Hurry up! Newcastle Museum has a new exhibition for the school holidays, and it is a nostalgic one. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington has opened as the first stop on its national tour, and it is packed with puppets, props and plenty of reasons to bring the whole family along.
Whether you grew up watching Mr Squiggle with Miss Pat, Miss Rebecca or Miss Jane (Upside down, Miss Jane!), this exhibition is a fun trip down memory lane for parents and grandparents.
It’s also a great opportunity for kids to meet the man from the moon aka Mr Squiggle for the first time as well as his friends Blackboard, Rocket, Bill Steamshovel and Gus the Snail.
(You can find old episodes of Mr Squiggle on YouTube to show kids before they come to the exhibition).
Judging by the crowd at a sneak peek of the exhibition on Friday, the appeal spans every generation. Adults were swapping stories about which era of the show they remembered watching, while their own kids and grandkids were just as captivated by the puppets and props.
Running from 1959 to 1999, Mr Squiggle and Friends was a family affair on ABC TV. While Norman Hetherington voiced and made all the characters, his wife, Margaret, eventually took over scriptwriting, and his daughter, Rebecca, was Mr Squiggle’s last on-screen companion (1989–99).
“My father was incessantly creative. He never stopped thinking about what he could do to entertain people,” Ms Hetherington said. “He was wildly imaginative but always with a deep sense of purpose and direction.”
What’s on at the exhibition
The exhibition celebrates Norman Hetherington, the puppeteer, cartoonist and wartime entertainer behind Mr Squiggle. Visitors get an up-close look at hand-crafted puppets, original artworks and stage props used across the show’s long run on ABC TV, along with the story of how a simple pencil-nosed puppet became one of the most loved characters in Australian television history.
There is also an interactive squiggle drawing station, so kids can try their hand at turning a scribble into a masterpiece just like Mr Squiggle did.
Running alongside it is Murray Raine’s Marvellous Marionettes, featuring around 20 marionettes donated to the museum by Newcastle-born puppeteer Murray Raine. Raine was mentored by Hetherington himself, so the two exhibitions tell a connected story of Australian puppetry, with a proud Newcastle link.
Inspired at the age of six by a puppet show he saw at Waratah Infants School, Raine later became one of Australia’s youngest professionally paid puppeteers and went on to have a successful career in Australia and internationally. He was mentored by Norman Hetherington and collaborated with him on a number of puppets, with the pair developing a lifelong friendship.
Exhibition details
Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington and Murray Raine’s Marvellous Marionettes are both showing at Newcastle Museum from Saturday 4 July to Sunday 1 November 2026. Entry is free. For more information, visit the Newcastle Museum website.
There’s collectible Mr Squiggle merchandise at the Visitor Information Centre (located near Newcastle Museum).
Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetherington is a travelling exhibition developed by the National Museum of Australia with thanks to the generosity of Rebecca Hetherington and her family and support from the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program.
School holiday activities tied to the exhibition
Newcastle Museum has also put together a run of Squiggle-inspired workshops for the July school holidays. Spots are limited, so book ahead if you want to secure a place.
Paper Craft: Squiggle Style
Tuesday 7 July
10:15am to 11:30am
Ages 5 to 12, adult supervision required
$5 per child
Book here
Mr Squiggle Scribble Squad
Thursday 9 July
10:15am to 11:30am
Ages 5 to 12, adult supervision required
$5 per child
Book here
Upside Down – Mr Squiggle
Wednesday 15 July
10:30am – 11:30am
All aged but all children need to be supervised
Free
No bookings required, just drop in
FAQs
Is the Mr Squiggle exhibition at Newcastle Museum free? Yes, entry to Mr Squiggle and Friends and Murray Raine’s Marvellous Marionettes is free.
How long is the exhibition on for? Both exhibitions run from Saturday 4 July to Sunday 1 November 2026.
Do I need to book to see the exhibition? No booking is needed to view the exhibitions, but the school holiday workshops require booking through Trybooking and have limited spots.
What ages are the school holiday workshops suitable for? Paper Craft: Squiggle Style and Mr Squiggle Scribble Squad are suited to ages 5 to 12.