Timbo the Elephant

Timbo the Elephant was an obscure children's show dating back to the late 90's and early '00s. I doubt anyone other than a handful of people have watched the show, let alone heard of it... but maybe that's for the best. There was some fucked up stuff surrounding the show, things that have been kept under wraps for too long. It's time I tell someone what really happened.
This all started in 2019. I was hiking in the woods a few miles away from my home when I saw a rusted metal box on the side of a riverbank. I assumed it had washed up on the shore, although judging by the state of the box it had been submerged for some time. Whether it was drugs, crime evidence or a corpse, I didn't know or care - curiosity got the better of me and I managed to smash the lock off with a rock. Inside the box were various items. There was a Colt .45 revolver, some bullets, a shard of white rock, a moth-eaten plushie of a green elephant and a zip-lock bag. Inside the bag was a DVD. One word was written on it in black sharpie. "TIMBO".
As soon as I read the name, memories came flooding back. Whether I had repressed the memories or just forgotten, either way, my brain was suddenly filled with thoughts of a TV show, incidents at a studio, and a small green elephant. It was so long ago, maybe 1998, when I had a job at a TV studio. The name escapes me, but I know that they aired various independant children's shows. "Timbo the Elephant" was one of them. I don't remember all the details, but I know something happened surrounding the show, something that caused the TV studio to shut down, and caused me to lose my job. In the spur of the moment, I pulled out my phone and googled 'timbo elephant tv show'. No results. I may have stumbled upon a form of lost media. I checked around me before taking the DVD and making my way back home.
Once home, I played the DVD. Almost instantly, I was blasted with white noise as the screen flashed up various logos, each one appearing for a few seconds at a time. I turned down the volume just as the slew of logos was replaced with a sickly yellow background, with blood-red text at the top of the screen, reading "Timbo the Elephant - Season 1 Episodes". A theme song started to play, a foreboding tune consisting of violin and piano that seemed to fit in a 1940's romance movie rather than a 90's kid's show. A stuffed toy elephant began to appear on the screen, looking eerily similar to the one in the box in the woods. The theme tune began to speed up, as a chorus of kids yelled 'Timbo!', just as the selection menu appeared, obscuring the elephant's face with a wall of bloodred text. The options were Play, View Episodes, Learn More and Meet Timbo. I selected the top one and the screen turned black again, before showing white text.
"TIMBO THE ELEPHANT E01S01 - TIMBO COMES ALIVE"
The episode started with a somewhat empty yet upbeat tune, carrying the same leitmotif as the theme song from the menu. This one was played on some kind of brass, as the camera panned across a desolate-looking playground. The camera began to zoom in on a boy with a yellow shirt, playing with a stuffed elephant toy. He sat next to a slide with his back to the camera. The camera was fixed on him for an uncomfortable amount of time, just fixed on this one boy, who didn't seem to realise the camera behind him. That was until the camera began to approach him, and the boy turned around. There was a sudden dip in quality as a loud buzzing engulfed my speakers. The camera suddenly cut to the boy again, this time looking at the camera in a close up. The buzzing was replaced with a voiceover. The voice didn't match the boy at all, as the actor (if he was an actor) seemed much younger than the voice, which, might I add, didn't sync with the boy's lips at all. The boy introduced himself as Callum, and introduced his toy elephant, Timbo. Timbo was inexplicably green, but there was something off about the toy. Its arms and legs seemed too human, even for an anthropomorphic toy. Its black beady eyes reflected... something, although what with the video's quality and awful camera angle I couldn't tell what it was. I saw a glimpse of a figure in the corner of the screen, dressed in all black and watching the shoot, before he suddenly moved out of the way, having most likely realised he was on camera. Although it was probably a curious parent or crew member, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the entire thing. Whether it was the snuff film-like low quality or the fact that the camera had been almost voyeuristically watching Callum at the start of the episode or that Callum didn't seem as much as an actor as some random kid that the production crew had suddenly given a role, I wasn't sure, but I kept watching.
After Callum had shown the camera Timbo, an unnerving voice could be heard. It sounded completely off, like a grown man had imitated a child's voice and then pitched it down. The quality of the voice compared to Callum's voice was very different, like it had been recorded on set instead of in post. I will refer to this voice as the narrator. The narrator speaks to Callum and tells him he can make Timbo alive if Callum comes with him. I wanted to yell at the screen at Callum to run - I was convinced that the boy wasn't an actor and I had just stumbled on some depraved pedo's home video stash, but I had no real proof yet. So I kept watching.
