On November 14th, Netflix launched the adaptation of one of the most famous children’s series of the late 90s and that is that Teletubbies with its colorful protagonists Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po marked the childhood of more than one person, at least good or bad.
Originally launched in 1997 by the BBC, this program was the subject of incessant criticism as it was not considered an educational series by parents and some of its episodes were even disturbing, such as ‘The Lion and the Bear’.
Its content was “so terrifying” for the US authorities that the chapter was banned in this country and even censored by the television station itself.
The Teletubbies are illustrious citizens of New York. They have held the key to the city since 2007 pic.twitter.com/0fd4W1GYgA
— Fede Carestia 🔍 Look who I found (@fedecarestia) February 18, 2023
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The episode of the Teletubbies that was banned in the United States
Dubbed by some as “the greatest horror show of all time”, this episode of the children’s series featured cardboard figures resembling amusement park animatronics as the main characters, as published by the Daily Mail.
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The Teletubbies are first seen running towards a hill when the bear announces her arrival in the garden and starts playing exciting music.
🔔 | Teletubbies scene was so creepy episode was banned in 1999
More below: pic.twitter.com/7AOZeaRj4u
— LADbible (@ladbible) February 25, 2023
At that moment, the animal appears out of nowhere singing a song about itself and making gestures with its face, eyes and tongue. Later the lion also arrives saying “I am the scary lion with big and terrifying teeth”.
Then the king of the jungle starts chasing the bear, under the terrified gaze of the colorful friends, until they just disappear from the screen, leaving it to the air what happened to them.
She: “The teletubbies bear can’t hurt you”
The Bear from the Teletubbies: pic.twitter.com/VCpQq6C0dT
— Killing a mockingbird(ian) (@cocoslipstick) April 10, 2019
Later, in 2001, the episode would be edited to remove disturbing details, though that didn’t prevent the series from being canceled that same year.
The banned TELETUBBIES episode ‘The Lion and the Bear’ was withdrawn in 1999 after complaints from parents that it was too scary for children because of the music, voices and dark tone or the final chase scene. Thanks to @horror4kids pic.twitter.com/qvEmDaUOcM
— Horror Losers (@horrorlosers) February 25, 2023
Source: Eluniverso

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