History YMMV / TheTeletubbies

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In 1999, televangelist Jerry Falwell -- or, to be more accurate, an anonymous editorial in a right-wing newspaper Falwell published -- believed that the show tries to normalize tropes and icons associated with [[AmbiguouslyGay homosexuality]], since the largest Teletubby is purple, carries a handbag "purse" and has a triangle on his head.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=015EXXqRQD8 This toy]] doesn't help matters. [[MemeticMutation It's a bicycle noise, I swear!]]
** There's also a theory floating around that the antennae(?) of the Teletubbies carry occultic symbols...[[ThinkOfTheChildren meant to somehow corrupt]] the TargetAudience (babies and toddlers) [[MoralGuardians away from Christianty and towards "Satanic" (read: non-Christian) beliefs]]. (Most likely, those who sincerely believe that have never seen Teletubbies; religion isn't even dealt with, and the antennae shapes were most likely chosen because they're interesting from a design point of view. And even in the unlikely case that they ''are'' symbols of something-or-other, babies and toddlers (yes, even Christian ones) cannot grasp symbolic thinking just yet).
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Noo-noo, the vacuum cleaner, who, on Chris's website, got a FourthWallMailSlot, when you could speak to him, and he'll respond with robotic noises.
* EveryoneIsSatanInHell: Especially the mondegreen-spewing Po doll.
* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Creator/PenelopeKeith and Eric Sykes is unbelievably scarry, and has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, and had creepy BackgroundMusic. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around.
** With respect to the Bear and the Lion, the overlay from Animal Parade and Three Ships, the weird CGI from Dancing Bear, Dancing Mushrooms, and Marching Soliders, the senile old woman from TeaParty, the soap commercial dropouts from The Magic Tree and The Puppet In The House, the dolls from Little Bo Beep, the {{UsefulNotes/Supermarionation}} from Dinosaurs, the animatronics from Dancing Robots, the traditional animation from the Chinese Dragons, the NauseaFuel inducing DeflatingTheBand from Toy Train, the BrownNote=s= from Magic Clouds, and the action figures from Police Cars all attracted their fair share of controversy too. This BBC cartoon is second, only to WesternAnimation/{{Pingu}}, to have most, or at least some, of the footage [[MissingEpisode cut]].
*** The Bear and Lion vignette has somehow been [[BannedInChina banned in pretty much every country in the world]], and in any alien civilizations that may have picked it up. This was the second BBC cartoon to have some episodes banned. The second being WesternAnimation/{{Pingu}}'s Dream, with the leopard seal.
* PeripheryDemographic: Lost in tragedy of an adult {{Malaysia}}n hallucinating asthma meads before watching the Bear and Lion vignette, and laughing at it, is the question: "Why is an adult watching Teletubbies?" It's a cartoon, right? Must be OK for the family, then!
** Also was popular with college-aged kids who were into rave culture.
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_with_the_Teletubbies Play With The Teletubbies]]'' [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/915865-play-with-the-teletubbies/reviews/review-52868 sucks]].
* SweetnessAversion: As was the case of ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' before it, many adult viewers derided it as overly cutesy fluff that exclusively appeals to toddlers.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Po is often mistaken for a boy.
** So is Laa-laa.
*** Of course, the winner is... '''THE BEAR!!''' The Bear is a woman (Creator/PenelopeKeith), but in some languages, to save confusion, ShesAManInJapan.
* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Dancing Mushrooms, bouncy balls, a sun with a baby in it, Chinese dragons, a TeaParty, and a vaccuum cleaner with eyes! Enjoy your stay!
** The same company went on to make ''Boohbah'' (2003) and ''In the Night Garden...'' (2007-). If you think ''Teletubbies'' was made on drugs...!

* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Penelope Keith and Eric Sykes is unbelievably scarry, and has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, and had creepy BackgroundMusic. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around.

*** Of course, the winner is... '''THE BEAR!!''' The Bear is a woman (Penelope Keith), but in some languages, to save confusion, ShesAManInJapan.

* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Penelope Keith and Eric Sykes is ScarierThanScary, and has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, and had creepy BackgroundMusic. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around.

* TastesLikeDiabetes: Expected from their diet of custard and toast.

* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Penelope Keith and Eric Sykes is ScarierThanScary, and has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, and had creepy background music. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=015EXXqRQD8 This toy]] doesn't help matters. [[{{Mondegreen}} It's a bicycle noise, I swear!]]

