Jim Mora: Wonder Dogs, rolling Rs, Mucking In, and more…

Interview – 2012

Radio and TV host Jim Mora began his career reporting for regional show The South Tonight. From there, he moved on to One News and then joined Holmes when it debuted in 1989. Over the years Mora became a household name voicing and presenting popular shows Tux Wonder Dogs, Maggie’s Garden Show and the long-running Mucking In. Mora was also a co-creator of animated shows The Adventures of Massey Ferguson and Staines Down Drains, and is a regular host on RNZ National.

In this ScreenTalk, Mora talks about:

Being daunted by his first piece to camera on The South Tonight
Finding reporting on Holmes a demanding role
Still not knowing if the Dennis Conner walk-off on the show was pre-planned
How the premise of Tux Wonder Dogs must have seemed odd to TVNZ commissioners
Rolling a huge letter 'R' down the main street of Gore for doco New Zild - The Story of New Zealand English
Wondering if there would be enough good sorts for the long-running show Mucking In
How the gardens got more elaborate and expensive as the years went by
Always feeling there’s more to achieve with his broadcasting career

This video was first uploaded on 17 July 2012, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside

...it was almost as if the dogs collaborated with us to make the programme, and there were people who thought itI was total nonsesnse I'm sure. But a lot of New Zealand watched it and liked it....
– Jim Mora on TV show Tux Wonder Dogs

Jim's Full Profile