Loki. Influenced By Teletubbies? Yes.

Marvel’s Upcoming Disney+ Show Loki Enjoys Myriad Influences, from Jurassic Park to Teletubbies…

Jurrasic Park. Image: Universal.

Back in the day, some of us wondered aloud what it would be like to encounter the Teletubbies on TV late on a thirsty Thursday in college.

Would they be comforting or confusing?

Welp, it seems as if we were not alone in our Teletubbies bull sessions.

The director of the upcoming Loki series, Kate Herron, and head writer Michael Waldron told EW that they drew from myriad pop culture references, including The Teletubbies.

The Teletubbies. Image: BBC.

They explained sci-fi like Jurassic Park is front and center, but so is drama like Mad Men,  neo-noir like Blade Runner, and the mind-bending movie Brazil.

Image: Warner Brothers.

“So I think for us with Loki, I think the thing I brought to it is that I’m very character-focused, and I’m always trying to give the audience an understanding of, how [do] these characters feel in these big huge universes?” Herron said to EW.com’s Chancellor Agar, adding that real-world influences — like temping in offices — helped too.

Mad Men. Image: AMC/Lionsgate.

I was like, ‘These are the detail we need to capture,’ being someone who has worked in offices. And also, I love sci-fi, and I wanted to make the show just a big love letter to sci-fi and all the stuff that’s inspired me to be a filmmaker.” 

From the many teasers and trailers we’ve seen, fans are ready to see the real thing when Loki premieres on June 9.

Said Waldron to Agard:

We’re going to get to invest six episodes worth of time and get to tell maybe a more complex, layered character-driven story than you’d get to do in a big blockbuster where you’ve got so many characters to service in just a two-hour runtime.”

But what about The Teletubbies? How did they influence the show?

Do you see the resemblance to Tom Hiddleson? Image: BBC.

Herron says we have to wait until June 9.

Finally and maybe, just maybe, Wikipedia has a clue for us (yes, this may be the only time I cite and reference Wikipedia):

Adam Roberts suggests that Teletubbies constitutes an example of radical utopian fiction. In this reading, the Teletubbies are an advanced culture that has eliminated all need to work, worry, or struggle in any way, and regressed into a childlike state. Roberts positions the Teletubbies as the endpoint of the science-fictional idea of paradise based on infantilization

Um, yeah. What do you think Po?

Image: BBC.