* EveryoneIsSatanInHell: Especially the {{Mondegreen}}-spewing Po doll.
* {{Mondegreen}}:
** Because Po's TheUnintelligible, the above periphery demographic as well as confused and dumbfounded parents thought the dolls say ''fucked it'' (correctly ''fi-dit'', literally meaning ''faster'') and ''momma man'' (correctly ''ma ma man'', literally meaning ''whee whee whee!'')!
** Tinky-Winky saying "Again again!", sounding like "I got a gun!"[[note]]Cos they're totally all for having gangsters in kid's shows.[[/note]]

** With respect to the Bear and the Lion, the overlay from Animal Parade and Three Ships, the weird CGI from Dancing Bear, Dancing Mushrooms, and Marching Soliders, the senile old woman from TeaParty, the soap commercial dropouts from The Magic Tree and The Puppet In The House, the dolls from Little Bo Beep, the {{Supermarionation}} from Dinosaurs, the animatronics from Dancing Robots, the traditional animation from the Chinese Dragons, the NauseaFuel inducing DeflatingTheBand from Toy Train, the BrownNote=s= from Magic Clouds, and the action figures from Police Cars all attracted their fair share of controversy too. This BBC cartoon is second, only to WesternAnimation/{{Pingu}}, to have most, or at least some, of the footage [[MissingEpisode cut]].

** There's also a theory floating around that the antennae(?) of the Teletubbies carry occultic symbols...[[ThinkOfTheChildren meant to somehow corrupt]] the TargetAudience (babies and toddlers) [[MoralGuardians away from Christianty and towards "Satanic" (read: non-Christian) beliefs]]. (Most likely, those who sincerely believe that have never seen Teletubbies; religion isn't even dealt with, and the antennae shapes were most likely chosen because they're interesting from a design point of view. And even in the unlikely case that they ''are'' symbols of something-or-other, [[CaptainObvious babies and toddlers (yes, even Christian ones) cannot grasp symbolic thinking just yet]]).

* MostAnnoyingSound: TheFaceOfTheSun! Her laughs are just so shrill and high-pitched that she could come off as an AnnoyingYoungerSibling!!!

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In 1999, JerryFalwell believed that the show tries to normalize tropes and icons associated with [[AmbiguouslyGay homosexuality]], since the largest Teletubby is purple, carries a handbag "purse" and has a triangle on his head.

** With respect to the Bear and the Lion, the overlay from Animal Parade and Three Ships, the weird CGI from Dancing Bear, Dancing Mushrooms, and Marching Soliders, the senile old woman from TeaParty, the soap commercial dropouts from The Magic Tree and The Puppet In The House, the dolls from Little Bo Beep, the {{Supermarionation}} from Dinosaurs, the animatronics from Dancing Robots, the traditional animation from the Chinese Dragons, the NauseaFuel inducing DeflatingTheBand from Toy Train, the BrownNote=s= from Magic Clouds, and the action figures from Police Cars all attracted their fair share of controversy too. This BBC cartoon is second, only to {{Pingu}}, to have most, or at least some, of the footage [[MissingEpisode cut]].
*** The Bear and Lion vignette has somehow been [[BannedInChina banned in pretty much every country in the world]], and in any alien civilizations that may have picked it up. This was the second BBC cartoon to have some episodes banned. The second being {{Pingu}}'s Dream, with the leopard seal.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_with_the_Teletubbies Play With The Teletubbies]]'' [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/915865-play-with-the-teletubbies/reviews/review-52868 sucks]]. And now the game's officially been released on a console with SuperMario games on it! WHY, KnowledgeAdventure, WHY?!?!?!?!?

** Tinky-Winky saying "Again again!", sounding like "I got a gun!"[[note]]Cos they're totally all for having gangsters in kid's shows.[[/note]] * MostAnnoyingSound: TheFaceOfTheSun! Her laughs are just so shrill and high-pitched that she could come off as an AnnoyingYoungerSibling!!!

* LoveItOrHateIt: You have no choice!

* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Penelope Keith and Eric Sykes is ScarierThanScary, and has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, a chase with very UnfortunateImplications, and had creepy background music. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around.

** The same company went on to make ''Boohbah'' (2003) and ''In the Night Garden...'' (2007-). If you think ''Teletubbies'' was made on drugs...!

