Voice Trumpets

The Voice Trumpets are supporting characters in Teletubbies.

Description[]

The Voice Trumpets can be found throughout Teletubbyland. They resemble speakers and have both male and female adult voices with reverb/echo sounds. At the beginning of every episode, they rise to let the Teletubbies know it's time for their show ("Time for Teletubbies!"). They rise out of the ground and entertain the Teletubbies through such activities as making animal sounds, singing nursery rhymes and lullabies, and even giving instructions. At the end of every episode, a Voice Trumpet rises to let the Teletubbies know that it is time to say goodbye. Voice Trumpets also have the ability to turn their heads around if they are faced away from view when rising, or once it reaches it's highest point (shown in a handful of episodes). They (The Talking Flowers, and the Narrator) are the only characters who speak in complete sentences and act similarly to supervisors for the Teletubbies. There were two times that the narrator called the Voice Trumpets by name. It was in Teletubbies Come to Play! Bubble Interactive, and in the Teletubbies Let's Go episode, Big Hugs. The only times the Teletubbies said the voice trumpets' names were also in Teletubbies Let's Go. The episodes the Teletubbies called by their name were Big Hugs, and the Teletubbies called the Voice Trumpets, "Trumpet." was in the Teletubbies, Let's Go! episode The Noo-Noo's Day Off.

Before a Voice Trumpets rises, a strange noise is first heard. After the sound, the Voice Trumpet rises on-screen with another sound following afterwards and the pitch raises as it continues to rise. When a Voice Trumpet reaches it's highest point, a ding sound is heard. Afterwards, a loud frequency noise is played before the Voice Trumpet speaks or make sound effects for the Teletubbies. Sometimes the frequency noise plays as the Voice Trumpet rises. The Voice Trumpets can also repeat messages to the Teletubbies if they say, "Again, again!" After giving their message, another sound is heard and the Voice Trumpets lowers back to the ground with the same sound effect as it rises, but at a downward pitch. In some cases, Voice Trumpets doesn't lower down when a segment ends. When multiple Voice Trumpets are on-screen, the second, third, fourth, and fifth Voice Trumpets frequency noises are often higher pitched compared to the first one. Examples would be: Numbers - 5, Spiders, and Getting Up in the Morning (when the first Voice Trumpet lowers down at the end of the first segment of that episode.) Similar to rising and lowering, another sound can be heard when a Voice Trumpet turns it's head in a handful of episodes.

Appearance[]

The Voice Trumpets are mostly silver with golden brown speakers. When indoors, often times a greenish-aquamarine or blue coloured light are reflected on its side. In Arthur Robot Story, a black colored Voice Trumpet is shown. They are all nearly identical and made of metal. There appear to be five different models for the Voice Trumpets, with the main difference between these five models being the size of their heads and the patterns of dimples in the faceplates (all of them contain the same faceplate but with more or fewer dimples). The five models are all shown in the intro, even appearing together in some episodes. However, a rarer sixth model was seen in Naughty Cloud and Numbers - 7.

Episode appearances[]

Reboot Series[]

Teletubbies Let's Go![]

TICKLE TICKLE! Giant Feather (First Appearance Of The Voice Trumpet)
Magic Colourful Cloud Race
Snow Day (First Time We See The Voice Trumpet Rise)
Santa Po!
Fireworks Light Show
BIG HUGS (Second Time The Narrator Calls The Voice Trumpets By Name And The Teletubbies First Time Calling The Voice Trumpets By Name And There Are 4 Voice Trumpets)
Laa Laa's Ball is Stuck!
Custard Train Adventure (There Are 3 Voice Trumpets In This Episode)
Peekaboo! (First time the Voice Trumpet scares the Teletubbies)
Dancing Day! (The Voice Trumpet appears 5 times)
Noo Noo Blows Bubbles and gets STUCK! (Not Rising)
A BIG TUBBY CUSTARD MESS! Noo Noo's Needs a Day Off (Second time the Teletubbies called the Voice Trumpets by name but they call them "Trumpet")
DIPSY SCORES A GOAL! The Big Soccer Game (There are 4 Voice Trumpets, and this is the last episode. From now where The Voice Trumpets appear in a US Narrator Episode)
Time for Tubby Bye Bye! Teletubbies Say Goodbye (Last time the Voice Trumpet appears for now and the first time that The Voice Trumpet appears inside The Home Hill)
Time For Tubby School! (First time the Voice Trumpet appears after 2 months of absence, first time the Voice Trumpet appears in a song, first time The Voice Trumpet appears throughout the entire episode, first time The Voice Trumpet appears in a US Narrator episode, and the second time that the Voice Trumpet appears inside the Home Hill and it's revealed that there are no holes in the Home Hill for the Voice Trumpets to pop up from the ground)
The Noo-Noo's Day Off

Others[]

PBS Kids Sprout Birthday Show

Trivia[]

There were no behind the scenes footage of the Voice Trumpets.
Hickory Dickory Dock and Herding Sheep are the only episodes to feature footage of the Voice Trumpets from the intro.
In Naughty Sock, the Voice Trumpet's frequency noise is heard twice before it plays Rock-a-Bye Baby. This is the only time this happen. It is also the first episode to feature close up shots of them.
In some episodes, a Voice Trumpet's frequency noise doesn't fully play out. Snowy Story and the main segment of Hey Diddle Diddle when it rises are examples.
In some cases, Voice Trumpets can slightly be seen moving during close up shots, either due to wind on set or the way they are operated.
In some occasions, The Teletubbies would have their hand over their ear to hear the Voice Trumpets.
2001 had the fewest amount of Voice Trumpet segments in the original series, as they only appeared in Stretching Words and Animal Plates.
2000 was the only year to not feature segments where the Voice Trumpets are in groups.
Although Voice Trumpets are often shown in groups of two, four, or five, Numbers - 5 (Version 3) and Animal Plates are the only original series episodes to briefly feature them in groups of three.
The reverb of the Voice Trumpet voices were omitted in the 2015 series.
In the 2015 series, the Voice Trumpets in a way serve as a second narrator, as they now announce certain events for the Teletubbies to do. This is due to the shorter running time of episodes.
Speaking of which, The 5th Voice Trumpet is the only Voice Trumpet in the 2015 series to appear mostly in the superdome, and less outside, either due to the Main and 2nd Voice Trumpets being to tall for fitting in the Superdome, or that they cared about The 5th Voice Trumpet the most.
Coincidentally, the first and last Voice Trumpet segments in the original series took place outdoors.
The last three Voice Trumpet segments in the year 2000 being: Firefighter, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Barrel Organ, took place near the control panel.
In the original series, the Narrator would often say, "When they heard a noise" when a Voice Trumpet rises on screen. Lighthouse and Hey Diddle Diddle are some examples.
Arthur Robot Story is the only episode where a Voice Trumpet is shown to not play music, recite a nursery rhyme or silly joke, or to play sound effects, as the one shown outside where Tinky Winky, Dipsy, and Laa-Laa were jumping, waving their legs, and running in circles wasn't doing anything.
Humpty Dumpty was the first episode to have a Voice Trumpet segment take place inside the Tubbytronic Superdome, while Barrel Organ was the last.