| ♥ | This article is dedicated to the late Simon Shelton (13 January 1966 - January 17 2018), the original portrayer and voice of Tinky Winky. |
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Eh-oh! What a weird show.
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Teletubbies is a British preschool show that aired from 1997 to 2001, created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport. Though the original run ended in 2001, a rebooted series was green-lit in 2014. The reboot premiered on CBeebies in the United Kingdom and on the Nick Jr. channel in the United States which still runs to this day, as of now. Re-runs of the original 1997–2001 series continue to be shown on television channels worldwide.
The original series returned to live TV in the US on Pluto TV on 1 May 2019, but the episodes are shown in the UK format instead of the US format. The same format occurred with the series' availability on the Noggin app since 25 May 2016.
Plot
The program takes place in a grassy, floral landscape populated by rabbits with bird calls audible in the background. The main shelter of the four Teletubbies is an earthhouse known as the "Tubbytronic Superdome" implanted in the ground and accessed through a hole at the top or an especially large semicircular door at the dome's foot. The Teletubbies co-exist with many strange contraptions such as the Voice Trumpets and the group's anthropomorphic blue vacuum cleaner ("Noo-Noo"). The show's colorful psychedelic setting was designed specifically to appeal to the attention spans of infants and unlock different sections of the mind while also educating young children on transitions that can be expected in life.
"Uh-oh!" Qualities
Overall
- Unlike most other preschool shows from that era, Teletubbies has little to no educational value, while the show does try to show kids cooperative play, wonder, and simple joys, it mostly turns down to the Teletubbies just doing random things, that are either stupid, senseless, annoying and unfunny.
- While most of the side characters and the narrator speak proper English dialogue, the Teletubbies just babble nonsense, which can get annoying and stupid, not to mention it could negatively affect children, making them inability not to talk properly for English dialogue.
- The show can get uncannily disturbing for younger viewers, examples include that the faces of the Teletubbies can look creepy and unsettling for some viewers, the puppet that appears in one episode, the CGI effects used on the Animal Parade, the Magic Tree, the Ships and the Dancing Bear and (of course) The infamous sketch featuring a cut-out bear and a cut-out Lion chasing each other (Which became extremely controversial, in fact the episode containing the sketch was banned in a lot of regions, while it did get an edited version the damage was already done).
- The side characters are barely any better either:
- The Baby Sun that appears throughout the episodes and the opening just laughs and does nothing at all. (It CAN be creepy at times)
- The Bunnies in the background don't do anything at all, because they are real bunnies, and since the environment of this children's program is grassy, these animals simply stay still, and sometimes walk randomly in any direction.
- Noo-Noo (The sentient vacuum the Teletubbies have in their home) is just there to clean the mess and serves no other purpose.
- The characters that only appear in one sketch are also pretty bland.
- The show's humor is unfunny, annoying, cringe, or even inappropriate, such as one scene where Laa Laa blows a tooter that reaches Tinky Winky's butt, then Tinky Winky does the same to Dipsy.
- The music such as the theme song can get annoying.
- The show can often show kids bad morals:
- Wasting food.
- Annoying each other.
- The segments that the televisions that are on the Teletubbies’ stomachs barely serve any purpose whatsoever, to make matters worse, they play the segments twice most of the time with no difference whatsoever, also some of the live-action segments such as the Jazz players in one episode, with the weirdest part the singer, while he does sing in English, it sounds so weird, and it’s hard to even understand what he’s singing.
- Annoying voice acting and dialogue, especially from Tinky Winky (purple), Dipsy (green), Laa-Laa (yellow), and Po (red).
- The American dub makes the original British version even worse, making the characters voices slightly different.
Original
- Most of the special effects are poorly done made such as the Dancing Bear that appears in one episode, the Animal Parade, the Magic Tree, and the Ships as well which are cheap CGI effects, that may look like an old 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn, PlayStation or a Nintendo 64 video game, and also looks similar to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys, Whacked! or Hoodwinked!, even for 1997 standards.
- Quantity Over Quality: While this is an average show, 365 episodes were aired for four years.
Reboot
- The new characters introduced in the reboot, the Tiddlytubbies, feel more like an excuse to sell more toys and merchandise.
- The Netflix adaption of the series is literally the same as the 2015 reboot, but with the Sun Baby replaced.
"Eh-oh!" Qualities
- The sets for the home of the Teletubbies look creative and well done.
- The show does at least try to show kids about cooperative play.
- While the Teletubbies babble, most of the other characters (Including the Narrator) speak proper English.
- The "uh-oh" line is super funny.
- The show can be adorable.
- Despite all the flaws mentioned, many people can find this nostalgic, as they grew up watching Teletubbies.
Reception
Despite the popularity of the show, the show received mixed to negative reviews from critics and a lot of adult viewers and has a 3.8 on IMDb.
Controversities
Tinky Winky Controversy
In 1999, a controversy was made over the character Tinky Winky, as he was believed to be a gay role model for kids due to the fact he wore a Handbag that looked like a Ladies Handbag, and also for the fact he was purple (The Gay Pride color) and that his antenna was shaped like a triangle (The Gay Pride symbol).
BBC Later responded that he is not gay he is not straight, He is simply a sweet child with a magic handbag.
The Lion and the Bear Controversy
In April 1997, an episode called See-Saw had a sketch featuring a cut-out bear and a cut-out lion chasing each other. The sketch was banned in a lot of regions and was panned for its unsettling cinematography, creepy music, and terrifying character designs.
An edited version of the sketch was made with different voice acting and music and removed several shots in 2000.