Teletubbies

Teletubbies
The show's logo and main characters. From left: Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po, and Tinky Winky
Format	Children's television series
Created by	Anne Wood Andrew Davenport
Developed by	Ragdoll Productions for BBC Television
Starring	Dave Thompson Mark Heenehan Simon Shelton John Simmit Nikky Smedley Pui Fan Lee
Narrated by	Tim Whitnall Toyah Willcox Eric Sykes
Opening theme	Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!"
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	365 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David G Hiller Vic Finch
Running time	25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBBC
Original run	31 March 1997 (1997-03-31) – 5 January 2001 (2001-01-05)

Teletubbies was a BBC children's television series targeted at pre-school viewers and produced from 1997 to 2001 by Ragdoll Productions. It was created by Ragdoll's creative director Anne Wood CBE and Andrew Davenport, who wrote each of the show's 365 episodes. The programme's original narrator was Tim Whitnall. Teletubbies first aired on 31 March 1997, was syndicated in the United States on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) public television on 6 April 1998 and aired until 19 June 2005.^[1] In 2001 production was canceled and it was announced that no new episodes would be produced, with the last episode being aired on 5 January 2001. However, a total of 365 episodes had been produced – enough for a full year.^[2] The series was one of four PBS shows to be taken off its regular airing, the other shows being Boohbah (in 2005), Reading Rainbow (in 2006) and Mister Rogers Neighborhood (in 2008).

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.^[3] Teletubbies Everywhere was awarded "Best Pre-school Live Action Series" at the 2002 Children's BAFTA Awards.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[3]

The programme was also at the centre of a controversy when American cleric and conservative pundit Jerry Falwell claimed in 1999 that Tinky Winky, one of the Teletubbies, was a homosexual role model for children. Falwell based this conclusion on the character's purple colour and triangular antenna; both the colour purple and the triangle are sometimes used as symbols of the Gay Pride movement.^[6] It was also noted that Tinky Winky often carried a red handbag. However, despite an ensuing boycott,^{[clarification needed]} 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.

Overview

The programme features four colourful main characters: Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po, who live in a futuristic dome (the "Tubbytronic Superdome") set in a landscape of rolling green hills. The environment is dotted with unusually talkative flowers and periscope-like "voice trumpets". The only natural fauna are rabbits (although birds are often heard, particularly blackcaps and wrens^{[citation needed]}). The climate is always sunny and pleasant, save for occasional inclement days with rain and puddles, and snow at Christmas time. A huge windmill that is shaped like a pinwheel dominates the background landscape and within a random point of the episode, it starts spinning fast and starts a "magical event". Magical events that have been featured in various episodes are:

• A tree appears and a series of white doves appear on it. The tree eventually loses its leaves and vanishes.
• A carousel-like object lands on the grass and a teddy bear tap dances on its stage.
• A pink house slowly fades in and a puppet man sings from his window.
• A series of Noah's Ark animals march past in twos consisting of tiger, penguin, snake, elephant, flamingo, butterfly, tortoise, giraffe and frog.
• Teletubbyland fills with water turning it into an ocean (excluding the island part that the Teletubbies are watching the event from) and three Queen Mary-like ocean liners sail past.
• A bear appears who repeatedly states to be "the bear with brown fuzzy hair" (although the bear is clearly visible as being a wooden one on wheels) who is "hiding from the lion who doesn't know where". The lion (who states to be "the scary lion with scary, sharp teeth"), however, does see the bear, when he appears.

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.^[7] (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.^[8], 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.^[9]

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^[10]). 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.^{[citation needed]} Until recently,^[when?] 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).

Characters

Tinky Winky (played by Dave Thompson, Mark Heenehan, and Simon Shelton) is the first Teletubby. He is the largest and oldest of the Teletubbies, is covered in purple terrycloth, and has a triangular antenna on his head. He is notable for the red luggage (described by the show as a "magic bag", but often described by other media as a handbag) he always carries. His character has caused controversy due to allegations that his character's behavior, bag and body colour have homosexual qualities (see below).

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.^[11]

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,^[11] 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.^[12] 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.

