The first official trailer for the new Teletubbies revival is here. Coming to Netflix in November, the updated Teletubbies brings back all four of the colorful, fuzzy friends from the original series for more adventures, this time joined by new narrator Tituss Burgess. The series debuts on Nov. 14, but you can watch the trailer below to see the first footage of the returns of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po, courtesy of Netflix Jr. on YouTube.
From Netflix, the official logline for the new Teletubbies is as follows:
Join colorful friends Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po on wonder-filled adventures as they learn and grow in this 21st century refresh of the beloved preschool series, now narrated by Emmy-nominee Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). Each episode includes new, original “Tummy Tales” songs that will have the entire family dancing along!
Julia Pulo also apepars on the series as the “Tummy Tales” host, while the performers in the costumes include Rachelle Beinart, Rebecca Hyland, Nick Chee Ping Kellington, and Jeremiah Krage. Andrew Davenport co-created and serves as a writer of the new Teletubbies. It is executive produced by Kate Bennetts, Maddy Darrall, Steven DeNure, Billy Macqueen, and Michael Towner, while “Tummy Tales” is executive produced by Stephanie Betts, Anne Loi, and Josh Scherba.
The Teletubbies Are Back in Action at Netflix
Teletubbies originally ran from 1997 to 2001 and had a previous revival that lasted from 2015 to 2018. Altogether, there have been nine seasons and 485 episodes released ahead of this new take on the show from Netflix. The series follows a group of fuzzy, colorful characters with unique antennas who communicate using toddler-like gibberish, all while under the watch of a baby-faced sun. Generating around $2 billion in revenue since its launch, the Teletubbies brand remains popular with many of today’s children courtesy of reruns, and Netflix hopes to capitalize on this with the additon of the show to its expanding slate of children’s programming.
In the late 1990s, Teletubbies had made headlines when televangelist Jerry Falwell accused the show’s creators of promoting homosexuality with the Tinky Winky character. According to Falwell, it was implied that Tinky Winky was gay because his antenna was in the shape of a triangle, representing the gay pride symbol, and that he carried a handbag. This claim was frequently joked about in pop culture for some time to come, though in an official statement, the BBC denied that there was any kind of hidden agenda and noted that Tinky Winky was “simply a sweet, technological baby with a magic bag.”
Teletubbies will premiere for streaming on Netflix on Nov. 14, 2022. The series will consist of 26 12-minute episodes.