Teletubbies

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Television series
German title Teletubbies
Original title Teletubbies
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Year (s) 1997–2001, since 2015
length 28 minutes
Episodes 365 in 1 season
genre Children's series
Theme music Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!"
idea Andrew Davenport
production Anne Wood ,
Kenn Viselman
music Andrew McCrorie-Shand
First broadcast March 24, 1997 ( UK ) on BBC Two
German-language
first broadcast
March 29, 1999 on KiKA
Balloon in the shape of the Teletubby Po

Teletubbies [ ˈtɛliˌtʌbiːz ] ( English tubby - roundish) is the title of a television series for toddlers . Developed by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport, the series was produced by Ragdoll from 1997 to 2001 on behalf of the BBC near Whitchurch. In Germany, the children's channel KiKA began broadcasting on March 29, 1999. New English episodes have been broadcast since November 2015. New German episodes have been broadcast since April 2017.

Pattern of action

The Teletubbies are four rounded figures, which differ in their body color and the shape of the antennae on their head. They have a screen painted on their stomach. You live in a surreal garden landscape with the Teletubby house as the center.

All episodes are produced according to the same pattern. At the beginning, after the four characters have introduced themselves, a small windmill always turns, which means that now a new story is coming. This is told on the screen of one of the Teletubbies. After the story is over, comes the famous saying “Nomal, nomal!” (“Again, again!”). The story already told is then repeated. According to the developers, this should support the ability to remember and process the shipment.

After repeatedly playing the film, which is mostly about kindergarten children and filmed from the children's perspective, various scenes in the Teletubby world are shown in the second half of the program. The four characters often play with their favorite toys, meet, sing, cook, bake, sleep in the Teletubby house or pursue similar activities.

At the end of the program it becomes “Evening in Teletubby Land”, which is announced by a telephone receiver that pokes out of the ground like a periscope with the sentence “Time for Tubby-Winke-Winke”. A sun filled with a laughing baby face goes down, the Teletubbies say goodbye and jump through an opening in the floor into the Teletubby house.

Due to the simple structure, the programs are also referred to as Staunfernsehen . Objects and equipment in teletubby land (e.g. the vacuum cleaner) are sometimes animated, have eyes, can interact or show idiosyncratic activities (see anthropomorphism ). The Teletubbies' experiences usually follow two extremely trivial threads of action that converge. Recursive references to previous actions or other broadcasts never occur. The films can be understood without any sense of time and should correspond to the fantasy world of children up to a maximum of five years, but are also seen by older children who grew up with the characters and feel bound to them.

See also : Fimbles

characters

In the Teletubby world there are four characters that are easy to distinguish. The vacuum cleaner Noo-Noo is often counted as the fifth figure, but this is seen more of a supporting role due to its low activity. Each figure also has an item that is theirs alone. The figures are listed in descending order of height.

  • Tinky-Winky [ ˈtɪŋkɪˌwɪŋkɪ ]: male, purple, triangular antenna, red bag (played by ballet dancer Simon Shelton († 2018), since 2015 by actor Jeremiah Krage; German speaker: Monty Arnold )
  • Dipsy [ ˈdɪpsɪ ]: male, green, straight antenna, black and white spotted hat (played by cabaret artist John Simmit, since 2015 by actor Nick Chee Ping Kellington; German speaker: Sascha Draeger )
  • Laa-Laa [ ˈlaːlaː ]: female, yellow, ringed antenna, orange ball (played by dancer Nikky Smedley, since 2015 by actress Rebecca Hyland; German speaker: Tanja Dohse )
  • Po [ pəʊ ]: female, red, round antenna, red roller (she calls him Loller ) (played by actress Pui Fan Lee, since 2015 by actress Rachelle Beinart; German speaker: Kristina von Weltzien )

In the new edition, eight Tiddlytubbies [ ˈtɪdlɪˌtʌbiːz ], who are the same as babies, are part of the series.

criticism

The Teletubbies have come under fire for disrupting toddlers' language development as they use very childlike language. "Ah-Oh" is spoken as a greeting and "Winke-Winke" to say goodbye and many sentences are very simple. Parents and teachers in particular were not convinced by the concept. A study by Wake Forest University , which showed that toddlers hardly learn new words through the Teletubbies, supports the critics.

Other opinions and studies, however, come to the conclusion that the program on the Teletubbies has a positive effect on the development of young children. There is no negative influence on the development of small children. According to a study by the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI), the program specifically addresses the perceptual preferences of small children and addresses them repeatedly and in different ways; this would encourage the toddlers to participate. Constant repetition would help toddlers understand and process the information better. The program appeals to toddlers aesthetically, encourages them to participate and think, and gives toddlers a lot of joy. Research has also shown that toddlers do not confuse the Teletubbies' language with their own. Rather, the "baby language" used has the advantage that it is the language form of the toddlers that they understand. The widespread negative criticism of the program is a consequence of the format, which is extremely unusual for adults. Regardless of this, it is advisable that the program is only seen by the small children together with adults.