Promotion

Teletubbies 10th Anniversary events

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the premiere of Teletubbies, a series of events took place at the end of March through the beginning of April 2007.^[13] The characters appeared outside of Teletubbyland for the first time on 21 March 2007 in London, England at an invitation-only event to officially begin the programme's tenth anniversary year sponsored by BBC Worldwide, the programme's licensees. They appeared in the United States for the first time at appearances in New York City's Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, and Apollo Theater. They also appeared on The Today Show on 29 March 2007. The episode included the first ever televised interview with the actors outside of their costumes. A partnership was formed with Isaac Mizrahi in which Isaac designed Teletubbies-inspired bags to be auctioned off to benefit the Cure Autism Now and Autism Speaks charities. A new line of clothing was launched to be sold in the Pop-Up Shop and other specialty stores. New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg announced 28 March 2007 "Teletubbies Day" and gave the key to the city to the Teletubbies.

TakeTheTeletubbiesTest.com

TakeTheTeletubbiesTest.com launched on 26 March 2007. On the website, users can create profiles, take "tests", ask Po questions, and submit their own pictures and videos. There was also a station set up at the Teletubbies Pop-Up Shop where visitors could record themselves giving their reactions to the Teletubbies programme and upload it onto the website.

Pop-up shop

A Pop-up shop opened in New York City's West Village from 28 March to 7 April 2007.^[14] The opening night party was DJ'ed by MisShapes. A percentage of the store's profits went to the Cure Autism Now and Autism Speaks charities. DJs from all different genres of music (electronica, funk, Brazilian jazz^{[disambiguation needed ]}, old school hip hop, alternative rock and house music) played in the store in the evenings. Some evenings included DJ scratching lessons and record spin art. On 6 April 2007, the store held a 12-hour Teletubbies viewing marathon.

Teletubbies live events

Following the Teletubbies' appearance in New York City, they went on their first live European tour, performing shows in London, Paris, Bremen, Darmstadt, Halle (Saale), Hamburg, Köln, and Hannover.

Are You the 5th Teletubby?

Also in celebration of the Teletubbies' 10th anniversary, a contest was held at 5thTeletubby.com where fans can create videos of themselves as the "5th Teletubby," a character of their own creation. Audio and video clips from the show are available on the website for the entrants to use in creating their videos.

Reception

Tinky Winky controversy

Tinky Winky started a still hinted-at controversy in 1999 due to his carrying a bag that looks much like a woman's handbag (although he was first "outed" by the academic and cultural critic Andy Medhurst in a letter of July 1997 to The Face). He aroused the interest of Jerry Falwell in 1999 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." He warned parents that Tinky Winky could be a hidden homosexual symbol, because "he is purple, the gay pride colour, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle: the gay pride symbol."^[6]

The BBC, who co-produced the programme, made an official response, "Tinky Winky is simply a sweet, technological baby with a magic bag." Ken Viselman of Itsy-Bitsy Entertainment, who distributed the show in the USA, commented, "He's not gay. He's not straight. He's just a character in a children's series."^[15]

In May 2007, Polish Ombudsman for Children Ewa Sowińska revisited the matter, and planned to order an investigation.^[16] 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."^[17]

Despite the objections, the Independent on Sunday's 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.^[18]

Teletubby doll incidents

In an unrelated incident, reported in 2000, a girl's Tinky Winky toy reportedly said "I got a gun." Kenn Viselman claimed the toy actually said "Again, again!" a catchphrase from the show.^[19] In a similar incident in 1998, a girl's talking Po doll was thought to be saying "faggot faggot, faggot faggot, faggot faggot, bite my butt", as well as "fatty, fatty." The toy was recalled and it was revealed to have said "fidit, fidit, and mon, mon" inspired by the Cantonese for "faster, faster, and slower, slower". ^[20]

In popular culture

• In 1998, Tom Fulp of Newgrounds created a spoof of Teletubbies called "Teletubby Fun Land"^[21] which resulted in a lawsuit from the BBC.^[22] This resulted in a boost of notoriety and media exposure, and the video was renamed Tellybubby Fun Land.

• In The Simpsons episode "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder," Homer dresses up like a Teletubby to entertain Maggie, remarking "...and I'm all man, in case you heard otherwise" in reference to claims by Jerry Falwell. In the episode "Missionary: Impossible," the Teletubbies are among the PBS characters and personalities that are chasing Homer after he defaulted on his $10,000 pledge.

• In The Fairly OddParents episode "Imaginary Gary," TV Tubbies, based on the Teletubbies, were stored inside Timmy's mind. One of each TV Tubbie was also used to block Cosmo and Wanda's ears to stop them from hearing Timmy.

