Show name | Teletubbies |
---|---|
Caption | The show's logo and main characters. From left: Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po, and Tinky Winky |
Format | Children's television series |
Runtime | 25 minutes |
Starring | Dave ThompsonMark HeenehanSimon SheltonJohn SimmitNikky SmedleyPui Fan Lee |
Creator | Anne WoodAndrew Davenport |
Developer | Ragdoll Productions for BBC Television |
Executive producer | David G HillerVic Finch |
Narrated | Tim WhitnallToyah WillcoxEric Sykes |
Opentheme | Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!" |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Network | Children's BBC (later CBBC)PBS Kids |
First aired | (1998 in the US) |
Last aired | (19 June 2005 in US) |
Num episodes | 365 |
List episodes | List of Teletubbies episodes |
Status | Ended |
Teletubbies, particularly notable for its high production values, rapidly became a critical and commercial success in Britain and abroad and won a BAFTA in 1998. Teletubbies Everywhere was awarded "Best Pre-school Live Action Series" at the 2002 Children's BAFTA Awards.
The programme revolves around the adventures of Teletubbies, fictional humanoid beings whose bodies are fairly round and pudgy and covered in a bright solid-colour fleece-like fur, all but their large-eyed childlike faces. Teletubbies have in the center of their belly a television monitor that they receive video messages on, and on their head they have a single antenna. Tinky Winky is purple, Dipsy is green, Laa-Laa is yellow, and Po is red. In the show, the four colourful Teletubbies play in the cheerful and fun Teletubbyland. They do things that little children like to do, such as rolling on the grass, laughing, running about, and watching real children on the televisions on their bellies. Mysterious pinwheels and a speaker rise out of the meadow to announce the days' activities. The sun, which is superimposed of live-action video of a smiling, giggling baby's face, occasionally responds to the antics of the main characters. It also rises and sets to begin and end the show.
Although the programme is aimed at children between the ages of one and four, it had a substantial cult following with older generations, mainly university and college students. The mixture of bright colours, unusual designs, repetitive non-verbal dialogue, ritualistic format, and the occasional forays into physical comedy appealed to a demographic who perceived the programme as having psychedelic qualities. Teletubbies was controversial for this reason. Other critics felt the show was insufficiently educational. It was also noted that Tinky Winky often carried a red handbag. However, despite an ensuing boycott, the programme remained in production for two more years. 'Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!"', a single based on the show's theme song, reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1997 and remained in the Top 75 for 32 weeks, selling over a million copies.
The Teletubbies are played by actors dressed in bulky costumes, although the sets are designed to give no sense of scale. The Teletubbies don't normally wear real clothes other than the coloured suits they wear. They have metallic silver-azure rectangular "screens" adorning their abdomens. These screens are used to segue into short film sequences, which are generally repeated at least once. When the series is shown in different countries around the world, the film inserts can be tailored to suit local audiences, or default to the British ones.
The Teletubbies have the body proportions, behaviour, and language of toddlers. The pacing and design of the show was developed by cognitive psychologist Andrew Davenport, who structured the show to fit the attention spans of the target audience. The repetition of practically every word is familiar to everyone who has ever worked with young children.
The Teletubbies speak in a gurgling baby language which has been the subject of some controversy among educationalists, some of whom argue that this supposedly made-up talk is not good for children. (A similar complaint was made forty years previously about another children's series, Flower Pot Men.) The Teletubbies are at the stage of understanding speech but not yet fully capable of articulating it, exactly like their target audience. They often simply groan in disapproval in situations where a human toddler would throw a tantrum. The Teletubbies' catch-phrases are "Eh-oh" (hello), as in: "Eh-oh, Laa-Laa," to which Laa-Laa will respond, "Eh-oh, (other Teletubby's name)," "Uh-oh," a common toddler response to anything that's not good, "Run away! Run away!," especially from Dipsy, and "Bye-bye" at least three times in a row. Laa-Laa, when flustered, will explode with "Bibberly cheese!," which is as angry as the Teletubbies get. But perhaps the most common exclamation is "Big hug!" which one or more of the Teletubbies will invariably call for during the course of an episode, resulting in an enthusiastic group hug. Sometimes when the Teletubbies sit down, fall over, or touch their bottoms against another they make a parp sound. If they kick their legs, roll, tip over while sitting, their tummies touch the ground, bump into their tummies, or have a big hug, they jingle.
