The  Rubbery  Figures

Archive Video and pictures of how the show was produced.

The Rubbery Figures programs were produced in the Rubbery Figures Studio, Melbourne, Australia.

Cartoonist [and Sculptor] Peter Nicholson designed and created the puppets for the series.

The series was shot on 16mm film at half speed [to make it easier for the puppeteers to get the mouth movements to match the sound track]. Two crews shot the vision over two days and then the film was edited back to the sound track. Special equipment was used to syncronise the cameras to the sound while the action was recorded.

The video covers the creation of the sound track to which the puppets mime, [the first stage], the shooting of the vision [second stage] and the editing process [third stage].

My role in this was to create some of the sound equipment used to syncronise the audio with the vision and other audio services as required for the production studio[s].

A christmas card sent to Rubbery Figures crew which features then Prime Minister Bob Hawke as Father Christmas and Deputy PM Paul Keating as one of the reindeer.

Peter Nicholson had been amusing readers of the Melbourne Age newspaper since 1976. It was these cartoons that inspired the Rubbery Figures puppets, which first came to life on the nations TV screens in the late 1980's. [Peter went on to be the one of the cartoonists for The Australian newspaper].

Peter Nicholson has his own website which you can find here: https://nicholsoncartoons.com.au/

To see some of the episodes of rubbery figures on Peter Nicholson's web site go here: https://nicholsoncartoons.com.au/rubberyfigures

A selection of some of the Rubbery Figures caricatures as created by Peter Nicholson Back row includes Malcome Fraser, Margaret Thatcher and John Howard, Middle row includes Ronald Regan and Bob Hawke, Front row includes Robert Menzies [bust] and Jo Bielke-Peterson.

The Rubbery Figures Archive DVD is a compilation consisting of some of the episodes from the show that was featured in the National Museum of Australia traveling exhibition, A segment from the "George Negus Tonight" show, which was screened on ABC television in 2004, And a film "The Making of Rubbery Figures" by Tim Robinson, which looks at how the show was produced.

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Front Cover of the Rubbery Figures DVD	Back Cover of the Rubbery Figures DVD