Laa-Laa, Po, Dipsy and Tinky-Winky were ‘The Teletubbies. The sales company in America, Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Company ensured that TV Azteca respected the series’ copyright. (Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images for Teletubbies)
Just before the turn of the 21st century, British public television surprised us with four brightly colored creatures, with monitors on their stomachs, antennae out of their heads and babbling like babies – at least that’s what we thought we heard. The Teletubbies They became the stars of thousands of babies and their mothers (and almost all adults).
Months after it first aired in March 1997, no one wanted to miss the adventures of Tinky-Winky (purple), Dipsy (green), Laa-Laa (yellow), Po (red) and her friend, the Sun (baby-faced). ), which is why TV stations in each country tried to get the broadcasting rights of the successful BBC programme. But some smart people (or so they thought) decided to create their own versions, which clearly turned out to be a bad copy, as happened in Mexico The Telechobis.
Much of The Teletubbies’ popularity and success is due to its content, which is aimed at babies and preschoolers and is based on values such as friendship, kindness, and love.
A year after premiering in the UK and much of Europe, distribution company Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Company took it upon themselves to bring the show to America, beginning in the US on PBS and Nickelodeon.
Broadcasting in Latin America was almost a reality and broadcasting in Mexico was absolutely mandatory and only two TV channels could compete for this chance: Televisa and TV Azteca.
But The contract with Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Company included a non-negotiable clause that stipulated that the episodes would be broadcast commercial-free, as was standard practice on British televisiona condition with which TV station Ajusco did not agree, so the competition was given the rights to broadcast on Kanal 5 from April 1999.
But before Alejandro Romero, producer of TV Azteca, saw these “little ones” (actually they were three meters tall) on Mexican public television, thought it would be a good idea to have a nationwide program with the same educational and children’s focus. It was then that In November 1998, four elves appeared on the big screen who lived in a forest, where they played and studied near a tree.. was The Telechobis.
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If the name of the Mexican program was more recognizable, so were the characters: their physical form, that they lived in a green place, the program’s logo pretended to be balloons very similar to the British one, and it there was only one small big difference: These beings (Ton, Toso, Nita, Tis) spoke.
The TV series Azteca only aired for a few months, so some even thought it was a product of their imaginations.
It was not like that. On the Facebook page Yo fui Generación TN, several shared their memories of Los Telechobis. “I was 4 or 5 at the time, I vaguely remembered the name and that it was a pirate version of The Teletubbies”; “I knew I wasn’t crazy! My younger sisters didn’t believe there was a Mexican version”; “Damn, I didn’t remember them being that ugly.”
Romero’s project caught the ears of British producers and when they saw the similarities they decided to take legal action. According to the fandom wiki platform Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Company and the BBC urged them to stop broadcasting this Mexican version to prevent matters from escalating. TV Azteca ignored the request and They were sued for plagiarism and copyright infringement..
In his defense, Romero told Entertainment Weekly in January 1999 that “Los Telechobis” was a product developed by TV Azteca’s “creative team” that did “pretty well” in ratings and ratings I’ve never heard of Teletubbies.
Los Telechobis ceased to exist overnight, just in time for their almost British relatives to become popular on Mexican television.