Wonderland: From Small Things to 'Big' Things
Puppetry has enjoyed a long history in Australia, deriving its early forms from much-loved British traditions such as Punch and Judy. Amateur puppetry flourished in the post-World War II years, popular among teachers who recognised the educational strengths of the puppet medium. Puppet shows were a feature of holiday entertainment in the 1950s, and it is here that the story of the Hudoan puppets begins.
Born in Nambour, Queensland, their creator Hugh Anderson attended art school and, after gaining some experience in advertising, spent over a decade in the Royal Australian Navy. After World War II, Hugh returned to commercial art, and one of his roles involved creating Christmas and Easter window displays for Sydney department stores, with figures and scenery illustrating children’s stories and much-loved nursery rhymes. He was also an entrant in the 1945 Wynne Prize, submitting a small sculptural piece.
Hugh parading 'The Colonel & The Horse', one of his many puppets.
Hugh and his family lived in Lakemba, Sydney, fortuitously, as it turned out, in the same street as Edith C. Murray, who at the time was establishing the Clovelly Puppet Theatre and later founded the UNIMA Australia branch (an association that supports and connects puppeteers, puppet makers, and all people interested in puppetry arts in Australia and worldwide). After discovering her neighbour’s interests, she encouraged Hugh to consider trying puppetry.
Around this time, Norman Hetherington (creator of the greatly loved Mr Squiggle marionette characters) was serving as lead cartoonist for The Bulletin and was deeply involved in amateur puppetry. Following an introduction from Edith, Hugh joined Norman as a puppeteer in his first-ever marionette play, The Reluctant Dragon - The spell was cast.
Hugh began making puppets for entertainments at clubs, parties, and trade exhibitions. His involvement was all-encompassing. He conceived the characters and designs; he manufactured all the puppets, which were then meticulously costumed in outfits sewn by his wife, Doris. According to Hugh, each puppet took around 40 hours to make. Handmade from carved wood with metal joints, the faces were fabricated from papier-mâché; the parts were dipped in plaster and painted. Backcloths and sets were also made. Hugh wrote the storylines for live performances, and the duo later recorded the stories on reel-to-reel tapes. He even composed and performed music for the shows.
The introduction of television to Australia in time for the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 presented puppeteers such as the Andersons and Norman Hetherington with new opportunities. The Andersons created their first television character, Peter Popple. A change in family circumstances, however, ended this long period of family creativity and togetherness, and in the early 1960s, the puppets were packed away for good and the Andersons left Sydney.
In 1969, the puppets – along with the sets, backcloths, recordings, and scripts – were offered for sale. Purchased by a Newcastle and Hunter Valley puppetry company, the marionettes sprang to life once more as the Marti McClelland puppets. The company performed regularly on local television, in theatres, and at festivals. At one performance, a seven-year-old boy watched, entranced, as the puppets performed Jack and the Beanstalk at Winn’s Department Store in Newcastle. Some 37 years later, he purchased the puppets, together with all the original associated materials, which had remained boxed and untouched for decades – having survived through gentle neglect. 
The Andersons settled on the Sunshine Coast and opened a tourist attraction in Maroochydore, Wonderland – an animated attraction based on Alice in Wonderland, complete with a large-scale Alice out the front. It was the era of ‘Big Things’, and further attractions followed, with Hugh creating the Big Cow at Yandina, Big Bulls at Rockhampton, the Big Gold Panner near Bathurst, and the Giant Soldier at Uralla, NSW.
Hugh passed away in 2005, and Doris a short time later. The puppeteer was remembered as a gentleman and unfailingly generous.
The Hudoan Puppets are an extraordinary time capsule of 1950s children’s entertainment – their visual humour and pathos capturing, to modern eyes, nostalgic sentiments of simpler times, delivering wholesome stories in an altogether gentler world.
View the Hudoan Puppet Collection
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Gibson’s acknowledges Richard Bradshaw, OAM, leading Australian puppeteer and his essay, Australian Puppet History. Hugh and Doris Anderson: The Hudoan Puppets, n.d.
Jeff Carter, ‘Birth of a Puppet’, People Magazine, April 3, 1957 Vol 8. No 3, pages 48-50
Primary materials including ephemera, original scripts