Goodnight Kiwi

The Goodnight Kiwi is an animated short which has been used to signal the end of nightly broadcasts on Television New Zealand channels. The Goodnight Kiwi features two characters: the eponymous Goodnight Kiwi (later also called TV Kiwi), and his companion, simply known as The Cat. The animation was introduced in 1975 on TV2, and used on South Pacific Television between 1976 and 1980. Between 1980 and 19 October 1994, the animation was screened again on TV2. This animation returned on 6 September 2007 for use on TVNZ 6 when the channel ends transmission at midnight. TVNZ U also used the Goodnight Kiwi at midnight before overnight service.

The short was animated by Sam Harvey (1922–2014), with music arrangement by Bernie Allen and sound by Gary Potts.[1]

Plot and overview

Three different clips have been used through time:

The first version of the clip was used when TV2 first signed on in 1975. In this version, the Kiwi was a director. The cartoon began with the Kiwi yawning in the director's chair. Kiwi wakes up the cat, and the two race each other down a series of cameras and other broadcasting equipment. The Kiwi then goes to the back of the studio, cuts the power and turns on the outside lights. Then the Kiwi put the milk bottle and the cat outside, but without it knowing the cat goes outside again while Kiwi is waving to the audience. Following this, the Kiwi exits the studio, pulling down a shade revealing "GOODNIGHT FROM TV2". This version was thought to only exist in the form of small clips until TVNZ released it online for public viewing on 15 September 2016.[2]

The second version of the Goodnight Kiwi clip was used by South Pacific Television somewhere between 1976 and 1980 and saw the Goodnight Kiwi and his companion living in a television camera. At the end of the clip, the kiwi would close the side flaps on the camera and then the South Pacific Television logo (reading "GOOD NIGHT FROM SOUTH PACIFIC TELEVISION") would appear as the music faded out. During transmission breakdowns, a still picture of the Goodnight Kiwi was often used, in poses including one of sweeping the floor and accidentally pulling out a power cord.

The third and most famous iteration appeared in 1980, and aired on both channels. The one-minute-long animation begins with Goodnight Kiwi and the Cat in the master control room. Kiwi shuts down the screens, and starts an audio cassette playing an instrumental arrangement of the traditional Māori lullaby, Hine e Hine. Kiwi walks through the studio while Cat jumps and pulls faces into a camera. Kiwi turns out the lights, puts a milk bottle on the porch and locks the door, while the cat heads upstairs to the studio roof. The Kiwi follows and rides an elevator (presumably just after it had been used by the cat) to the top of a transmission mast. At the top, Kiwi covers himself in blankets (in which the cat was already curled up) and goes to sleep in a satellite dish with the Cat sitting on his stomach. The short closes with the words: "Goodnight from TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND".

There was a slight variation of the ending - from 1989 onwards, the Goodnight Kiwi was only seen on Channel 2 (TV1 adopted its own closedown sequence, featuring the National Anthem) and ended with a voiceover stating "it's goodnight from Channel 2" and displaying the Channel 2 logo. The Goodnight Kiwi clip used from 1980 to 1994 was revived in 2007 and used to end programming on TVNZ 6, the clip ended with a lower third caption stating Goodnight from TVNZ 6. The aspect ratio used for the TVNZ 6 version was modified to suit a 16:9 display with the top and bottom of the clip cropped. Said video was also used by TVNZ 7 once it ceased transmission in 2012, with a similar caption, this time reading "Goodbye from TVNZ 7", followed by a "Good night from TVNZ 7" ident afterwards.

The animation, characters and music are regarded as part of New Zealand broadcasting culture and icons of kiwiana.[3]

Parodies

Return of the Kiwi

Eric Kearley, head of the TVNZ Digital Channel Launch team stated in a messageboard response that the Goodnight Kiwi would return to TV on Freeview on TVNZ 6 which began broadcasting on 6 September 2007 - a move which proved popular with New Zealand television viewers.[8] New Christmas animations featuring the Kiwi and Cat characters were introduced by TV One on 1 December 2008.

It was also the final clip played on TVNZ 7, with the message "Goodbye from TVNZ 7", before the station was shut down at midnight on 30 June 2012, and converted to TV One Plus 1 (now TVNZ 1 +1), a 1-hour delayed broadcast of TV One (now TVNZ 1).

References

  1. ↑ "Goodnight Kiwi". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Goodnight Kiwi (1975)". TVNZ Footage Licensing. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 "A to Z of New Zealand in stamps". One News. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Goodnight Kiwi (1976-94, 2007-)". Kiwi TV. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Williamson, Lyn (1984). TV Kiwi and the Cat. Madeline Beasley (illustrator). Auckland: TVNZ Enterprises. ISBN 0908690053.
  6. ↑ "A to Z of New Zealand". New Zealand Post. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Kiwi Goodnight on YouTube
  8. ↑ TV fans applaud Goodnight Kiwi's return (+video) at Stuff.co.nz
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