot from the show’s inception until his departure.
Thanks Jimmy and ABC kids for help settling my son at bedtime and giving me something good to watch at the same time. You’ll be misused.
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Hoot the Owl was also played by Nicholas Richard and Hamish Fletcher throughout the run of the show (by Nicholas for approximately four years). Congrats to all who worked on the show.
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this is so sad this was one of my favourite shows as a kid and I would always go to bed after the end clip and always say HOOT HOOT to my mum before I went to sleep
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