OH FUCK YES! WOBBIES WORLD!
Holy shit, people.
I’ve been searching for this ad for years, and never managed to track it down. Someone’s finally uploaded it to YouTube.
The Wobbies World commercial is a pillar of Victorian childhood. A flagstone! A bulkhead!
No-one I know ever actually went to Wobbies World, but we all saw that commercial about 5 times a day every day of our lives. Did any of you guys ever actually get to go to Wobbies World? Please fill me in if you did.
In hindsight, Wobbies World looks incredibly lame. But how awesome did it seem as a kid?! I would’ve given my Game Boy to go on that frickin’ bubble helicopter.
I don’t understand how Wobbies World assumed the exalted position of desire it did amongst early 90s Aussie kids. Surely we were smart enough to see that the place was a complete shithole? Nevertheless, I can remember harboring an intense need to go to Wobbies World. Maybe it was cos Disneyland seemed impossible, Warner Bros Movie World perhaps a little less so, but still mostly unattainable… but Wobbies World was a definite maybe. Nunawading’s in the Melways, dad could drive there!
Or maybe it was just that incredibly hypnotic music. I love how it finishes at the end of the commercial. Tik-tik-whoo.
Some more points, because I’m not done dissecting this relic of 90s Victorian kidhood:
What’s the deal with that stupid mannequin dressed as a fireman? They couldn’t even afford real animatronics, so they just pinched a dummy from the bins behind K-Mart. Oh, and that early shot where it zooms in on the dummy’s face is frickin’ terrifying.
“Bring your friends, and mum too!” (But dad can fuckin’ stay home.)
And I’m sorry, but a slide isn’t a ride. It’s playground equipment. Just had to call bullshit on that one.
P.S. I tried to find the clip from The Late Show where they parodied this commercial (with a funpark named Piss Weak World), but it’s not on YouTube. Instead, please accept this equally hilarious Late Show spoof of Channel 9’s old “We’re Still #1″ campaign:
Sweeeeetttt! I’m selling everythiing I own and moving to Oz, to set up my own Wobbie’s World down there. Easiest Billion I’ll ever make….
The problem with these places is that they were always out in the middle of nowhere and took about 2 hours to reach by car - like The Big Rocking Horse for example. I don’t know where Nunawading is but I’m guessing it’s in the middle of Whoop-whoop.
Yeah, it’s pretty much in the sticks… or at least what qualifies for sticks in Melbourne’s vast suburban sprawl.
I’ve actually been to The Big Rocking Horse… twice, lol. Buying the little bag of sawdust labelled ‘Rocking Horse Poo’ amused me greatly as a child. I heard they closed it off a while back so you can’t actually go climb up inside the horse anymore. Stupid liability.
I went to Gamaracha a number of times as a kid - I can’t remember why though…
I just realized that Wobbies isn’t a name. It isn’t like “Wobby’s” World. If Wobbies are some sort of creature which live at the park or something, shouldn’t it be Wobbies’ World? Ehhh…Whatever, I’d still go there if I could…
Man, when Supermercado gets his blog back up I gotta direct you to his visit to Wobbies World entry. Classic stuff.
Ooh, nice new sleek look Dan, what’s new?
awesome blog. just as i remember it. i never went either. the late show spoof is on youtube at the end of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwRec358Alw
and theres like a sequel here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji_DQEmtAEc