Anne Wood article response [BONUS EP TEASER]

[00:00:08] In this bonus set we're going to be discussing a metro article that we were alerted to that

[00:00:20] was published in the last few days written by Josie Copsson where she interviews Anne

[00:00:24] Wood who founded Ragdoll Productions. Let me read you the title.

[00:00:29] I created Thots TV, Teletubbies and Rosie and Jim. I fear they're being twisted. This

[00:00:34] is in quotation marks but never actually quoted in the article so we know like many

[00:00:40] articles this isn't really about Thots TV being twisted on social media. However

[00:00:46] seeing as though we are somewhat responsible for this article being written

[00:00:49] I think we should talk about it. If you weren't aware at the end of last year

[00:00:53] we clipped some relatable bits from Thots TV for Instagram and TikTok and they

[00:00:57] ended up going viral. It's a good way for us to promote the content we

[00:01:00] produce by showing the stuff we actually discussed in the podcast. However at

[00:01:04] the time we didn't have that many followers, at least not compared to

[00:01:07] what we have now and we didn't imagine that it was going to explode the way

[00:01:10] that it did. We have a lot to thank Thots TV for, the name of our podcast for one

[00:01:14] thing which I imagine Anne Wood probably wouldn't approve of. We certainly

[00:01:18] wouldn't be where we are now making this episode if she'd never found a

[00:01:21] Ragdoll and produced shows like Thots TV. I'd like to point out that if you

[00:01:25] read this article it references a couple of reels that we weren't

[00:01:28] responsible for. We do try to be sensitive to these sorts of issues

[00:01:31] knowing that people may feel like they can be twisted and that's why we

[00:01:34] try to be careful with it. We aren't however responsible for the actions

[00:01:38] of other accounts. Obviously it's my instinct to get a bit defensive of

[00:01:41] something that I see is harmless fun but you read further into the article

[00:01:45] and discover that, of course, it's not really about that. So what I want us

[00:01:49] to discuss today is this. Why is nostalgia so important to us today

[00:01:52] and why don't we think that kids TV is flourishing the way it used to?

[00:01:58] Do you think we'd be called like Telly Slurps or something?

[00:02:01] Telly Slurps is also very funny. That's a great, it's a bit like

[00:02:04] Egg Slurt. So what do you think guys think of the article for a

[00:02:08] start? Well, I the thing is that we collectively at different times

[00:02:14] have basically said everything that what's her name? Anne Wood.

[00:02:19] OBE or CBE. Dame Anne Wood herself has said in the article like we all agree

[00:02:27] and yeah, there's stuff that they directly talk about like the reels

[00:02:30] and TikToks and stuff that they directly talk about are not ours.

[00:02:34] However, the ones they actually reference are un-dosed.

[00:02:36] Specifically referenced specifically called out. We did not make

[00:02:40] we did not make the ones that are specifically called out, but they

[00:02:43] would never have been made if it wasn't for us. That's why we're in this

[00:02:47] like quite unique position in we started it right? This article

[00:02:54] probably wouldn't have been written had we not started it.

[00:02:57] Also because like, like we know ragdoll entertainment productions

[00:03:04] ragdoll productions are aware of us. We know that.

[00:03:09] We do also know that they're a bit iffy about ironic kind of content.

[00:03:13] Yeah. Well, what we know is that they're not keen on people that have

[00:03:18] worked with them or are involved with them to get involved in other

[00:03:21] things that are more adult, which I think is fair enough to be honest

[00:03:26] because you know, you could end up with quite a difficult legal

[00:03:30] situation possibly. Yeah. But what you said about us starting it, Meg,