The camera cut suddenly to a longshot of the playground, seemingly shot from behind a tree. The camerawork was even shoddier than before, like the cameraman was recording with one hand. Both the audio and visuals were worse than before, and the man in black I had caught a glimpse of previously was now standing beside the cameraman, although his face was never fully shown. The camera zoomed in on Callum, sitting on a bench with a plastic bucket beside him. I thought I heard a voice say "That one", but with the horrendous audio it could have been anything. The video then cuts back to the main 'episode', now low to the ground next to a large green bin. Callum is sat with Timbo in his hand, and the narrator is talking to him. It tells him that Timbo will come alive if Callum sings a special rhyme. At this point, Callum looks up at something to the left of the camera and the audio completely cuts out for several seconds, before coming back. Now Callum's voice is completely different, sounding more like an actual child instead of a young man imitating a child. He sings the song, which goes as follows:
"Timbo, Timbo, come alive, on the count of number five. One, two, three, four, five! Your dreams have come alive!"
There was a strange synth-like tune as the camera lost even more of its quality. When it came back, Timbo was no longer an inanimate toy, and instead a puppet, seemingly held up by clear plastic rods. He waved to the camera and a strange high-pitched piano tune began to play. The camera changed to a sort of montage of Callum running around the playground, going on swings and slides, while occasionally Timbo would show up, going on whatever play equipment Callum had just gone on, but in slow motion. Even with the video effects I could see the man in black, this time operating the Timbo puppet, but usually just out of view. Still, his face seemed always out of view, intentional or not. The same montage repeated twice, and the second time it had a strange two-strip colour effect to it. After this, the shrill piano tune started to come to an end, and the video cut to a field, seemingly nowhere near the playground. A white van is just visible to the right. Timbo sits in the centre of the frame, now inanimate once more. The narrator talks, seemingly to the viewer, and what he says is bone-chilling to say the least.
"Hello children. Boys and girls. All who watch. Timbo wants you to play with him too, and he would love it if you joined him. Then all can watch you! Your dreams will become alive. Find our website, and you can join in on the fun! Timbo wants you. We know you want him. See you another day."
By this point I was seriously freaked out. Lots of shows employ some cheesy "go to our website and you have a chance of being on the show" bullshit at the end of the episode, but the delivery of this one was off. However, it was a lead. Timbo had a website at some point, and although the dark side of me wanted to see what the other episodes entailed, I decided to stop the DVD and search the internet for the website.
After digging around on sites I'd rather not name and extensive use of the Wayback Machine, I found what appeared to be the website. Although I doubt anyone will ever find it after me, the name was https//timbofunforall.com. The site was extremely primitive, with the same sickly yellow background as the DVD menu and containing images of Timbo and a few of Callum, the main attration was the paragraphs of text haphazardly sandwidged between the images. The first paragraph read as follows:
"Hello. My name is James Timbo. I believe in fun for all. So does Timbo. If you are here then you must enjoy the show, Timbo the Elephant. If you want to have fun, if you want to meet Timbo and join in with all his amazing adventures, you can. If you do not believe in fun for all, and if you do not watch Timbo the Elephant, leave this website right now. For the people who are still here, you can now experience true fun. Click the internet link below."
That gave me a name, and potentially another site. James Timbo was probably the creator of the show, and although no credits showed at the end of the first episode, he was probably the man in black too. The other paragraphs talked about how amazing Timbo is, and how much fun Callum had on the 'wonderful day' (presumably the day that the first episode was shot), but apart from that, there was nothing else to the website. I clicked the link, which sent me to a completely black page with one sentance in the centre.
"Timbo the Elephant is discontinued as of 3rd March, 2005. All related activities, such as 'Meet Timbo' and 'The Fun For All Project' have also ceased. Please leave this website. We regret ever airing Timbo on our television station. Happy Neutron 2005."
After scrolling down and finding nothing, I did as requested and left the site. Happy Neutron seems to be the station which aired Timbo, and their lament at airing the show seems to point to something bad happening. My theory about this being some sick fuck's fantasy turned into a kid's show seems to be at least partially true, and it would explain why 'James Timbo' desperately wanted children to join in on the show. I went to bed and continued watching the next morning.
Episode 2 was titled "Timbo's Picnic' and had a significantly better quality than the last episode. Better audio, better visuals, and better camerawork. The brass from before returns, as the camera pans through a forest and to a clearing, where a red picnic blanket has been set up. Timbo sits in the centre as a group of children enter the shot, walking over to the picnic. They are led by a boy who looks similar to Callum, down to the clothes which are identical. He introduces himself to the camera as Callum, which immediately threw me off. What happened to the original actor? My thoughts immediately jumped to some kind of kidnapping, but my train of thought was interrupted as each kid introduced themselves. The girl in red is Mary, the boy in green is Jonathan, and the boy in the orange coat is Kenneth. They sit down around Timbo just as the narrator speaks to them, sounding slightly different but still creepy as before. He tells them that Timbo has a fun surprise planned for them, but they have to sing a song first. They sing the same rhyme from before and after some poor special effects, Timbo is alive, operated by slightly better concealed plastic rods. For the first time, Timbo speaks, sounding jovial although slightly muffled, telling the kids to follow him. That was when it happened.
