Po (played by Pui Fan Lee) is the red Teletubby. She is the fourth of the Teletubbbies, and has an antenna that is round. Po is the smallest of the Teletubbies and gets into trouble the most. She also says the word "Eh-oh" (hello), a word used by herself and the other three Teletubbies.
Po's favorite object is her blue and pink scooter, which she calls "'cootuh"(, but also "'cooter" or "scootuh"). Po often wants attention and can sometimes be mischievous and naughty when she disobeys the commands of the "Voice Trumpets."
Po can speak two languages. Those languages are English (or the broadcasting country's language) and, for counting, Cantonese. For example, she says "Yat, yi, sam," which means "One, two, three." She is a problem solver and the best "spider-fighter". Po is also a Tomboy type.
In the Teletubbies' house, she sleeps at the side of all the other Teletubbies and sometimes eats Tubby Toast while the others are sleeping. She is voiced by Pui Fan Lee, who can speak Cantonese as well.
Although many are unsure of Po's gender, or think she is male, probably because of her scarlet/red color and tomboyish behaviour, she is explicitly female in several episodes, such as "Dad's Portrait" (Episode 216, first broadcast 1998) and "Numbers: 2" (Episode 30).
The antenna shapes of each Teletubby provides clues as to the character's names:
Noo-Noo (played by Mark Dean) is the Teletubbies' sentient automated blue vacuum cleaner, and then he turns orange. He cleans up after the Teletubbies ("Noo-Noo tidy up!"). It has been shown that Noo-Noo has extraordinarily large storage capacity. He also has the ability to spit out any contents, often things that it should not have consumed in the first place such as the Teletubbies' blankets, foods, or favorite things. Then he is called "Naughty Noo-Noo!"
Noo-Noo does not share the Teletubbies' enthusiasm for big hugs, resulting in Benny Hill style chase scenes around the dome when the Tubbies try to express their thankfulness, during which Noo-Noo does an impression of a Formula 1 car engine in full flight. The Teletubbies always win and give Noo-Noo a 'big-hug'.
Although non-sentient, the other machines of the Teletubbies' house known as the Tubbytronic Superdome also play a major role in many episodes.
The show also features the Little Lambs, the Dog, the Butterfly, the Pink Spider, the Magic Crown, the Socks, the Vest, the Pants, the Blue Mittens and the Pink Boots and occasionally, the Trees, the Clouds and the Rabbits. The "Birds" are planned to be in the TV series, but only heard off-screen.
The only physical cast members are John Schwab and Sandra Dickson, who play the Voice Trumpets, Penelope Keith, who plays the Bear with Brown, Fuzzy Hair, Eric Sykes, who plays the Scary Lion with Big, Scary Teeth and Jess Smith who plays the Baby Sun, who is believed to have been around seven months old at the time of filming. Her giggle was included in the single "Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!". Although not credited, this makes her technically the youngest person ever whose vocal appeared on a number one song.
Each of the Teletubbies plays a number of instruments.
Tinky Winky started a still talked-about controversy in 1999 due to his carrying a bag that looks like a woman's handbag.
He was first called gay by the academic and cultural critic Andy Medhurst in a letter of July 1997 to "The Face", and gained the interest of Jerry Falwell in 1997 when Fallwell said that the character was a "gay role model." Falwell wrote about it in his "National Liberty Journal". He said that in the Washington Post "In/Out" column someone had written that lesbian comedian Ellen DeGeneres was "out", or uncloseted, as the main gay model, while the Tinky Winky was "in", or closeted. Falwell said it was because of the Teletubby's purple color, the "purse" (British for Handbag), and the triangle antenna which all represented homosexuality. Also, Tinky Winky dances in a tu-tu, which supporters of the theory may take as evidence.
This caused many Christians to boycott Teletubbies because it made them think that Teletubbies support homosexuality. A February 1999 article in the "National Liberty Journal", published by evangelical pastor Jerry Falwell, warned parents that Tinky Winky could be a hidden homosexual symbol, because "he is purple, the gay pride colour, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle, the gay pride symbol". A spokesman for The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company, who licenses the characters in the United States, said that it was just a magic bag. "The fact that he carries a magic bag doesn't make him a homosexual. It's a children's show, folks. To think we would be putting sexual innuendo in a children's show is kind of outlandish", he added.
In an unrelated incident reported in 2000, a girl's Tinky Winky toy reportedly said "I got a gun". Kenn Viselman, then chairman of The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company, said the toy was actually saying "Again, again!", a catchphrase from the show.
A girl's talking Po doll was thought to be saying "faggot, faggot" as well as "fatty, fatty". Supporters of the interpretation of Tinky Winky as gay pride symbol might take this as evidence as well. The toy was recalled and it was revealed to have said "fidit, fidit," inspired by the Cantonese for "faster, faster."
In the episode "See-Saw" from (season 1) The Lion and The Bear came to Teletubbyland. The Lion is voiced by Eric Sykes and The Bear is voiced by Penelope Keith. In the original, many kids thought The Lion and The Bear was very scary and parents reported to the BBC that The Lion and The Bear was too scary. In the next season, they will do The Lion and The Bear again but this time with more careful Music and happier voices.
In the United States of America, the show is sponsored for broadcast on television; this is a list of the companies who have sponsored the show.
FLAC
FLAC (which stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec) is a way to code audio files. It makes those audio files smaller, without affecting the sound quality. It is unlike MP3, because when encoding audio using an MP3 encoder, information is lost and cannot be recovered. When a FLAC file is decoded, it will be identical to the original raw audio. FLAC is the most common lossless audio codec.
Lossy encoders, such as MP3 encoders will generate smaller files than lossless encoders such as FLAC, although with a lossy codec the decoder's output will not be exactly identical to the encoder's input, although with a decent encoder at sufficient bitrate, it will be extremely close.
Enabling Act
The Enabling Act ("Ermächtigungsgesetz" in German) was passed by Germany's parliament (the "Reichstag") on 23 March 1933. It was the second major step after the Reichstag Fire Decree through which the Nazis obtained dictatorial powers using largely legal means. The Act enabled Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet to enact laws without the participation of the "Reichstag".
The formal name of the Enabling Act was "Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich" ("Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Empire").
As with most of the laws passed in the process of "Gleichschaltung", the Enabling Act is quite short, considering its consequences. It is therefore reproduced in full in German and English:
The Enabling Act was passed by the Reichstag on March 23 and proclaimed by the government the following day. Following constitutional procedure for legislation, the law was countersigned by President von Hindenburg, Chancellor Hitler, Minister of Interior Frick, Foreign Minister von Neurath, and Minister of Finance von Krosigk.
The Nazis wrote the Enabling act to gain complete political power without the need of the support of a majority in the Reichstag and without the need to bargain with their coalition partners.
Within 24 hours of being appointed chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933, Hitler skillfully influenced the outcome by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels who wrote: