And yes, the first time I watched ‘tubies I was rather disturbed by the laughing sun baby… I imagine we’ll see that at the apocalypse.

One image that does scare me though is the sun in the teletubbies. I mean come on, for pity’s sake, there’s a baby in the damn thing!

I constantly lecture people on how the second Wonka film is actually a truer adaptation of the book. ‘But it’s so DARK’ they say, to which I respond innocently, ‘Have you read the book?’

But then I remember the Disney Afternoon.

And then I miss those days.

Fear has always been connected with s. pleasure, as far as imaginary villains. I’m sure a psyoanalist would have a field day with that one.

The abandonment of children is a very strong theme throughout certainly Eastern-European tales… as is being eaten. Probably the two things children are most scared of.

I think the name Wally (which means pretty much the same in the UK, though in an effectionate way) is indicative of that version of his character (as opposed to the confident US version).

I’ve got a real hankering for gingerbread now…

You probably read either - Miss Nelson is Missing, miss Nelson is Back or Miss Nelson has a Field Day.

Of course, the story arc leads us to believe that Viola Swamp is actually Miss Nelson in disguise.

I think you’re spot on with the idea of information filtering, with regard to Wally. Something that will become more important in the future as we head towards information saturation. It won’t be too long before advertisers can buy the space on the backs of your eyelids and every other word in the newspaper is the word ‘buy’.

It sounds extreme, but we’ll be able to filter it out on some level without impeding our info uptake, similar to how we watch TV today (most people can’t recount the adverts they have watched 30 seconds earlier because they have learned to dispose instantly that information).

As for Wally in NZ we are looking for him too, which is a bit weird when a wally in nz is an idiot, a right wally etc.

As for Wally/Waldo/whatever, meh. Not enought words, too many pics and far too many ppl.
Tho I do like how the books train you to detect selected data whilst ignoring unwanted info.

That’s a really dark story… revenge killings, snacking on enemies and a kitten…

and, yeah, now that you mention it, with all that adventuring you’d expect a slightly more buff physique… he must be taking nerd supplements.

that image still freaks me out. because me cats have killed and eaten rats, and since they have no children, what if they decide to eat me.

it might’ve been helped by the fact that i was very tiny as a child.

Luckily, I haven’t inherited a penchant for hiding is busy crowds of circus performers…yet.

That’s some pretty dark imagery to instill in a child, a spike through the tongue, top work.

I’m planning on ‘remixing’ stories, mash-up style for my children… The first one will be a combination of the ‘Magic Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton, and the ‘Empire Strikes Back’… it has a great theme tune too.

That said, Roald Dahl stuff is pretty dark anyway. James and the Giant Peach especially.

He’s a bit of a role model.

I’d completely forgotten about the cartoon – the mid- to late-90s are a little bit of a black hole for me. Nice link.

“It’s like the Fun Lovin’ Criminals were slumming it one weekend, and emerged after a coke binge in a library with this little tape in their hands.”

Ha. Isn’t it always the case that children’s TV theme tunes are always the most trippy, drug-influenced melodies available…

My dad used to read my bedtime stories and every now and then apparently he would become bored and change the story. I would grow up with these very specific images from these stories that would never ever eventuate when I went back and searched through my entire library for the boy with the single massive spike growing from his tongue in James and the Giant Peach …