In February 1999 the National Liberty Journal of the fundamentalist, Baptist American television preacher Jerry Falwell published the article Tinky Winky Comes Out of the Closet , which warned parents of the Teletubbies' homosexual agenda . Tinky-Winky was gay , because he is purple ( violet ) - the Gay Pride -color (in the US is lavender a traditional gay icon color), its antenna is with the pink triangle associated, the homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps had to wear and which therefore later also became a Gay Pride symbol, and he carries a (magical) handbag. The article states that the “subtle representation” of gay sexuality is intentional and the author comes to the conclusion: “As a Christian I feel that role modeling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children.” (German: “Als Christ I feel that the example of the homosexual lifestyle is detrimental to the moral life of children. ”For the same reason, in May 2007 in Poland , which is strongly influenced by Catholicism , consideration was given to whether the Teletubbies should be removed from the program. The initiative came from the Polish ombudswoman for children - Ewa Sowińska , member of the League of Polish Families . Shortly afterwards it was decided that this was not the case. In May 2012, Nikky Smedley said: “I think it's embarrassing for the people who said it. What kind of person can take the obvious innocence and turn it into something else? We were hardly sexual beings. "(German:" I think it [the claim] is embarrassing for those people who have said it. What kind of person can take what is obviously innocent and turn it into something else? We hardly were sexual beings. ")

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
The album
  UK 31 04/04/1998 (4 weeks)
Sing and dance with us
  DE 23 05/24/1999 (15 weeks)
Singles
Teletubbies Say "Eh-Oh!"
  UK 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link
Double platinum
× 2
Double platinum
12/13/1997 (32 weeks)

Albums

  • 1998: The Album (UK, US)
  • 1998: Het Album - De Originele Nederlandstalige Versie (Benelux)
  • 1999: Sing and dance with us (Europe)

Singles

  • 1997: Teletubbies Say "Eh-Oh!"

Others

  • Unlike the other Teletubbies, Dipsy has a different pronunciation. Dipsy says "Ha-Ho" while the other Teletubbies say "Ah Oh".
  • The Teletubbies theme song was played by the BBC Philharmonic .
  • At the beginning a narrator (German speaker and interpreter of the theme song: Fabian Harloff ) says “Behind the hills and no one known, this is the Teletubby country” and at the end “The sun will set soon, the Teletubbies say goodbye.” Then goodbye he each Teletubby one after the other with the words: "Wave, wave (name of Teletubby)." In the new version, the opening sentence reads: "Behind the hills and known to everyone ...", since the Teletubbies have achieved worldwide fame over the years.
  • At times the series was broadcast in English by KiKA.
  • The German pop singer Nena has appeared in several Teletubbies short films.
  • The Teletubby, who first jumps up when saying goodbye, is always the first to jump into the Teletubby house and at the end looks out again.
  • In April 2014, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un allowed the Teletubbies to be broadcast on the country's state television . The regime rated the broadcast as "harmless".
  • In the new edition, the baby is played in the sun by 18-month-old Berry from London .

literature

  • Agatha Cowart: Time for Teletubbies . Childhood, child participation, and the struggle for meaning. 2003 ( online [PDF; accessed April 14, 2017]).

Web links

Commons : Teletubbies  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Language Acquisition: Teletubbies are bad teachers. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. SPIEGEL ONLINE GmbH, June 28, 2007, accessed on August 8, 2013 .
  2. a b c d e research project: Teletubbies in the everyday life of children. International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI), archived from the original on November 29, 2004 ; Retrieved August 8, 2013 .
  3. a b c d e Gert Egle: TV formats: Teletubbies. (No longer available online.) In: teachSam - teaching and learning online. Gert Egle, May 7, 2012, archived from the original on January 17, 2013 ; Retrieved August 8, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.teachsam.de
  4. Christopher Reed: The Rev Jerry Falwell. Rabid evangelical leader of America's 'moral majority,' The Guardian, May 17, 2007
  5. 'Gay Tinky Winky bad for children' , news.bbc.co.uk, February 15, 1999
  6. http://orf.at/070528-12759/index.html Ban on "gay" Teletubbies threatens, orf.at, May 2007
    Ewa Sowińska: Sowińska: sprawdzimy, czy teletubisie nie promują homoseksualizmu , wprost.pl, May 27th 2007
  7. ^ Relief in Poland. Teletubby not gay , n-tv.de, June 1, 2007
  8. Mike Lockley: Teletubbies were NOT gay, insists Solihull star Nikky Smedley , Birmingham Mail, May 30, 2012
  9. Chart discography albums
  10. Chart discography Singles
  11. Music Sales Awards: UK
  12. presseportal.zdf.de: ZDF for KiKA - program highlights 2017
  13. Christian Sieben: Kim Jong Un Permits the Teletubbies , RP Online , April 8, 2014