[00:03:37] there have always been like viral videos of Tots TV. They've just

[00:03:43] not gone. They've not sort of peaked peaked the way the way that

[00:03:48] ours did. Like we definitely started a trend, but I don't think

[00:03:52] we're the first people to take it out of context. I don't

[00:03:54] think that's not what I'm trying to say, but if we had no, I

[00:03:58] just want to clarify. We had two or three in the three

[00:04:00] millions, right? It's the account that is being directly

[00:04:05] referenced. We are the onto genesis of that account only exists

[00:04:09] because our reals did so well. I think we can fairly safely

[00:04:16] assume that. Yeah, it's a bit grandiose of us, but it's not

[00:04:20] one account. That one account. It's not else. It's not

[00:04:24] grandiose if it's true, right? Like I'm not talking us up. What

[00:04:30] I'm saying is it's an exceptional position to be in to be sat

[00:04:34] here. Almost almost guaranteed that we're you know, that meme

[00:04:41] that's like the the domino rally getting bigger and bigger

[00:04:46] and it's one time event that leads to one massive event. It's

[00:04:50] weird being at the bottom of that chain. And now we have an

[00:04:53] article that we are inadvertently responsible for and I think

[00:04:59] it's almost fair to say that sub sub tweeting us almost. Yeah.

[00:05:03] Yeah. However, we aren't we at least are not mentioned. We're

[00:05:11] not we're not contacted. So I think I think it's fair to say

[00:05:16] that someone has a I don't know it's hard to know

[00:05:18] because the opinions that are given in articles are taken out

[00:05:22] of context anyway. And what herself has not written this

[00:05:27] yeah, article nor have we been directly contacted by anybody

[00:05:34] you know, like editor, journalist or not like we've

[00:05:39] not been contacted by ragdoll because everything that we do is

[00:05:43] fair use right? We are allowed to do it. But it is

[00:05:48] worth saying that we are quite careful with what we do.

[00:05:51] We definitely try to be I mean, especially now that I mean, you

[00:05:55] probably noticed that we have ads that are put on by a cast. So

[00:06:01] now that this is monetized, we are we're going to have to

[00:06:05] start being even more careful about what we say. So what is

[00:06:09] what the article seems like to me is they interviewed and would

[00:06:13] because Tots TV has become a talking point again. And they

[00:06:19] chose the which often happens with articles, they chose the

[00:06:25] most headline grabbing. They chose the most attention grabbing

[00:06:30] sentence that she said, and that happened to be I'm scared

[00:06:34] that Tots TV is being twisted. And so they put that right at

[00:06:38] the top. But she actually says lots of other things in

[00:06:41] that article that I think are really insightful. And we've said

[00:06:45] we've said a few of them before I agree with her on a lot of

[00:06:47] these things, I think because she also followed that statement

[00:06:51] up with creators cannot control what happens to their work.

[00:06:56] Yeah, yeah.

[00:06:58] Which is why I mean, she doesn't you know, I haven't

[00:07:03] taken this article to mean it's it's not a cease and desist

[00:07:07] and I don't want it to sound like what we're responding to

[00:07:10] here is a cease and desist. Oh, it's not even an apology.

[00:07:15] We haven't taken it like that. Obviously, my instinct is to go

[00:07:19] defend the content, defend the content. But you read it and

[00:07:22] there is nothing to defend. Do you know what I mean? It's

[00:07:24] like it's not an attack at all. However, the

[00:07:28] And also we're responding because a lot of people sent us

[00:07:31] this article. A lot of people just send us this article. But

[00:07:34] I do think that there's a fine line right because you have a lot

[00:07:40] of people and this is being said especially recently, I've seen

[00:07:44] it said on a lot of social media about like, I'm talking

[00:07:48] about when Miriam Margulis told Harry Potter adults to grow up.