• 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.^[23]

• In the 6 June 2007, second season, eleventh episode of The Chaser's War on Everything, the possibility of Tinky Winky being homosexual was parodied when the Chaser's tested the Peel Hotel (in Collingwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)'s gaydar (the hotel's Peel dancebar was given the right to ban heterosexual patrons) with a Tinky Winky costumed figure that acted in a stereotypical homosexual fashion. The controversy surrounding this possibility was further satirised with the Tinky Winky figure visiting a Polish Club (Poland having been dealing with a scandal surrounding Tinky Winky being possibly homosexual and thus corrupting children).

CD single

Main article: Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!"

In December 1997, BBC Worldwide released a CD single from the series, based on the show's theme song, called Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!". The song is the only single from Teletubbies, making them a one-hit wonder in the United Kingdom, and mostly a remix of the theme song from the hit Television programme performed by the series characters written by Andrew McCrorie-Shand and Andrew Davenport. Produced by McCrorie-Shand and Steve James, this single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1997, remaining in the Top 75 for 32 weeks after its release, selling over a million copies.^[24]

Broadcasters around the world

Australia : ABC Belgium: VTM Brazil: Rede Globo, Tv Cultura and Discovery Kids Bulgaria BTV Canada: BBC Kids, TVOntario and Télé-Québec China: CCTV Colombia: Caracol Czech Republic: TV Nova, TV Barrandov Denmark: TV2 Dominican Republic : Telecentro Ecuador: Red TV Ecuador, Telesistema Estonia: Kanal 2 (Formerly TV1) Finland: YLE France: Canal+ Galicia: TVG Germany: KiKa Greece: Star Channel Hong Kong: ATV World Iceland: Sjónvarpið, Stöð 2 India: CBeebies, Prasar Bharati Indonesia: Indosiar, antv Israel: Channel 1,The Kids Channel Italy: RAI's RAISat Yo-Yo (Italian website: [1]) Japan: Kids Station

Korea: KBS Lebanon: Future Television Malaysia : TV2, Astro Ria Mexico: TV Azteca/Jetix Netherlands: Nederland 3 New Zealand: TV3 Norway: TV2 Peru : ATV Philippines: GMA Network Poland: Canal+ Polska, TVP and CBeebies Portugal: SIC Russia: RTR Singapore: Premiere 12 Serbia: RTS Spain: Jetix Suriname : ATV (Suriname) Sweden: TV4 Switzerland: SF, TSR and TSI Taiwan: Fubon MomoKids Turkey: Atv (Turkey) United Kingdom: BBC Two and CBeebies United States: PBS Kids (1998–2005) (Returning in 2012-present), PBS Kids Sprout Uruguay: Canal 10, Canal 12 Venezuela : Venevisión

Alternative names

Teletubbies has been broadcast in many different countries, thus involving a foreign title.

تيليتابيز (Tylytạbyz) –Arabic title Телетъбис (Teletŭbis) – Bulgarian title 天線得得B – Cantonese title 天線寶寶 – Chinese Traditional title (tiānxiànbǎobǎo) 天线宝宝 – Chinese Simplified title (tiānxiànbǎobǎo) Teletubbiesi – Croatian title De Teletubbies – Dutch title Teletupsud – Estonian title Teletapit – Finnish title Les Télétubbies – French title Os Teletubbies – Galician and Portuguese ტელეღიპუცები (Tʼeleghipʼutsebi) – Georgian title Τελετάμπις – Greek title टेलेट्युविज (Ṭēlēṭyuvija) – Hindi title טלטאביז (Teletabyz) – Hebrew title Stubbarnir – Icelandic title Teletubbanna – Irish title

Teletūbiji – Latvian title テレタビーズ (Teretabīzu) – Japanese title (Katakana) 꼬꼬마 텔레토비 (Kkokkoma Telretobi) – Korean title Teletabiai – Lithuanian title Los Teletubbies (pronounced [teleˈtubis]) – Latin American title ടെലിറ്റബ്ബീസ (Ṭeliṟṟabbīsa) – Malayalam title Teletubbiene – Norwegian title Teletubisie – Polish title Телепузики (Telepuziki) – Russian title Telebajski – Slovenian title Телетабиси (Teletabisi) – Serbian Cyrillic title Teletabiler – Turkish title Teledo'mboqlar – Uzbek title டெலிடபீசு (Ṭeliṭapīcu) – Tamil title เทเลทับบีส์ (The le thạb bīes) – Thai title Teletybis – Welsh title

Funding

• Direct TV (1999–2000)
• KB Kids.com (1999–2000)
• Viewers Like You (1997 Present)
• Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (1997)
• Payless Shoe Source (2000–2001)

See also

• Boohbah
• Nazitübbies
• In the Night Garden
• Earth house, the type of building they live in

References

• Coordinates: 52° 7′ 31.77″ N, 1° 42′ 12.41″ W.

