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Teletubbies - I'm the bear......

25 replies

Rhubarb · 10/09/2003 12:40

Teletubbies have just repeated this episode again. When it was first shown I was upstairs on Mumsnet when I heard dd burst into tears, I came running downstairs and was puzzled that a pre-school children's programme could show such a scary thing. And it was scary imo, the roaring and shaking of trees that signalled the arrival of the bear just puts children into anxiety mode. Anyway, I thought she would get over it though she has mentioned it quite a few times so I knew it was still on her mind. Imagine then how I felt when exactly the same thing happened this morning? Again I put CBeebies on for her whilst I did some Mumsnetting and some work on my other sites, as soon as I heard her crying I knew that 'I'm the bear' had come on again. Dd was visibly very frightened and begged me to turn the TV off. Now she doesn't want to watch CBeebies again and keeps asking me if the bear is coming.

Do you think I should complain about this? Has anyone else's child reacted in this way? I feel quite angry that a children's programme is probably responsible for future nightmares that my child will have!

OP posts:
katierocket · 10/09/2003 12:50

Rhubarb I can't remember how old your DD is but my DS(23months) had similar reaction to the animated Noddy series on Channel 5. It was completely out of the blue and something to do with the elephant but I didn't get to the bottom of what it did to make him so scared. I do think sometimes they can get scared about things that, on the face of it, don't seem scary so sometimes even if you think they are watching safe children's tv something taps into their brains and doesn't sit right.

I didn't see the tubbies episode you're talking about but this does sound a little bit more obviously scary. i would drop them an email from the website and ask for their comments.

SoupDragon · 10/09/2003 12:51

It's never affected my DSs but they're generally not "sensitive" children IYSWIM. I'm sure this episode was mentioned on a Mumsnet thread before actually.

It's always worth complaining about these sorts of things otherwise the people who make these programmes can't improve.

LIZS · 10/09/2003 12:52

My ds stopped watching Teletubbies because he was scared of the lion and the bear. He used to freak out too and turned it off as soon as it came on.

Jenie · 10/09/2003 12:55

Dd was scared of the bear on tubbies for ages (she is now 4) I think it's been going on for 2 years and the chances of getting it taken off are slim to nil (at a guess).

We turned it into a game where by she'd hide under her duvet and I'd say "You be the bear" hey presto after a couple of weeks she was cured. Oh but I had to be the lion and he's scary on the top and scary underneath!

Enid · 10/09/2003 12:56

My dd1 hated the lion and the bear too for a while...and then she absolutely loved it.

Perhaps you should watch with her for a while. She might grow out of it. I wouldn't have thought its worth complaining about, but I do remember dd1 was very freaked out about it at the time.

Enid · 10/09/2003 12:59

meant to add that dd2 found the remote control the other day and managed to turn Sky onto Buffy the Vampire Slayer (at 10am they show this!). When I went into the tv room they were both gripped by Buffy slaying vampires.

fio2 · 10/09/2003 13:04

My two liked that episode Rhubarb but I thought it was a bit weird But my dd is scared of the shark on the rubberdubbers

Slinky · 10/09/2003 13:23

My DD1 used to be scared of the bear on Teletubbies and she is coming up for 8!! Fortunately, it turned her off Teletubbies completely (HURRAH!!).

kayleigh · 10/09/2003 13:28

Rhubarb, my ds1 now 5 hated this bit. He was really scared of it and used to talk about the lion & the bear all the time. He would always ask me if the lion & the bear would be on when we turned the TV on.

bloss · 10/09/2003 13:55

Message withdrawn

winnie1 · 10/09/2003 13:57

Rhubarb, everytime this episode is on ds (nearly 3)has become almost hysterical! Today having a much larger vocabulary he came to me told me he was 'scared' of the bear and insisted I cuddle him. DS is not easily scared and this has always puzzled me.

ditsymum · 10/09/2003 14:07

The little boy in the house freaks me and my hubby out

Paula71 · 10/09/2003 20:20

Okay, we mustn't watch too many tubby shows as I don't think we have seen this one. Forewarned is forearmed though so what exactly happens?

My twin ds' (20 months old) love the tubbies on cbeebies as they don't like many shows (except Balamory and Bits n' Bobs.) They are at that boo-scary stage though.

The only bear I can think of is the one that tap-dances. But if I have to see that $%*!ing stupid "funny lady" patronising the children again I'll throw something at the telly!

marthamoo · 10/09/2003 20:36

Rhubarb, that's weird as I wondering the other day if the bear (and the lion) were still on, as I haven't seen them on TT this child round. I thought maybe they had stopped showing those episodes as they have so obviously misjudged their audience. It used to scare the pants off ds1 (now 6.5) and practically every other child I knew at the time. He was also terrified by the little singing man in the Tam o' shanter who appears in the pink house and wails eerily.