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In 1999, JerryFalwell believed that the show tries to normalize tropes and icons associated with [[AmbiguouslyGay homosexuality]], since the largest Teletubby is purple, carries a handbag "purse" and has a triangle on his head.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=015EXXqRQD8 This toy]] doesn't help matters. [[{{Mondegreen}} It's a bicycle noise, I swear!]]
** There's also a theory floating around that the antennae(?) of the Teletubbies carry occultic symbols...[[ThinkOfTheChildren meant to somehow corrupt]] the TargetAudience (babies and toddlers) [[MoralGuardians away from Christianty and towards "Satanic" (read: non-Christian) beliefs]]. (Most likely, those who sincerely believe that have never seen Teletubbies; religion isn't even dealt with, and the antennae shapes were most likely chosen because they're interesting from a design point of view. And even in the unlikely case that they ''are'' symbols of something-or-other, [[CaptainObvious babies and toddlers (yes, even Christian ones) cannot grasp symbolic thinking just yet]]).
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Noo-noo, the vacuum cleaner, who, on Chris's website, got a FourthWallMailSlot, when you could speak to him, and he'll respond with robotic noises.
* EveryoneIsSatanInHell: Especially the {{Mondegreen}}-spewing Po doll.
* LoveItOrHateIt: You have no choice!
* {{Mondegreen}}:
** Because Po's TheUnintelligible, the above periphery demographic as well as confused and dumbfounded parents thought the dolls say ''fucked it'' (correctly ''fi-dit'', literally meaning ''faster'') and ''momma man'' (correctly ''ma ma man'', literally meaning ''whee whee whee!'')!
** Tinky-Winky saying "Again again!", sounding like "I got a gun!"[[note]]Cos they're totally all for having gangsters in kid's shows.[[/note]]
* MostAnnoyingSound: TheFaceOfTheSun! Her laughs are just so shrill and high-pitched that she could come off as an AnnoyingYoungerSibling!!!
* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Penelope Keith and Eric Sykes is ScarierThanScary, and has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, a chase with very UnfortunateImplications, and had creepy background music. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around.
** With respect to the Bear and the Lion, the overlay from Animal Parade and Three Ships, the weird CGI from Dancing Bear, Dancing Mushrooms, and Marching Soliders, the senile old woman from TeaParty, the soap commercial dropouts from The Magic Tree and The Puppet In The House, the dolls from Little Bo Beep, the {{Supermarionation}} from Dinosaurs, the animatronics from Dancing Robots, the traditional animation from the Chinese Dragons, the NauseaFuel inducing DeflatingTheBand from Toy Train, the BrownNote=s= from Magic Clouds, and the action figures from Police Cars all attracted their fair share of controversy too. This BBC cartoon is second, only to {{Pingu}}, to have most, or at least some, of the footage [[MissingEpisode cut]].
*** The Bear and Lion vignette has somehow been [[BannedInChina banned in pretty much every country in the world]], and in any alien civilizations that may have picked it up. This was the second BBC cartoon to have some episodes banned. The second being {{Pingu}}'s Dream, with the leopard seal.
* PeripheryDemographic: Lost in tragedy of an adult {{Malaysia}}n hallucinating asthma meads before watching the Bear and Lion vignette, and laughing at it, is the question: "Why is an adult watching Teletubbies?" It's a cartoon, right? Must be OK for the family, then!
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_with_the_Teletubbies Play With The Teletubbies]]'' [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/915865-play-with-the-teletubbies/reviews/review-52868 sucks]]. And now the game's officially been released on a console with SuperMario games on it! WHY, KnowledgeAdventure, WHY?!?!?!?!?
* TastesLikeDiabetes: Expected from their diet of custard and toast.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Po is often mistaken for a boy.
** So is Laa-laa.
*** Of course, the winner is... '''THE BEAR!!''' The Bear is a woman (Penelope Keith), but in some languages, to save confusion, ShesAManInJapan.
* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Dancing Mushrooms, bouncy balls, a sun with a baby in it, Chinese dragons, a TeaParty, and a vaccuum cleaner with eyes! Enjoy your stay!
** The same company went on to make ''Boohbah'' (2003) and ''In the Night Garden...'' (2007-). If you think ''Teletubbies'' was made on drugs...!

** There's also a theory floating around that the antennae(?) of the Teletubbies carry occultic symbols...[[ThinkOfTheChildren meant to somehow corrupt]] the TargetAudience (babies and toddlers) [[MoralGuardians away from Christianty and towards "Satanic" (read: non-Christian) beliefs]]. (Most likely, those who sincerely believe that [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch have never seen Teletubbies]]; religion isn't even dealt with, and the antennae shapes were most likely chosen because they're interesting from a design point of view. And even in the unlikely case that they ''are'' symbols of something-or-other, [[CaptainObvious babies and toddlers (yes, even Christian ones) cannot grasp symbolic thinking just yet]]).

** There's also a theory floating around that the antennae(?) of the Teletubbies carry occultic symbols...[[ThinkOfTheChildren meant to somehow corrupt]] the TargetDemographic (babies and toddlers) [[MoralGuardians away from Christianty and towards "Satanic" (read: non-Christian) beliefs]]. (Most likely, those who sincerely believe that [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch have never seen Teletubbies]]; religion isn't even dealt with, and the antennae shapes were most likely chosen because they're interesting from a design point of view. And even in the unlikely case that they ''are'' symbols of something-or-other, [[CaptainObvious babies and toddlers (yes, even Christian ones) cannot grasp symbolic thinking just yet]]).

