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Teletubbies is a BBC BAFTA winning children's television series, primarily aimed at pre-school viewers, 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. Narrated by Tim Whitnall, the show rapidly became a critical and commercial success in Britain and abroad (particularly notable for its high production values), and won its BAFTA in 1998. Although the show is aimed at children between the ages of one and four, it has a substantial cult following with older generations, mainly university students. The mixture of bright colors, unusual designs, repetitive non-verbal dialogue, 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. The show was also at the center of a controversy when American cleric and conservative pundit Jerry Falwell claimed in 1999 that Tinky Winky, one of the Teletubbies, was homosexual. Falwell based this conclusion on the character's purple color and his triangular antenna; both the color purple and the triangle are sometimes used as symbols of the Gay Pride movement. However, despite an ensuing boycott, the show remained in production for two more years, and "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. |
Godzilla vs Teletubbies, 
