Introduction to the Teletubbies

For over twenty-five years, Anne Wood, the creator of Teletubbies and the founder of Ragdoll Productions has been committed to the development of young children. By capturing their imaginations through fantasy and play, Ms. Wood has enabled children to learn some of life's lessons through a variety of mediums including: television, video, and publishing.Experienced and award-winning children's television producers Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport developed "Teletubbies" after extensive informal interviews with nursery school teachers, linguists, and young children. This research was conducted to ensure the effectiveness of "Teletubbies" in teaching preschoolers skills that can contribute to school readiness and success. "Teletubbies" is supported by a comprehensive outreach effort for parents and caregivers to introduce the series' concepts and their role in the effective education of our youngest viewers. The Teletubbies speak in a simple, emergent language written by Andrew Davenport, the co-creator of the series, whose own academic background includes a degree in Speech Sciences. This is the first series deliberately developed to present age-appropriate material for viewers as young as one year old.
Watch Anne's interview about the PBS website

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Don't the television sets in the Teletubbies' tummies promote television viewing?
A. Research tells us that 99% of homes in the US have a television set. Sixty-nine percent have two or more. And, 33% have three or more! Television is a part of our daily culture, and serves as a window to the world for many families and young children. "Teletubbies" combines the notion of this magical window with a ticklish tummy to create a child-friendly interaction with television.

Q. What is the educational intent of "Teletubbies?"
A. " Teletubbies" was designed to address the physical, social and cognitive needs of young children from one to four years old. "Teletubbies" was created from extensive observations of the actual doings of young children. The Teletubbies' activities are based upon and imitative of the things that toddlers do that lay the cognitive foundations for higher level thinking. Everything in Teletubbyland is designed to be part of a game and to pick up on what we know of how children's thinking develops through repetition and through recognition of action patterns.

Q. Why does Tinky Winky carry a handbag?
A. Each Teletubby has a favorite "thing." Tinky Winky's reason for carrying a bag is the same reason Laa-Laa has her ball, Dipsy his hat and Po her scooter. Many young children demonstrate a close relationship with a comforting object as they are developing their own sense of self, just as Tinky Winky has with "something of his own," a bag to put his things in. As many parents have experienced, these attachments can range from a teddy bear to a blanket, and will be left behind as a child becomes more independent, usually around 4 years of age.

Q. The setting of the series, the Voice Trumpets, and even the Teletubbies themselves seem so weird. Won't parents find this frightening for their young children?
A. It is important for us to remember that we see the world through adult perceptions and adult tastes. The producers of "Teletubbies" have worked to create a series that appeals to young children. They have used their artistic talents combined with early childhood expertise to craft a series that celebrates learning through play, and that looks through the eyes of young children. The producers are addressing the fact that children today live in a world surrounded by voices that speak to them from televisions, radios, computers, CD-ROMs and other technological instruments.
Q. How does the series reflect ethnic diversity?
A. The producers of "Teletubbies" recognize that all children want to see children like themselves in many kinds of situations, families and experiences. In each episode, one of the Teletubbies' tummies shows video of a child or group of children engaged in an activity, which may include a religious or ethnic celebration. The children in these videos reflect a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Q. Why do the Teletubbies use baby talk? Won't this hinder children's speech development?
A. Children learn language at different rates, at different times and from a variety of sources. There is a large body of evidence that says exposure to peer language is comforting and beneficial to a young child. As in most developing skills, balance is important and exposure to "adult" language is equally valuable. As a matter of fact, 80-85% of the language in each episode of "Teletubbies" is adult , whereas 15% is the "play language."

Q. Should a one-year-old be watching television?
A. As with all television programming, each family must make the best decision about the use of television in the home. PBS's mission is to provide appropriate educational programming for all ages. Teletubbies is an exciting opportunity to extend the reach of PBS's mission to the youngest viewer.

Q. How will the PBS program differ from the U.K. version?
A: For the PBS broadcast, several significant changes were made to adapt the series to American needs and tastes. For example, the Narrator and Voice Trumpets have American accents. These changes make Teletubbies in America uniquely our own while retaining the elements that have made it such a hit in Britain.

Q. Why are there no grown-ups in Teletubbyland?
A. Imaginative games such as dress up and housekeeping fulfill a child's healthy desire to act out the many different models, routines and roles in their world. The Teletubbies live in an imaginary world where they are playfully self-sufficient: each program features the Teletubbies in Teletubbyland, which hums with the play technology that supplies their every need: Tubby Toast, Tubby Custard, and a conscientious comic vacuum cleaner, Noo-noo.

Q. Isn't Teletubbies "dumbing down" television?
A. "Teletubbies" is designed for very young children who are just beginning to discover the world and make sense of it. It is no more of a "dumbing down" than Wishbone is to Masterpiece Theatre, or Bill Nye the Science Guy is to NOVA. All are developmentally appropriate for specific age groups. The series promotes the developmental tasks of this target age group. It may seem simple from an adult perspective, but it is right on target for young children.

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