WAKING UP: The Goodnight Kiwi is returning after a 14-year absence from New Zealand television screens.
It's been 14 years since television's Goodnight Kiwi last turned out the lights and went to bed. But from tomorrow the iconic Television New Zealand character will be back on screen for summer.
The Goodnight Kiwi animation sequence in which the kiwi and a cat put out an empty milk bottle, climb a flight of stairs and take a lift to the top of a satellite tower before settling into bed in the satellite dish screened from 1980 to October 1994.
The sequence signalled the end of television programming for the night, however the extension of viewing hours meant they were no longer needed. Until now.
TVNZ marketing head Jason Paris said the move to bring back the pair was prompted by discussion about an appropriate Christmas message.
Three new cat and kiwi sequences have been made.
The first, to screen from tomorrow, has the pair decorating a Christmas tree; in the second, to screen between Christmas and New Year, the Christmas tree is dismantled; and the third, for the rest of summer, has the kiwi reclining on a lilo in a pool disturbed by the cat.
"We want the cat and kiwi to continue, but we're not too sure how just yet," says Paris. "I can promise viewers that they will appear more and more."
And he also promises that the new animation, by Auckland-based Tim Hunt, remains faithful.
"We've refreshed them but what people will see is very, very true to the original. The music track is a little bit faster but it's exactly the same track and the animation has been done in 2D to keep it true."
It's been 14 years since television's Goodnight Kiwi last turned out the lights and went to bed. But from tomorrow the iconic Television New Zealand character will be back on screen for summer.
The Goodnight Kiwi animation sequence in which the kiwi and a cat put out an empty milk bottle, climb a flight of stairs and take a lift to the top of a satellite tower before settling into bed in the satellite dish screened from 1980 to October 1994.
The sequence signalled the end of television programming for the night, however the extension of viewing hours meant they were no longer needed. Until now.
TVNZ marketing head Jason Paris said the move to bring back the pair was prompted by discussion about an appropriate Christmas message.
Three new cat and kiwi sequences have been made.
The first, to screen from tomorrow, has the pair decorating a Christmas tree; in the second, to screen between Christmas and New Year, the Christmas tree is dismantled; and the third, for the rest of summer, has the kiwi reclining on a lilo in a pool disturbed by the cat.
"We want the cat and kiwi to continue, but we're not too sure how just yet," says Paris. "I can promise viewers that they will appear more and more."
And he also promises that the new animation, by Auckland-based Tim Hunt, remains faithful.
"We've refreshed them but what people will see is very, very true to the original. The music track is a little bit faster but it's exactly the same track and the animation has been done in 2D to keep it true."