The Wiggles characters

Aside from the eight Wiggles, four secondary characters, along with a troupe of singers, actors, and dancers, appear in their television series, videos, and live concerts.

Murray Cook created Dorothy from his experiences in working at a preschool, sensing a need to make up some good dinosaur songs.

South Australian opera singer and dancer, Carolyn Ferrie, has provided Dorothy's voice from 1997 to 2001, and again from 2004 to 2009.

[7] Ferrie insisted that Dorothy "is number one after the boys including Captain Feathersword, in terms of who kids say they love".

In 1996, shortly before moving into American markets, the Wiggles discovered that someone in Maine had registered Dorothy as a trademark, so they reached an agreement and paid a settlement.

[12][13] The Captain was created because the Wiggles understood that young children like pirates; they gave him a "feathersword" because they wanted him to be non-violent, inspired by the gentleness of Murray Cook's close friend, James A Ide who often used nonviolent props to entertain young children in his local area.

[13] Field described Paddick as "just as funny offstage as on",[14] For many parents, his vocal impersonations were "the high point of the Wiggles stage show" and included singers Mick Jagger, Cher, Plácido Domingo and James Hetfield.

[1] He was named after Tony Henry, the drummer in The Cockroaches, who also provided the Wiggles with musical support throughout the years.

Introduced in 1995, Wags is a tall, brown, furry dog with floppy ears and a happy face.

Fatt provided the original barking noises for Wags before Paul Paddick, who also plays Captain Feathersword, took over.

Their professor, Rosemary Harle, had a clown puppet named Bok (short for "Boccherini") that was used in music lessons.

For the stage shows, the Wiggles have used two 16-metre (52 ft) trucks, three tour buses, a cast of 13 dancers, and 10 permanent crew members.

The "Wiggly Dancers" have always made up a major part of the Wiggles shows and TV programs and play many of the minor roles.

Other characters of note include The Cook (portrayed by Anthony Field's father, John, and Crowded House drummer Paul Hester),[18] Professor Singalottasonga (played by Sam Moran),[19] Magdalena the Mermaid (played by Naomi Wallace in Wiggle Bay and Larissa Wright in Racing to the Rainbow).