I’m sad to say that the woke virus has hit again. This time it has infected the Wombles. The Telegraph reports.
The Wombles of Wimbledon Common have always enjoyed a quiet life, picking up litter, recycling, and trying to make the world a greener place.
Yep, remember them well. Even had the record.
But a new revamp of the popular 1970s BBC series has come under fire from the family of their creator, who say that attempts to make them politically correct and ethnically diverse insinuate that their mother was racist, and that it insults her memory.
In January, a new CGI trailer of the show was teased on social media, showing two of the fictional creatures with different skin tones hugging, along with the caption: “Diversity is beautiful. In humans, in animals, in nature.”
The remake has come about after businessman Craig Treharne bought a controlling stake in the franchise off Mike Batt, the composer of the show’s theme tune, leaving the family of Elisabeth Beresford, the creator of the Wombles, with just a 15 per cent share.
Marcus Robertson, Mrs Beresford’s son, said it was clear that the show was heading in a new direction and that he had been led to believe that his mother’s views had been racist when he was told the characters needed to be more relatable.
“Outdated” is usually the term used.
“Wombles have grey fur and orangey-brown faces,” he told the Mail on Sunday.
“They’re not white. They’re not black. Wombles are Wombles. If you made a children’s television series about blackbirds, you wouldn’t create whitebirds, would you?
[…]The new social media push around the series shows the wombles branching out into wider social issues. They celebrated International Women’s Day, thanking all the “women guardians of the planet”,
advised people to “travel smarter” in an attempt to fight climate change, and also declared their love for “tree huggers” because they are the “lungs of the earth.”
In other words, a once great children’s cultural institution has now become a mouthpiece for progressivism, especially global warming.
[…]One source close to the show told the Sunday paper: “The original Wombles came from a different era and some of the things they say could come across as sexist or not politically correct for today’s audience.
Which is basically woke speech for “go away you sexist racist old fart.”
Lawyers for Mr Treharne declined to comment in detail on Mr Robertson’s claims but told the Mail on Sunday: “Mr Robertson’s views are not shared by Wombles Copyright Holdings Limited or the Wombles. WCHL and the Wombles believe in an inclusive and diverse world, where everybody should be treated equally.”
Go woke, go broke. I can confidently predict that kids will hate woke Wombles.
If you enjoyed this BFD article please consider sharing it with your friends.