The 'inappropriate' Peppa Pig episode that was banned in Australia twice

Metro

9 hours ago

Peppa Pig's seemingly innocent adventures have sparked unexpected controversies over the years, from angering politicians to bans over inappropriate content.
The porcine cartoon has most recently been in the headlines for the arrival of her baby sister, called Evie, with Mummy Pig's pregnancy announcement on Good Morning Britain in February leaving viewers baffled.
But it's not the first time Peppa and her entourage have stirred up a media frenzy. Previously, a Spanish politician blamed the cartoon for the lack of women in the construction industry, an Italian politician demanded an episode featuring LGBTQ+ polar bears be banned, and some parents have labelled the cartoon icon as 'rude' and 'impatient'.
In 2004, an episode titled Mister Skinnylegs was pulled off air in Australia for messaging deemed to be 'inappropriate' for audiences Down Under.
The episode in question sees Peppa befriend a spider, after Daddy Pig tells her the arachnids are 'very very small' and 'can't hurt you'.
The cartoon's titular character then proceeds to pick up the spider, letting him play with her doll's house and offering him tea.
However, unlike in the UK, some spiders in Australia are far from harmless. The redback spider and the funnel-web spider are both venomous, and their bites can be fatal without administering antivenom.
Australian spiders certainly aren't small, either — the huntsman's leg span can reach up to 30cm.
The offending episode was banned from future broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 2012 for sending the 'inappropriate' message that spiders are friendly and not to be feared.
But that's not the end of the story. In August 2017, the episode aired on children's channel Nick Jr in Australia, causing controversy all over again.
A Sydney mother complained to Foxtel, an Australian pay TV service, arguing that the episode encouraged children to pick up and play with potentially dangerous spiders.
Initially, the channel refused to pull the episode, saying at the time: 'The context of the way the spider is portrayed in the episode lessens any impact of scariness or danger; the spider does not look real, it has a smiley face and is shown in context of a show with other talking animals.'
However, Nick Jr eventually relented and removed Mister Skinnylegs from its programme rotation. More Trending
In Australia, children are taught from a young age about the dangers of spiders. Metro TV reporter Pierra Willix grew up in the country, and says: 'I remember being taught by my parents which spiders were harmless and which were dangerous. I was always told if you see a spider with a red back, that's bad!'
She adds: 'I remember seeing charts and posters about which ones were deadly too.'
And Australia's uncompromising approach to spider-related education appears to work.
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According to Australian Museum, there have been no deaths from a confirmed spider bite in Australia since 1979, thanks to antivenoms for redback spiders and funnel web spiders being introduced in 1956 and 1980 respectively.
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