Back in June, we reported that the BBC was planning to reboot Teletubbies with computer-generated animation, so that it could be more relevant to the computer-generated children of today. Now, the co-creator of Teletubbies—Anne Wood—has spoken up about the new version of her colorful little baby people, and she is “fucking pissed.” Wait, no, wrong quote. She’s actually “a bit sad.”
Speaking with Radio Times (via, coincidentally, the BBC), Wood says that the idea to remake old shows instead of creating new ones is all about trends in TV production: “People feel safer remaking hits of the past rather than investing in something new.” She also thinks it’s a disservice to children’s TV, which she believes is “worth more than that.” Wood sold the rights to the Teletubbies back in 2013 so she could develop new shows for kids—putting her money where her mouth is—and she won’t be watching the remake. “How could I watch it?” she said, “All my programs are like my children. It’s like seeing a child remade in somebody else’s image. So good luck to them.”
Wood’s response is a bit tamer than, say, everything Dan Harmon said about season four of Community, but she’s clearly not happy about it. It’s just one of those interesting differences between American and British TV, we guess. They feel “a bit sad,” and we make ill-advised rape metaphors. Or Dan Harmon does, at least.