Teletubbies
|
|
TeletubbiesDolls.jpg
Teletubbies is a BBC children's television series aimed particularly at babies and pre-school toddlers, produced from 1997 to 2001 by Ragdoll Productions. It was created by Anne Wood CBE, Ragdoll's creative director, and Andrew Davenport, who wrote each of the show's 365 episodes. The programme was a rapid critical and commercial success in Britain and abroad, particularly notable for its high production values; it won a BAFTA in 1998. Although the show is aimed at children between the ages of one to four, the show was a substantial cult hit with older generations, particularly college students who bought the customary regulation T Shirts; the mixture of bright colours, unusual designs, repetitive non-verbal dialogue, the ritualistic format and the occasional forays into physical comedy appealed to a demographic who perceived the show as having psychedelic connotations. Teletubbies was controversial for this reason, and also for a perception that it was insufficiently educational.
| Contents |
Overview
The program features four colourful tubby creatures: Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po, who live within a futuristic dome (the "Tubbytronic Superdome"), set in a landscape of rolling grasslands. The environment is dotted with unusually talkative flowers and periscopes. The only natural fauna are rabbits (although birds are often heard) and it is always sunny and pleasant save for one exception where puddles are required.
The Teletubbies are played by actors encased in large costumes, although the sets are designed so as to give no sense of scale. The costumes vaguely resemble bulky spacesuits, although the 'tubbies appear not to wear clothes. They are instead furry, and 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 are to be tailored to suit local audiences.
The Teletubbies have the bodily proportions, behaviour and language of toddlers. The pacing and design of the show was developed by a cognitive psychologist, Andrew Davenport, who structured the show to fit the attention spans of the target audience. The repeating of practically every word is familiar to everyone who has ever worked with young children.
The Teletubbies speak in a gurgling baby language which is the subject of some controversy amongst 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, The Flowerpot Men). Tubbies are at the stage of understanding speech but not yet fully capable of articulating it, exactly like their target audience. The Teletubbies' catch-phrases are Eh-oh (hello), as in: Eh-oh, Laa-Laa, to which Laa-Laa will respond, Eh-oh, [other Tubby's name]; "Uh-oh", a common toddler response to anything untowards; "Run away! Run away!", especially from Dipsy; and "Bye-bye" at least four times in a row. Laa-Laa, when flustered, will explode with "Bibberly cheese!", which is as angry as they get. Perhaps the most common exclamation, however, is "Big hugs!" which one or more of the Teletubbies will invariably call for during the course of an episode, resulting in an enthusiastic group hug ("Teletubbies love each other very much", confirms the narrator).
The surreal environment is an evocation of a toddler's perception of the world, where they are ordered about and told to go to sleep, whilst wonderful and mysterious things happen without explanation. A prominent feature of each episode is a radiant sun that has an image of a smiling baby superimposed upon it. The baby in the sun occasionally laughs out loud in short bursts. To adults the laughter does not seem to be in response to any stimulus or humorous developments in the plotline of the episode.
The Teletubbies' diet seems to consist exclusively of Tubby Custard (which is sucked through a spiral straw bowl) and Tubby Toast (circular toast with a smiley face on it). They are spectacularly messy eaters. Fortunately one of their companions is the Noo-Noo, a sentient, self-propelled vacuum cleaner.
In real life the Teletubbies' landscape was 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). It was reported that by 2002 the set had become overgrown, and pending the 2003 lease expiration it was expected to become farmland again.
Character summary
Tinky Winky
(Dave Thompson, Mark Heenehan, Simon Shelton): He is the largest of the Teletubbies, is covered in purple terrycloth, has a triangular antenna on his head, and is notable for the red luggage (described by the show as a "magic bag," but often described as a purse) he always seems to have at hand.