And I never liked that Funny Lady..flippin' Creepy Lady more like!

You could try an email to the BBC - but it's been on for years (since TT started, which I think is about 5.5 years?), I don't know if they would take it seriously.

It is weird how children are frightened by different things - ds1 was also petrified of the TV Thomas the Tank Engine (though he liked the books and the toys) - he would physically shake when the music started, and shriek for me to turn it off.

Ghosty · 10/09/2003 21:40

Rhubarb ... my DS was scared of the bear and the lion too ... lasted until he was about 2 and a half .. by which time he went off tts anyway ...
My DS is totally over sensitive let me add ... so I am relieved that he is not the only one that is sensitive to stuff like that.

Original poster
Rhubarb · 10/09/2003 21:51

I've decided to complain - harshly! I was surprised when I first saw it that they deemed it suitable for children so young. My dd is 3 by the way. Tonight has been awful for her, she has been totally freaked out by it. She is forever looking over her shoulder to make sure the bear isn't there. She asks me for reassurance constantly, and I've told her that it's not real, that the bear is now in the rubbish bin, etc, etc. The worst bit was putting her to bed, she was really frightened of going and told me that the bear might open the door and come in her room, she even told me that it had said to her "I'm the bear and I'm going to get you!" - does it say that? I feel awful that I wasn't with her, but I thought she was safe with CBeebies! It took me ages to come out of her room, she would cry as soon as I went to the door. I have had to leave her lamp on and the door wide open, and dh had to come in and say goodnight whilst I sneaked out.

Bloody stupid programme! Don't we parents have enough to contend with!

OP posts:
bloss · 11/09/2003 00:06

Message withdrawn

Jimjams · 11/09/2003 07:49

I know quite few children who didn't like it. However DS1 absolutey loved it (still does) and used to shriek with laughter whenever the lion stuck his tongue out. He'd start giggling as soon as he saw the bear. I think it was his favourite bit of teletubbies and I spent quite a while trying to find a video with the bear in (no luck- does anyone know of one?) However being autistic he's probably not the best at interpreting expressions and speech.

DS2 loves Thomas (as does ds1) but after seeing the "real" thomas at a railway which absolutely terrified him he used to cry whenever he saw a video. However ds2is a total wuss! (Ds1 has a bit of an off and on Thomas obsession so ds 2 had to get over it- he's fine now.)

JemimaBobbins · 11/09/2003 09:30

My ds loved it too and every episode used to get all excited saying "is it the bear one, is it the bear one?"

Now at age 4 he's scared of anything slightly scary.

Funny things, kids!!

Oakmaiden · 11/09/2003 09:30

My ds found it terribly scarey too. Personally I think "funny lady" is the scariest of them all. Quite freaks me out!

Original poster
Rhubarb · 11/09/2003 09:40

Well first thing this morning she awoke in tears about the bear and I had to reassure her AGAIN that it wasn't coming to get her. I do think that it is too scary for very young children and reading the posts on this thread has confirmed it. There seems to be more children that have been scared by it than not. The BBC does have a responsibility to show programmes that are suitable for our children, and I wouldn't say that one was. I can quite understand how this would frighten her, especially if it says that it's coming to get her! I have emailed CBeebies but I might just email the Beeb too. If they've had complaints in the past then repeating that episode is just taking the p**s. After all I don't pay my TV licence for them to ignore their viewers!

OP posts:
bloss · 11/09/2003 12:45

Message withdrawn

Bron · 11/09/2003 14:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GeorgieRiot · 19/09/2012 23:52

Earlier tonight my friend and I were discussing things that used to scare us as a child, so I decided to search Google and show my friend the "Lion and the Bear" episode when I came across this thread. As a toddler I was incredibly frightened of this episode, the thing that scared me in particular was, and I quote "I'm cooooming.." I'm 16 now and the memory of this one program stays with me until this very day. It sickens me the fact tv producers thought it was acceptable to show such a ridiculously scary concept within a childrens program.

ElNato1 · 21/06/2018 04:44

So I remember watching this episode when I was really small (around 4-6ish) and it terrified the day lights out of me
One of the things that scared me most as a child and even gave me reoccurring nightmares
I'm 21 now and I went and rewatched the sketch and still to this day it sends shivers down my spine
I don't know how they achieved it but the creators of Teletubies created something that scared me more than any horror movie has

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