From 1997 to 2026: the Complete Timeline of the Teletubbies Franchise and Its Legacy
By Alexander Ross
The illusion of a magical, isolated biosphere relied heavily on forced perspective and practical set design. To make the eight-to-ten-foot actors look small and child-like on screen, the production brought in Continental Giant and Flemish Giant rabbits. These animals weighed up to 15 pounds each and hopped around the Warwickshire hills alongside the performers. Davenport and Wood calculated that placing immense rabbits next to immense costumes would trick the viewer’s eye, making the performers appear the size of toddlers.
The rabbit element created logistical headaches. The animals frequently bred on set, paused production by straying into mechanical tracks, or hid beneath the fake flowers. Behind the camera, wranglers spent hours repositioning the animals so that the scale remained consistent from wide shots to close-ups.
Meanwhile, the radiant face appearing inside the rising sun belonged to a real baby named Jess Smith. In 1996, staff from Edenbridge Hospital in Kent conducted routine weigh-ins when a local talent scout asked nurses for smiling, healthy infants. Smith was seated in a high chair in front of a mirror and a camera while her father waved a teddy bear to prompt her bright, unprompted laughter. Ragdoll Productions paid the family a modest £250 and gave them a box of toys for the shoot. Smith kept her identity private for almost two decades before publicly confirming during university that she was the original Sun Baby, cementing an iconic piece of global television history.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