[00:07:51] Yes. And there was a fine line right because you see adults

[00:07:57] who really like things like Harry Potter and Disney and all

[00:08:01] that kind of thing which some people are really, really

[00:08:03] obsessed with it. And that's their prerogative, do what you

[00:08:05] like, spend your money on whatever you want to spend your

[00:08:09] money on. As long as you're not hurting anyone, their money

[00:08:13] keeps these franchises alive. And on the one hand, I think

[00:08:17] it's you hear the phrase contempt for the fans a lot in

[00:08:22] like football and sport. But like without them, who's

[00:08:27] who's keeping it going? You know, adults are the people

[00:08:29] who have the money to spend on these things. And I think that

[00:08:35] people who grew up watching this content like people now who

[00:08:39] are engaging with us on social media are the original,

[00:08:45] original target audience for Top TV is people who enjoyed it

[00:08:49] then, they're enjoying it now. Yeah. And I don't see anything

[00:08:56] wrong with people within reason enjoying it as an adult. And

[00:09:01] like, this is why I wanted to discuss why obviously, this is

[00:09:09] something that gets said a lot, you know, our generation being

[00:09:12] really nostalgic. And as we know, all generations are

[00:09:16] really nostalgic, but there's nothing wrong with it.

[00:09:19] Yeah, it's just how it's how we are. It's not a

[00:09:23] generation specific thing. People like to remember things.

[00:09:26] Exactly. That's just human nature. Yeah, I mean, she said

[00:09:33] something she said in the article was she isn't that

[00:09:37] interested in the people who are looking back and enjoying

[00:09:42] things in a enjoying things retrospectively, the thing

[00:09:46] that she is completely focused on is carrying on making

[00:09:50] things now for children now, like something that she

[00:09:52] ended the article with was people say, when are you going to

[00:09:56] go into adult TV? And she's like, people see that as a

[00:10:00] promotion. It's not that all I want to do is make kids TV.

[00:10:03] It's not a lesser thing. Yeah, no, I completely agree. I do

[00:10:08] think that sort of going back like we're we're careful with

[00:10:13] some of the stuff we put like because I do think that

[00:10:16] when it's like reading into it, you can't read into it

[00:10:20] because it's plainly right there in front of you. Some of the

[00:10:23] like big cook little cook stuff. That's a little different, I

[00:10:27] think, but Todd's TV, we don't go in that direction. If that

[00:10:31] makes sense. No, no, we don't want to. Whereas like, I think

[00:10:36] like Dick and Dom stuff, which we I mean, we talked about

[00:10:39] at like, I mean, it's asking you to it's as an adult,

[00:10:42] you're going dirty nurse, right? But then like,

[00:10:45] there's nothing like that with Todd's TV. So we haven't

[00:10:47] done that with Todd's TV. And the difference really is

[00:10:50] that an woods audience is kids. And our audience is adults. And

[00:10:57] even though it is centered around kids media, it's adults. So the

[00:11:03] the perspective is always going to be different. Like we have

[00:11:07] posted in the past clips from when we recorded the episode

[00:11:11] about Todd's TV. And some people really hated the slight

[00:11:16] regret. I don't regret it. No, I don't like it was just it was

[00:11:21] just an unexpected response because I think the perspective

[00:11:25] we're taking when again, I can't remember we've recorded us

[00:11:29] talking about this, but I definitely have this conversation

[00:11:31] with both of you where it's like, when we're talking about,

[00:11:34] hey, do they give couple vibes? We're not we're not saying,

[00:11:38] Oh, those two have sex. Although I don't think people

[00:11:43] when people really like something or they love something and

[00:11:47] it holds this special place for them, they get

[00:11:51] precious. They get precious about what gets said about it. And

[00:11:54] I think that that's completely normal. What if you don't

[00:11:58] like what we're saying? That's absolutely fine. But I think

[00:12:01] our intentions were completely misinterpreted on the other

[00:12:06] end of the spectrum. So we said do they give couple vibes

[00:12:08] and some people said basically accused us of being

[00:12:11] pedophiles for that. Yeah. And on the other end of the

[00:12:13] spectrum, we post real sometimes and people post comments like

[00:12:17] these two were fucking. And that is I mean, I don't mind

[00:12:23] people commenting that doesn't bother me. No, but that's not

[00:12:26] what we're suggesting. So I'm basically what I'm saying is

[00:12:29] our listeners are a diverse group of people that have

[00:12:33] diverse opinions, you know, like they're not a monolith,

[00:12:36] like we get all sorts of comments, you know?