At the beginning of each episode the sun rises, with this scene fading to a view panning along the manicured grass of Teletubbyland to the edge of a hill overlooking the Tubbytronic Superdome while a male narrator says "Over the hills and far away, Teletubbies come to play." The camera zooms in on a hole in the roof of the house, after which each Teletubby pops out one by one, with the first one calling out "one," the second saying "two," and so on until all four Teletubbies have made their entrance.
In the closing sequence, all the Teletubbies say "Bye-Bye" three times. The narrator bids each Teletubby goodbye, and they disappear, but reappear a moment later saying "Boo!" The narrator then says "No" (which they mimic), and proceeds to say goodbye to each Teletubby again. The sun is then shown setting, and the Teletubbies each say goodbye again, before jumping down the hole in the roof of their house. Finally, one Teletubby says goodbye a fourth time; they pop out of a hole in the house and say "Bye-bye!" For special episodes and at the end of the "Fun With The Teletubbies" cassette, all four Teletubbies say "Bye-bye" in this way. In many of the occurrences of the show, including the end sequence, the magical events and the scene preceding the short film broadcast on a character's tummy were shot only once, and the same scenes are used in each episode. A prominent feature of each episode is a radiant sun with the image of a smiling baby superimposed upon it. The baby in the sun, portrayed by Jessica Smith., occasionally laughs out loud in short bursts.
The Teletubbies' diet seems to be almost exclusively "Tubby Custard" and "Tubby Toast." Tubby Custard (mispronounced as "Tubby Tustard" by the characters) is created by a Tubby Custard machine, which looks like some sort of DJ-gramophone, complete with light effects. The custard is consumed by either dumping the bowl into one's mouth or sucking through a spiral straw. Tubby Toast is circular toast with a smiley face on it, made by the "Tubby Toaster." The characters are very messy eaters. In two episodes, the Tubby Toaster goes seriously wrong and fills the inside of the Teletubbies' house with toast. Fortunately, one of their housemates is a vacuum cleaner character named "Noo Noo."
In January 2003, a new 10-minute segment was added to the show called "Teletubbies Everywhere." This segment has a random Teletubby combine the humour of the original with various series of simple games, counting exercises, musical patterns and rhythms that are designed to develop children's cognitive skills.
The Teletubbies' landscape is an outdoor set located in rural Warwickshire, England, at Sweet Knowle Farm, Redhill Bank Rd, Whimpstone, CV37 8NR (between Stratford upon Avon and Shipston on Stour, close to the River Stour). Since filming ended, the fixtures and fittings have been removed from the set, and it appears to have been flooded to form a pond (two fields South of the farmhouse, which is where the postcode points to on the online maps). The paved track leading to the former set still exists, and is the only extant reminder. Until recently, the MS Live Maps view showed the site "in action" – complete with numerous articulated trucks parked at the end of the track. That image is now also updated, but a copy has been preserved at this fansite. The farm has found a new way to supplement their income – an aquatics centre (fish and pondplant sales).
Dipsy (played by John Simmit) is the second Teletubby. He is green and is named "Dipsy" because his antenna resembles a dipstick. He likes his black and white furry top hat, which he once lost. Laa-Laa found it, but instead of simply returning Dipsy's hat to the stricken Dipsy, she ran around it for about ten minutes shouting "Dipsy Hat! Dipsy Hat!" Dipsy is the most stubborn of the Teletubbies, and will sometimes refuse to go along with the other Teletubbies' group opinion. His face is also notably darker than the rest of the Teletubbies, and the creators have stated that he is Black.
Laa-Laa (played by Nikky Smedley) is the third Teletubby. She is yellow, and has a curly antenna. She likes to sing and dance, and is often seen to look out for the other Teletubbies. Her favourite thing is a bouncy, orange ball, which is almost as big as she is.
