"Mister Skinnylegs" is the forty-seventh episode of the first season of the British animated preschool children's television series Peppa Pig. It originally aired in the United Kingdom in 2004. The episode sees Peppa Pig overcoming arachnophobia after her brother George finds one in their bathroom. It was banned in Australia in 2012 over safety concerns involving spiders. Plot and production The episode begins with Peppa Pig and George Pig arguing over a doll family's actions while playing with a dollhouse in their bedroom: Peppa wants the family to have a tea party, while George wants them to sleep. George eventually concedes to the tea party, and Peppa orders him to go to the bathroom to fill a teapot with water. While there, he encounters a spider, which he brings back to their bedroom and puts into a miniature bed. A moment later, to Peppa's shock, the spider springs out from under the bed covers, prompting her to frantically run downstairs to their parents, crying for the spider to be removed.
She then follows her father, Daddy Pig, to back to the room asking him to take away the spider; he responds that spider are "very, very small" and that "they can't hurt you." Soon after, he sees the spider and, horrified by its size, goes to call Mummy Pig upstairs. Following his exit from the room, Peppa suddenly loses her fear and names the spider Mr. Skinnylegs. The parents re-enter the room, and Peppa introduces Mummy Pig to the spider, who is also scared by its size but gains some bravery after witnessing her children play with it. The episode ends with the pig family gathering around the dollhouse and having a pretend tea party.
Like the series's other episodes, "Mister Skinnylegs" was produced and copyrighted by Ashley Baker Davies Ltd. in association with the Contender Entertainment Group and stars Lily Snowden-Fine as Peppa Pig, Oliver May as George Pig, Richard Ridings as Daddy Pig, and Morwenna Banks as Mommy Pig. In the episode, Hazel Rudd portrays Mr. Skinnylegs.
Reception On the episode's message, Lloyd Farley, of Collider, stated that while the phrase "'don't be afraid of spiders'" is generally well-meaning in most of the world, due to Australia's natural variety of lethal spiders, approximately 27 deaths in the 20th century were attributed to spider bites. He additionally notes that Mr. Skinny Legs, the spider featured within the episode, appears similar to a male funnel-web spider and could therefore influence children into interacting with the lethal species.
Naaman Zhou of The Guardian also address this issue condemning that the message that "spiders were friendly and not to be feared" as inappropriate and could encourage "children to pick up and play with dangerous spiders."
Australian ban After airing Nick Jr. in Australia in 2012, the episode was banned after a parent filed a complaint to the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) stating that it was "inappropriate for an Australian audience because it said that spiders were not to be feared." Following the ban, ABC apologised stated that the publishing the episode due to a "technical problem."
Despite the ban, it again aired in Australia, on Foxtel, on August 25, 2017. Upon seeing the reappearance of the censored episode, a differing parent contacted Nickelodeon whom replied that the episode was harmless and that Mr. Skinny Legs “did not look real,” refusing to halt its broadcast. After being contacted by the media, a Nickelodeon Spokesperson later stating that the company had re-evaluated its decision to re-air the episode and that it had pulled it from future rotation in the nation.
References
External links
"Mister Skinnylegs" on Youtube