Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

Created by the actor/producer John McCallum and film director Lee Robinson, the series was filmed between 1966 and 1968 for the Australian Channel 9 television network, in Living Colour (a Channel 9 slogan of the time). The location for the series was the Waratah National Park on the outskirts of Sydney.

By the year 1969, Skippy was being broadcast on every continent, and to over eighty countries, which was more than any other television program of the time. Skippy was actually the first colour television show to be sold to the world market before full production had begun.

Each episode of this after-school staple of Australian TV was a self-contained story, and usually entailed an exciting or dramatic adventure for the characters, the day invariably being saved by the show's hero, Skippy.

In Australia, the Skippy phenomenon led to books, toys, comics, money boxes, and a feature film, The Intruders, in 1969.

An important and charming recurring plot element was the younger castmembers' ability to communicate with Skippy:

Skippy: Tsk tsk chk tok-tok chk-tok!

Sonny: What's that, Skip? Something about a crashed helicopter?

Skippy: Tsk tok-chk-chk chk tok-tok tsk chk-tok!

Mark: C'mon Sonny, Skippy says the crashed helicopter is over the hill by the old dam! Good on ya, Skip!

Cast:
Ed Devereaux as Head Ranger Matt Hammond
Tony Banner as Flight Ranger Jerry King
Ken James as Mark Hammond
Garry Pankhurst as Sonny Hammond
Liza Goddard as Clancy Merrick
Skippy as Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

Skippy, Skippy

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

Skippy, Skippy

Skippy, our friend ever true.