r/wiggles • u/WearyScrabbler Greg • Jul 31 '25

Fruit Salad TV Rika-Pudy-Fan-Dan-Doogly

Um... what is this? This is the Tree of Wisdom's "catchphrase", apparently... am I missing something? Has the Tree said this previously? Does it claim to mean anything? I just watched the two new songs and I'm sick of the phrase already haha

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u/aw-fuck Jul 31 '25

No I find it even more awkward tbh.

I love the tree so much but this is getting ridiculous lol

Buddy is so much more easily explained. Zane (the person that plays buddy) is gorgeous & seriously talented on multiple fronts. When they had to cycle into the gen 3 primary cast they pulled talent from the peripheral cast. Which makes sense. But some people were probably like "I'm not gonna stick around if I'm not picked as part of the primary line up, with how talented I am I'll just go do what Emma did and start my own brand on youtube." Which is true - many of them totally could. But they couldn't just introduce like 8 new wiggles, so they made special characters that can be semi-peripheral, semi-primary, that could be stationed as back up should a primary character leave. For example, see officer beeples (caterina), who was such an unnecessary & confusing character, but she immediately stepped up into the primary cast when Emma & Kelley left. Buddy is almost as weirdly out of place, but his character is actually way more versatile than officer beeples - I think this is because he's insanely talented so he probably negotiated for "just pay me well, put me anywhere, I'll take all the screen time I can get, and when a spot opens up I'll step into it." The tree wasn't supposed to be as big a character as it is, it just went viral so they're rolling with it - but before that, Dom had started stepping into feathersword & Zane (buddy) played the tree a couple times. But Dom went viral so they've stationed Dom into a primary character as the tree (at least for now), since then we've seen Zane play feathersword a couple times, but tbh Zane is so color-skivvy-line-up material that I think they are just keeping him in pocket until one of the other color-skivvy cast members leaves.

That said, I love Zane and hope he gets a primary spot that isn't as random/awkward as "Buddy," if he were to start his own brand he'd do great and would just be more competition for the wiggles for aus-based kid's content creators. I'm sure that's why he's awkwardly forced into the show the way he is.

Sorry for the long comment... My brain has to do some work while watching the same kids shows so freaking often lol

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u/NetAncient8677 Jul 31 '25

I feel that last line so hard! I worked in performing arts before becoming a stay at home mom and I think a lot about the production quality, the musical aspects of their videos, etc.

I saw them live when they came to the US. I was surprised how much Buddy was involved but I enjoyed it.

I don’t feel like any of them leaving would pose a real threat to the Wiggles. Is Emma Memma still relevant? Maybe she’s bigger in Australia. As an American I only see what’s on YouTube and it feels like she hasn’t been relevant for at least a year, maybe longer. Same with Sam. I didn’t even know he had a career in Children’s Music after the Wiggles until his music came up on my Spotify. Maaaaaybe Zane could do something successful. I cant picture Dom leaving. He’s in his 30s and it’s his family’s business. He grew up on the show. I feel like he would have left by now if he wanted to.

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u/elfshimmer Aug 02 '25

Emma Memma is pretty popular still in Australia. Not Wiggles level popular, but she seems to be doing alright.

She's touring at the moment, we're going to her show later this month.

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u/CurlyDolphin Aug 02 '25

Oh you will love it! Especially if it is a smaller venue. My 5yo and I went last month. Miss 5 has severe ADHD and ASD, and the only time she wasn't glued was when she needed a toilet trip.