---

1. ^ "The Trouble With Teletubbies". Commercialexploitation.org. http://www.commercialexploitation.org/articles/featured/troubleteletubbies.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-10. 
2. ^ 29 June 2001 (29 June 2001). "CBBC wants first tenders | News | Broadcast". Broadcast now.co.uk. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/multi-platform/news/cbbc-wants-first-tenders/1177573.article. Retrieved 2010-07-10. 
3. ^ ^{a b} http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/287940.stm BBC News Entertainment: Tubbies toast another three years
4. ^ "Past Winners and Nominees – Children's – Awards – 2002". BAFTA. http://www.bafta.org/awards/childrens/nominations/?year=2002. Retrieved 2010-01-13. 
5. ^ Gutenko, Gregory. "Deconstructing Teletubbies: Differences between UK and US college students' reading of the children's television programme.". Kansas City, Missouri, USA: College of Arts & Sciences, University of Missouri-Kansas City. "Unexpectedly, the four furry alien-like "techno-baby" Teletubbies and their surreal Tubbyland world have also generated a cult following among college students. (The campus activities calendar at Imperial College includes the airtimes and episode highlights for each show)." 
6. ^ ^{a b} Falwell Sees 'Gay' In a Teletubby. New York Times. 11 February 1999. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E4DD1F3BF932A25751C0A96F958260. 
7. ^ Literacy Today article regarding a study which found Teletubbies had a negative impact on toddlers in both vocabulary size and expressive language use.
8. ^ "New dawn for Teletubbies". BBC News. 17 February 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/281297.stm. Retrieved 25 May 2010. 
9. ^ "Teletubbies: Program summary". PBS Parents. http://www.pbs.org/parents/teletubbies/progsummary.html. 
10. ^ Sweet Knowle Farm is at coordinates 52°07′32″N 1°42′12″W / 52.125515°N 1.703446°W / 52.125515; -1.703446 (Sweet Knowle Farm)
11. ^ ^{a b} http://pbskids.org/teletubbies/parentsteachers/progfaq.html
12. ^ "Singles : Artists : Age". Record Breakers and Trivia. EveryHit.com. http://www.everyhit.com/record3.html. Retrieved 2008-09-30. "Jessica Smith played the part of 'Baby Sun' in the Teletubbies Television show. Her giggle was used on The Teletubbies 1997 chart-topper "Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!" Though not credited for this 'performance,' she is the youngest person to have appeared on a no.1 single. We are currently trying to ascertain her precise age at the time of recording; it is certainly less than one year old and thought to be around the seven month mark." 
13. ^ Rusak, Gary (12 March 2007). "Teletubbies celebrate 10th anniversary in high style". KidScreen Magazine. http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/daily/20070312/teletubbies.html. 
14. ^ "Teletubbies Pop-Up Shop". http://www.taketheteletubbiestest.com/love_it/. 
15. ^ Marwan Kraidy (2005). Hybridity, Or the Cultural Logic of Globalization. pp. 106–107. ISBN 9781592131440. http://books.google.com/?id=3Ms7azOI8UgC. 
16. ^ Adam Easton (28 May 2007). Poland targets 'gay' Teletubbies. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6698753.stm. 
17. ^ Polish watchdog backs away from Teletubbies probe. CBC. 30 May 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2007/05/30/teletubby-poland-noprobe.html. 
18. ^ The IoS Happy List 2008 – the 100
19. ^ Dotinga, Randy (12 April 2000). "Lawsuit to Target Teletubbies for Gun Talk". APBNews. Archived from the original on 10 May 2000. http://web.archive.org/web/20000510155551/http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/breakingnews/2000/04/12/teletubbies0412_01.html. 
20. ^ Teletubbies Q&A's
21. ^ Newgrounds Presents: Teletubby Fun Land
22. ^ Newgrounds Literature
23. ^ "Just Call Matsuzaka ‘Dipsy’" – The New York Times, 17 September 2007
24. ^ Teletubbies top the charts. BBC. 7 December 1997. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/37712.stm. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 

External links

• Official UK website
• Official USA website
• Official PBS website
• Official BBC/ CBeebies website
• Teletubbies at AllRovi
• Teletubbies at the Internet Movie Database

Coordinates: 52°7′32″N 1°42′12″W / 52.12556°N 1.70333°W / 52.12556; -1.70333