Sweden has been gripped by a furious row over a children’s cartoon depicting prancing genitals.
The one-minute clip for Barnkanalen – Sweden’s equivalent of CBeebies – shows cartoon penises and vaginas smiling and dancing to the tune of a song which employs words perhaps sometimes used by small children to refer to their private parts.
“Here comes Willie at a run, he has no pants,” goes the song. “Twinkle is cool, you better believe it, even on an old lady … Willie and Twinkle, what a great gang!”
The clip, viewed almost 3m times on YouTube and Facebook, was produced for Bacillakuten, a programme that aims to educate children aged three to six about the body.
The song’s Facebook page includes outraged comments by some parents who are offended that children of that age should be expected to talk about genitals.
“What on earth? What the hell? Is this supposed to be educational?” wrote one. “I’ve always wondered how much drugs are being done in the children’s entertainment industry,” wrote another.
Other comments have been more supportive. “Great song about the most natural thing possible. Superb!” said one mother. “Fun song and fun video. Too bad adults turn something so nice and natural into something shameful,” noted another.
Blogger Alex Schulman objected that the clip is too sexualised, with the vaginas “prudent, innocent and sweet”, while the apparently erect penises are “wild things”.
The song was written and performed by Johan Holmström, whose previous ditties for the programme include “Pee, farting and pooping”, “I like slime”, and “Molluscs in my pants”.
“I feel sorry for those parents who get upset, this is a harmless music video,” Holmström said. A full-length version of the song will hopefully be released as a single on Spotify, he added.
The clip gained further notoriety when it was briefly classified by YouTube as “adult” content requiring viewers to confirm they are aged over 18, but the programme makers persuaded the company to relent.
Kajsa Peters, the programme’s executive producer, said reaction had been overwhelmingly supportive. “We aim our programmes at children, but most parents watch them with the kids and we hope we make it easier for them to talk about and explain things.”
She added: “When there is so much discussion and debate maybe that means it’s something society needs.”
The clip was released ahead of the programme, which airs at the end of next month and is entirely devoted to genitals. “I will be very interested to see what the reaction will be after it comes out,” Holmström said.
Caroline Ginner, project leader for children’s programming at education broadcaster UR, told a Swedish TV website: “Let’s keep the secret that children have vaginas and penises until they are 18. Probably they won’t notice anything in their pants before then, and once they do, then this disgusting thing will be hopefully covered in guilt and shame.”
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