The Ferals facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Ferals |
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The Ferals' cast
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| Genre | Children's television |
| Created by |
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| Starring |
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| Voices of |
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| Composer(s) | Peter Dasent |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | |
| Original release | 11 April 1994 – 26 June 1995 |
The Ferals was a fun Australian children's comedy TV show. It was shown on the ABC channel from 1994 to 1995. The show was created by Wendy Gray and Claire Henderson. It featured a mix of real people and amazing animal puppets called the "Ferals". People loved the show for its funny and unique characters. Some of these characters even appeared on other ABC shows later on. Garth Frost was the person who designed all the cool puppets.
Contents
Story of The Ferals
The Ferals are a group of different animals who all live together in a shed in a backyard. The main animal characters are Rattus, a rat; Modigliana, a wild cat; Mixy, a rabbit; and Derryn, a wild dog.
The humans in the show are two university students and their landlord. They often argue with each other and with the Ferals.
Who are the characters?
- Joe King is the landlord. He is a bit bossy and always tries to get the Ferals out of his garden.
- Leonard is a friendly science student. He often tries to protect theals from Joe.
- Roberta 'Robbie' is a medical student. She also tries to help the Ferals, even though their silly actions sometimes make her frustrated.
There are also two other animal characters: Keith, a koala, and Kylie, a kangaroo. Modigliana the cat called them the 'Bogans From The Bush'. Keith and Kylie often thought they were better than the other Ferals because they were native Australian animals. They also had a bit of a whiny voice. Other characters included White Ants, Rock Wrangler, and Fat Cat.
Meet the Characters
Puppet Characters
- Rattus P. Rattus (He's the leader of the bunch)
- Rattus is a black rat who wears a leather jacket. He's the leader of the Ferals and loves to play tricks. He enjoys teasing Modigliana the cat, but she often hits him back! Rattus really wants to own a car. He often comes up with wild plans to get one. His name comes from the scientific name for a common black rat.
- Modigliana Wydebottom (She's fluffy, but she's tough)
- Modigliana is a proud and strong cat. She is very confident and often clashes with Rattus. She's one of the smartest animals in the group.
- Derryn (A Dopey Dog)
- Derryn is a dog who isn't the smartest. He often forgets where he buried his bones. But sometimes he surprises everyone with a clever idea. For example, he once won a contest by training his fleas!
- Mixy M. Toasus (A Muddled up, mixed up Bunny)
- Mixy is a sweet, cute, pink rabbit who loves carrots. She can sometimes be a bit worried, and she's usually only a little bit smarter than Derryn. Her name is a funny play on the word myxomatosis, which is a disease that was used to control wild rabbits in Australia.
- Keith
- Keith is a koala. He loves eating gum leaves, sleeping, and playing his mum's old harmonica.
- Kylie
- Kylie is a kangaroo. She often has to help Keith when he gets into trouble. She also argues a lot with Modigliana.
Human Characters
- Joe King (played by Miguel Ayesa)
- Joe is the landlord. He is very proud and only thinks about himself. He is always trying to kick the Ferals out of the shed. Joe often tries to get important jobs, like being in charge of publicity for a pizza place. In the last episode, his plans to open a dinosaur park caused a lot of trouble.
- Leonard (played by Brian Rooney)
- Leonard is a science student who loves to invent things. His inventions usually don't work very well! He can also do magic tricks and once accidentally hypnotized Derryn to be smart. At the end of the show, he plans to go to Antarctica for a science trip.
- Roberta 'Robbie' Henderson (played by Kylle Hogart)
- Robbie is a medical student. She loves playing the guitar and dreams of traveling the world with a rock band. She is usually the most understanding of the Ferals among the humans. She often acts like their doctor when they get hurt. In the last episode, she decides to move in with a new band.
Episodes List
To see a full list of all the episodes, check out the main article:
Feral TV Show
Later in 1995, a short five-minute show called Feral TV started. In this show, The Ferals found a TV cable in the sewers. They decided to start their own TV channel called Feral TV! The boss of the TV station was Kerry, a loud and grumpy toad with a bad temper. His helper was Rodney, a cockroach who always tried to please him. Kerry's character was based on a real Australian media boss named Kerry Packer. Keith, the koala from the original show, also appeared in Feral TV.
What Happened After The Ferals?
Even though most of the human actors didn't become big TV stars, some of the puppet characters kept appearing on ABC shows. Mixy the rabbit, for example, became a host for the ABC Kids morning TV block. She would introduce the shows. Mixy even had her own show and website!
Rattus and Modigliana were also featured in an ABC education show about maths called Numbers Count. Modigliana also became a co-host for a show called Creature Features.
| Network | ABC |
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| Launched | February 16, 1998 |
| Closed | July 26, 2002 |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
Mixy was an Australian TV program block on the ABC. It featured Mixy Rabbit from The Ferals as the host. After The Ferals series ended, Mixy continued to introduce shows in the mornings.
In 2000, the puppeteer Mal Heap, who played Modigliana the cat, also introduced a new character named Joe the Kangaroo to the Mixy block.
The Mixy programming block ended in July 2002. However, Mixy still appeared in ABC channel idents (short video clips) and on her own website episodes until the mid-2000s.
Mixy's Hosts
- Mixy Rabbit (1998 - 2002)
- Puppeteer - Emma DeVries. Mixy is a sweet, cute, pink rabbit who loves carrots. She can sometimes get a bit mixed up, but she is very friendly.
- Joe the Kangaroo (2000 - 2002)
- Puppeteer - Mal Heap. Joe is a small brown kangaroo who loves eating broccoli. He first appeared on a VHS tape called Mixy TV Favourites.
Mixy's Toys
- Mary the Cat
- Dibadee Doll
- Scruffy the Dog
Mixy's Videos and Website
- Video releases: Mixy Presents: More Favourites (1998) and Mixy Presents TV Favourites (2002).
- Website: In the early 2000s, Mixy had her own section on the ABC Playground Website. You could click on her image to find games, videos, fan messages, and Joe the Kangaroo's corner.
The Ferals Fanbook
In 1996, a book called The Ferals Funtastic Fanbook was published. It was created by Garth Frost, Wendy Gray, David Witt, and Tina Matthews.
The Ferals Podcast
On May 17, 2015, the first episode of an unofficial podcast called The Ferals Podcast was released. The last episode was posted on January 10, 2016.
In this podcast, the hosts Monkey Boy, Swinny, and Mike talked in detail about the classic children's TV show The Ferals.