Po (played by Pui Fan Lee) is the fourth and last Teletubby. She is the smallest and youngest of the Teletubbies, is red, and has an antenna shaped like a stick used for blowing soap bubbles. Her favourite object is her scooter, which she calls "scoota" (she also calls it "Po 'cooter!" or just "cooter"). Po can sometimes be mischievous and naughty, as when she disobeys the commands of the "voice trumpets." She has been stated by the show's creators to be Cantonese, and as such, she is bilingual, speaking both English and Cantonese. Although many are unsure of Po's gender, or consider her to be male (possibly because of her scarlet colour and tomboyish antics), she is clearly referred to as female in several episodes, such as "Dad's Portrait" (Episode 216, first broadcast 1998) and "Numbers: 2" (Episode 30). Many refer to her as "he" even though it is "she" (the same happens with Laa-Laa).
Noo-Noo (prononced Nuu-Nuu) seems to be both the Teletubbies' guardian and housekeeper, due to its resemblance to a vacuum cleaner, which is its principal purpose in the house. Noo-Noo hardly ventures outside, instead remaining indoors and constantly cleaning with its sucker-like nose. It does not speak like the other characters, instead communicating through a series of slurping and sucking noises. At times, Noo-Noo gets annoyed with the Teletubbies' antics and can vacuum their food or toys. This usually prompts the Teletubbies to scold Noo-Noo through a cry of "Naughty Noo-Noo!" Usually after this, Noo-Noo flees and the Teletubbies pursue it comically around the house until they grow tired, are distracted by something, or forgive Noo-Noo. This sequence ends with them hugging it, or with it shooting out their absorbed objects.
The show also features the voices of Tim Whitnall, Toyah Willcox, Eric Sykes, and occasionally Sandra Dickinson and Penelope Keith, all of whom provide narration. The only physical cast members are Tamzin Griffin, who plays the manic "Funny Lady", and Jessica Smith whose face as a seven month old baby depicts the Sun. Her giggle was included in the single Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh! Although she was not credited, this makes her technically the youngest person ever to have their vocal appear in a number one song.
In May 2007, Polish Ombudsman for Children Ewa Sowińska revisited the matter, and planned to order an investigation. She said in the 28 May 2007 edition of Wprost that the handbag-carrying Tinky Winky could promote homosexuality. Journalists from Wprost mentioned claims that the Teletubbies promote homosexuality, to which Sowińska replied that she had heard of the issue. The journalists then asked about Tinky Winky. "I noticed that he has a woman's handbag, but I didn't realize he's a boy," Sowińska told the magazine in an interview that her office approved before publication, adding, "Later I learned that there could be some hidden homosexual undertones." Sowińska said she would ask her office's psychologists to look into the allegations, "and judge whether it can be shown on public television and whether the suggested problem really exists."
But on 30 May 2007, Sowińska said in a public statement that she no longer suspected the Teletubbies of promoting homosexuality. She said: "The opinion of a leading sexologist, who maintains that this series has no negative effects on a child's psychology, is perfectly credible. As a result I have decided that it is no longer necessary to seek the opinion of other psychologists."
Despite the objections, the Independent on Sundays editors included Tinky Winky as the only fictional character in the 2008 inaugural "Happy List", alongside 99 real-life adults recognised for making Britain a better and happier place.
In 1998, Tom Fulp of Newgrounds created a spoof of Teletubbies called "Teletubby Fun Land" which resulted in a lawsuit from the BBC. This resulted in a boost of notoriety and media exposure, and the video was renamed Tellybubby Fun Land.
In 2007, a Jeep commercial featured Jeeps driving through famous scenes in history and popular culture, including an Elvis Presley film, a Godzilla film, the moon landing, Woodstock, a Road Runner cartoon, a Jane Goodall documentary, Devo's "Whip It" music video, at the fall of the Berlin Wall, an episode of Lost, and in Teletubbyland with Laa-Laa and Po.
In September 2007, in a hazing ritual for the Boston Red Sox, pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and his translator, Masa Hoshino, dressed as Dipsy and Tinky Winky, respectively.
In the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, Bruno Tonioli said the he didn't know if Steve Wozniak's dance was "hilarious or delirious", "it was like watching a Teletubby go mad at a gay pride parade!".
Category:1997 in British television Category:1997 television series debuts Category:2001 television series endings Category:BBC children's television programmes Category:Fictional characters in children's television Category:PBS network shows Category:Preschool education television series
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