* {{Mondegreen}}: Because Po's TheUnintelligible, the above periphery demographic as well as confused and dumbfounded parents thought the dolls say ''fucked it'' (correctly ''fi-dit'', literally meaning ''faster'') and ''momma man'' (correctly ''ma ma man'', literally meaning ''whee whee whee!'')!
** And Tinky-Winky saying "Again again!", sounding like "I got a gun!" [[hottip:*:Cos they're totally all for having gangsters in kid's shows.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In 1999, JerryFalwell believed that the show tries to normalize tropes and icons associated with [[AmbiguousllyGay homosexuality]], since the largest Teletubby is purple, carries a handbag "purse" and has a triangle on his head.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In 1999, JerryFalwell believed that the show tries to normalize tropes and icons associated with [[AmbigouslyGay homosexuality]], since the largest Teletubby is purple, carries a handbag "purse" and has a triangle on his head.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Some critics believe that the show tries to normalize tropes and icons associated with homosexuality, since the largest Teletubby is purple, carries a handbag and has a triangle on his head.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Noo-noo, the vacuum cleaner.
* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: Since there is hardly any plot or characterization, it's rather easy for viewers to just make stuff up.

* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Penelope Keith and Eric Sykes has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, a chase with very UnfortunateImplications, and had creepy background music. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around.
** With respect to the Bear and the Lion, the overlay from ''Animal Parade'' and ''Three Ships'', the weird CGI from ''Dancing Bear'', the senile old woman from ''Tea Party'', the soap commercial dropouts from ''The Magic Tree'' and ''The Puppet In The House'' and the dolls from ''Little Bo Beep'' all attracted their fair share of controversy too.
* PeripheryDemographic: The show is very popular among the "Rave" culture crowd.
** And for those who were kids in 1997, this show is the definition of "Nostalgia".
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_with_the_Teletubbies Play With The Teletubbies]]'' [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/915865-play-with-the-teletubbies/reviews/review-52868 sucks]]. Honestly, what else could go wrong?

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Their target demographic: children 1 to 3, looking for surrealism.

* {{Mondegreen}}: Because Po's TheUnintelligible, the above periphery demographic as well as clueless parents thought the dolls say ''fucked it'' (correctly ''fi-dit'', literally meaning ''faster'') and ''momma man'' (correctly ''ma ma man'', literally meaning ''whee whee whee!'')!
** actually, ''man'' meands "slow down" in Cantonese. Also, others have reported accidentally hearing the early talking toys say ''faggot'' (again, ''fi-dit'') or worse, ''bite my butt'' (correctly ''yap-yee-sahm'', literally ''one-two-three''). If you're confused, this is Cantonese, the same language [[{{Persona2}} Lisa Silverman]] speaks.

* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Penelope Keith and Eric Sykes has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, a chase with very UnfortunateImplications, and had creepy background music. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around.
** Just think about where they live--or more importantly ''how'' they live. They have a schedule set out for them every day from when they wake up, to when they go to sleep. The sun is has the face of a baby overlooking them, watching everything they do. There's microphones popping up out of the ground giving "orders" every now and then, from giving them instructions on how to wash themselves, to saying good-bye at the end of the day, which implies they can't take care of themselves without being told what to do. Everything is set up for them, and it's all done in a perfect organized manner in a controlled environment. Try watching an episode with this knowledge, and see if your childhood doesn't feel a little bit violated.
*** With respect to the Bear and the Lion, the overlay from ''Animal Parade'' and ''Three Ships'', the weird CGI from ''Dancing Bear'', the senile old woman from ''Tea Party'', the soap commercial dropouts from ''The Magic Tree'' and ''The Puppet In The House'' and the dolls from ''Little Bo Beep'' all attracted their fair share of controversy too.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Taken '''TO THE EXTREME''', because it's for kids 1 to 3.

* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version, from Penelope Keith and Eric Sykes has paranoia-inducing dialogue (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen), an agressive delivery from Keith and Sykes, unnatural and scary-looking characters, a chase with very UnfortunateImplications, and had creepy background music. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release, which is just two friends mucking around as opposed to two arch enemies scaring some babies.

*** With respect to the Bear And The Lion

* NightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version has both characters speak in a sinister manner (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen) and had creepy background music. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Nono, the vacuum cleaner

** actually, ''man'' meands "slow down" in Cantonese. Also, others have reported accidentally hearing the early talking toys say ''faggot'' (again, ''fi-dit'') or worse, ''bite my butt'' (correctly ''yap-yee-sahm'', literally ''one-two-three'').

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: And the winner is....... '''''THE BEAR AND LION.''''' The original version has both characters speak in a sinister manner (although the bear drops it once she comes on screen, the lion maintains its sinister speech when on screen) and had creepy background music. It was so scary that Ragdoll was forced to redub the segment with more cheery music and drop the sinister speech when the segment was finally cleared for a DVD re-release.

** Wait, they have genders!?
*** Of course they do. They're not just 'men' in suits.