The entire video cut out, turning black and replacing the original audio with a sombre keyboard tune. Text appeared on screen.
"A Message From Happy Neutron. This show contains heinous material which we deeply regret ever airing on our tv station. We have done our best to destroy all evidence that Timbo the Elephant ever existed, but there are still copies of the episodes out there. If you are watching this, turn off your DVD player. Remove the disk. If you have access to a hammer or other blunt instrument, destroy the disk. Place whatever remains of the disk into your bin. Do not mention Timbo to friends or family. This message will repeat for the duration of the episodes going forward. Please follow our instructions."
I felt chills go up my spine as I read the message. Not only were Happy Neutron encouraging viewers to destroy the disk, but they wanted them to deny that the show even existed? Clearly something happened on the show so bad that Happy Neutron enacted a full media blackout. I checked the rest of the episodes on the disk, but they just showed the message, this time without any original footage. I went back to the main menu, prepared to end my search, when the final option came into view. 'Meet Timbo'. Curious, I selected it, and my DVD player freaked out. The screen went completely black and the disk ejected itself, like I had selected to stop viewing. The DVD fell onto the floor and onto its front, revealing more messages on its underside. Two strings of numbers. After closer inspection I realised they were coordinates. I pulled my OS map out of my hiking bag, and just my luck, the coordinates lead to a secluded spot in the forest I had found the original disk in. 
I sat down and mulled the situation over. I have vague memories of working at a TV station in the 90's that aired a low-budget children's show. Something happened on the show and the entire station shut down, resulting in almost all evidence of the show and the TV station disappearing. I've just stumbled upon what might be the only surviving copy of the show, which seemed to be run by a strange man who wanted children to join him on the show. I could be the one to crack the case, to solve the story. To find out what really happened. I packed my bag, grabbed my map and set off into the woods, prepared to put the mystery of Timbo to rest.
The coordinates led me to an abandoned maintenance shed of some kind. The door was left open, and I pushed my way inside, revealing a dirty room. The smell was unbearable. A mattress was set on the floor, covered in stains. A chain hung on the wall, stained red with what I hoped was rust. An old scanline TV sat in the corner, next to a camera and a very familiar toy. The Timbo plushie. This was not the one I found in the box yesterday. This was the one used on the show. In the corner of the room sat a pile of newspapers, covered with human feces. Somebody has been living here. Somebody who owns orignal Timbo props. Somebody who leaves his coordinates on the back of DVDs, hoping that somebody watching will come to him. James Timbo. There was no doubt. I didn't want to stay here any longer than I had to, not just due to the rancid smell, but also due to the fact that James Timbo could come back, assuming he was living here. I was on my way out when I tripped on a rolled up rug. As I stumbled, trying not to fall, the rug unraveled, revealing a skeleton wrapped inside. This wasn't some perfectly preserved body. The bones were grey and riddled with fungus, and folds of grey skin still clung to its long-dead surface. Dressed in the remnants of a mould-filled black suit and clutching his bony hands to his chest, he looked as if he had died in agony, and the remaining sinews of his face were twisted into a masque of anguish. James Timbo. I tried to hold in the urge to vomit as I stumbled out of the door, half-running once I was out of the building. I didn't know why he was dead, I didn't know why he was in a rug, I didn't know or care, I just wanted to get out...
I woke up in a police station, where I was greeted by some kind of inspector. I don't remember his name, only that he had found me passed out in the forest. I explained to him everything, from the box to Timbo to the website to the building to James Timbo's corpse, and as I kept explaining, his expression became darker. He told me what he knew, but it didn't come as a surprise to me. James 'Timbo' Grimes was a depraved psychopath who was suspected of murdering several children, including one Callum Richardson. He had detailed the stalking of these children on his independant children's show, Timbo the Elephant, where he gained the children's trust before on the fifth episode, 'The Wonderful Day', he murdered them all before killing himself via overdose. After this incident, Happy Neutron, the TV station which Timbo was aired on destroyed all evidence of the show, apart from a few disks. I had found one of them. In the months following my discovery of the show, I managed to get therapy, but even now, the thought that uncensored versions of the episodes exist still weighs on my mind. If you take one thing away from this, it's that if you ever find anything relating to Timbo the Elephant.... leave it alone. Don't watch it. Happy Neutron's media blackout might have been for the best.
Category:Television