Tinky Winky aroused the interest of Jerry Falwell in 1997 when Falwell alleged that the character was a "gay role model." Falwell issued an attack in his National Liberty Journal, citing a Washington Post "In/Out" column which stated that lesbian comedian Ellen DeGeneres was "out" as the chief national gay representative—while trendy Tinky Winky was "in." Falwell cited the Teletubby's purple color, "purse," and triangle antenna as symbolic of homosexuality.
Dipsy
(John Simmit): He is the green Teletubby, with a straight antenna (like a car's dipstick). He likes his black and white furry top hat. He once lost his hat and 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." A "nature boy," he likes to be with the rabbits. In later episodes, Dipsy had a notably darker face than the other Teletubbies, possibly an attempt by the producers to add ethnic diversity to the line-up. This is the least liked Teletubby, according to a British nationwide poll.
Laa-Laa
(Nikky Smedley): Female, yellow, curly antenna. Favourite thing: orange ball. Very concerned with the welfare of all. Thinks she's the best singer. "Drama queen", party-girl and mother type.
Po
(Pui Fan Lee): Female, red, circular antenna. Favourite thing: scooter. Bilingual: Speaks (broadcasting country's language) and Cantonese. Problem solver and best "spider-fighter". Tomboy type. Of all the Teletubbies, Po usually becomes most involved with the audience.
Other
The show also features the voices of Toyah Willcox and Eric Sykes, and occasionally Sandra Dickinson and Penelope Keith, all of whom provide narration; the only (semi)regular physical cast member is Tamzin Griffin, [1] (http://www.amandahowardassociates.co.uk/Photo.asp?Client=TamzinGriffin) who plays the manic "Funny Lady".
Noo-Noo is the Teletubbies' sentient automated vacuum cleaner who cleans up after the Teletubbies ("Noo-Noo tidy up!"). It has been shown that Noo-Noo has extrordinarily large storage capacity and the ability to regurgitate any contents, often things that it should not have consumed in the first place such as the Tubbies' blankets or Dipsy's hat ("Naughty Noo-Noo!"). The Noo-Noo does not share the Teletubbies' enthusiasm for big hugs, resulting in Benny Hill style chase sequences around the dome when the Tubbies try to express their gratitude, during which the Noo-Noo does a fine impression of a Formula 1 car engine in full flight.
Although non-sentient, the other dome appliances also play a major role in many episodes. The Tubby Toaster is notoriously unreliable, and routinely either leaves a Tubby without their toast or buries them under a deluge of rounds. The dome's central console has a battery of knobs and levers with which a Tubby often chooses to amuse themselves ("Adjustments!"), although the outcome is normally limited to a variety of lound and surprising noises being generated. The central console is also home to the Tubby Sponges ("Wash, wash, wash. Wash, wash, wash. Tubby, Tubby, Tubby, Tubby. Wash wash wash").
Controversy
The most wide-ranging controversy is about the alleged gender confusion caused by two of the characters having homosexual traits: one of the male characters has female traits. At least one young children's teacher in Brazil conducted experiments involving children's reaction to some episodes, and found they experienced problems with the gender roles of the characters and their own identification with them. Some parents as a result have forbidden their children watching the program, and others do allow but with direct supervision to ensure the children identify only with the 'straight' characters. In the United States conservative Christian leader Jerry Falwell branded Tinky Winky an "avowed homosexual".
See Also
External links
- Combined Teletubbies site (http://www.teletubbies.com)
- The BBC's Teletubbies site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/teletubbies/)
- PBS's Teletubbies site (http://pbskids.org/teletubbies/)
- Teletubbies episode list (http://www.eofftv.com/t/tel/teletubbies_main.htm)
- Aerial view of Teletubby landscape (http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?client=public&X=420392&Y=247523&width=700&height=410&gride=320392&gridn=347523&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db=pc&pc=&zm=1&scale=10000) (1999)
- Behind the scenes (http://www.parrette.net/~wap/TELETUBBIES_WEB/ttlBehindTheScenes.html)
- U.S. Christians Issue "Gay Warning" (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050121/music_nm/life_spongebob_dc)de:Teletubbies