CENSORING MR. SKINNY LEGS

Image Copyright Astley Baker Davies Ltd/Contender Ltd

For those of you who do not have access to a TV-watching toddler, you may not be aware of the British-made animated show Peppa Pig. Peppa is an innocent young shoat who lives in an idlyllic and bucolic universe with her family consisting of Mommy Pig, Daddy Pig, and her younger brother George. Many other anthropomorphic mammals make up her gentle world, and probably the most serious crisis she ever encounters is trying to find a friend for her pet goldfish (don't worry; she succeeds). In short, it is a very pleasant and suitable television program for youngsters who are not yet ready to realize how screwed up real life can be.

Nonetheless, one episode of Peppa Pig was banned in 2012 by the Australian Broadcasting System, and the same episode was later pulled in 2017 in Australia by the Nick Jr. network as "inappropriate for children."

What was the offensive content? Did it show Mommy Pig and Daddy Pig sharing the same bed? Did Mr. Wolf eat George? Was it that the shape of Peppa's head is too phallic?

Nope, none of these. The episode in question involved "Mr. Skinny Legs," a friendly spider. Peppa is initially alarmed when she finds Mr. Skinny Legs in her dollhouse. However, once she is informed by Daddy Pig that spiders "can't hurt you," she happily plays with Mr. Skinny Legs and hosts a dollhouse tea party in his honor. 

British spiders are, on the whole, pretty woosie, and you could  get away with cavorting with them without inscribing Thanatos on your dance card. Not so in Australia, where there are deadly arachnid species like redbacks and funnel-webs which can go medieval on you with a blowtorch and pliers. The Australian broadcasters simply did not want to encourage younglings to handle creatures which could turn out to be lethal--although Nick Jr. did initially resist pulling the show on the basis that Mr. Skinny Legs did not look "real."

Peppa and her friends can easily be found on YouTube. To view the controversal Skinny Legs episode, please click here.