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The Goodnight Kiwi is an animation 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 ended transmission at midnight. TVNZ U also used the Goodnight Kiwi at midnight before overnight service.
The short was animated by Sam Harvey (1923–2014), with music arrangement by Bernie Allen and sound by Gary Potts.
The first version of the clip was used when TV2 first signed off in 1975. In this version, Kiwi was a director. The cartoon began with Kiwi yawning in the director's chair. Kiwi wakes up the cat, while a few of broadcasting equipment move away. Kiwi then goes to the back of the studio, cuts the power and turns on the outside lights. Then Kiwi puts the empty bottle and the cat outside, but without it knowing the cat goes outside again while Kiwi is waving to the audience. Following this, 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.
The second version of the Goodnight Kiwi clip was used by South Pacific Television somewhere between 1976 and 1980 and saw Kiwi living in a television camera (his cat had disappeared). After dusting his camera, throwing a blanket on top of it, winking at the audience, and turning out the lights, 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. This version was also thought to only exist in the form of small clips until TVNZ released this version to their YouTube channel on 4 November 2019. During transmission breakdowns, a still picture of the Goodnight Kiwi was often used, in poses including one of sweeping the floor and accidentally smashing one of the television monitors with a broom, or accidentally cutting a wire.
There was a slight variation of the ending – from 1989 onwards, the Goodnight Kiwi was only seen on Channel 2 (TV1 adopted its closedown sequence, featuring the National Anthem) and ended with a voiceover stating "it's goodnight from Channel 2" and displaying the Channel 2 logo. On 19 October 1994, the last Goodnight Kiwi was broadcast on TV2., ending with a bumper saying:
Goodnight Kiwi and Cat
We are going to miss you (boo hoo!!)
Sleep well - from all of us here at TVNZ
On the next day, TVNZ started to broadcast for 24 hours on both TV1 and TV2, so there was no need to use the Goodnight Kiwi cartoon anymore. In the aftermath, an animated clip of the Goodnight Kiwi aired in the 8:30pm watershed, but was dropped in the late 90s, as it was seen unfitting within its commercial environment for being "old-fashioned looking".CONWAY, M. (2001, Jun 23). Pandora's box; Opening Pandora's box: 2. The Press
The animation, characters and music are regarded as part of New Zealand culture and icons of kiwiana.
This same cartoon was also used for TVNZ 7, which displayed this same version as TVNZ 6, but with a lower third saying: " Goodnight from TVNZ 7". There was also a small alteration later on its final day, saying: " Goodbye from TVNZ 7". The Goodnight Kiwi was the last video ever played on this channel, as TVNZ 7 pulled the plug on June 30, 2012.
There is a Matariki television special, Kiwi and Cat: Mānawātia a Matariki, where Kiwi and Cat learn about the stars of Matariki. The special features guest cameos, including Wellington Paranormal, Dame Lisa Carrington, Temuera Morrison, Jason Gunn and Benee.
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