How a little cartoon pig has caused a political storm the size of a tired toddler’s tantrum.
A confession: Sometimes my daughter calls me Mummy Pig. Once, someone asked me if she was British. And she often requests that we go jumping in muddy puddles.
Let it be known that I’m not a pig, she’s not British and we rarely see muddy puddles.
My child is addicted to the Pig. Peppa Pig.
And so you can only imagine my horror when I read that Peppa Pig might become breakfast. That’s right. Axed. Bacon. Even Peppa isn’t safe from the recently proposed budget cuts. This week, ABC Managing Director Mark Scott was asked about the future of the animated program which is produced in the UK. He said, “we have contracts to continue to deliver Peppa Pig, but of course the service we provide depends on the funding envelope provided”.
This be cray cray.
This is like taking bananas away from monkeys. Or ball pits out of soft play centres. Or pear and raspberry ‘bread’ out of cafes. Hardly catastrophic. But devastating.
Peppa Pig has been the most loyal babysitter – ahem – I mean, ‘friend’ to my two year old daughter. For four minutes every day, Peppa has minded – ahem – I mean, ‘guided’ her through the afternoon.
And she’s not alone.
According to ABC publicity, it’s the most viewed program on iView. It is played more than two million times every month. I believe my daughter watched approximately 1,999,999 episodes last month. Did your child make up the rest?
Honestly, what’s next? Little Charley Bear? Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom? The Octonauts?
As a result of the budget measures, the ABC needs to find a savings of $35.5 million over four years.
Let’s look for cuts elsewhere on ABC2. Mr. Maker? The spotty vest and whiny voice are sending me bonkers. The Iconicles? Simply because my daughter mispronounces them as The Testicles and it’s getting embarrassing. The Pajanimals? Enough said. Pingu? It’s time.
If Mr. Scott roasts Peppa, I’ll be protesting. I shall head into his office and leave my daughter with him for four minutes, every afternoon, JUST before dinner.
Who’s with me? The pro-Peppa flashmob?
Participants will meet the following prerequisites: be tired, have sand in shoes, be sweaty, be huuun-gry, must insist on playing with an electronic keyboard on full volume and will only eat dried pasta for dinner.
I wonder how long Mr. Scott will last without the Pig?
What would happen in your house if Peppa was made into bacon?
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