The new stop-motion animation series premiered on the Danish kids’ channel DR Ramasjang on January 2. The eponymous protagonist is a mustachioed man wearing striped strongman’s tights, whose equally striped tentacle-like penis has a sometimes mischievous mind of its own, much to John’s embarrassment.
On most occasions, however, the appendage helps him out in his daily chores – for example, barbecuing or walking a dog, as in the first episode. And, one day, it may even help him save the world, according to the series description.
The idea of tentacled genitalia is hardly novel in the world of animation – courtesy of Japan’s decency laws, the trope became quite entrenched in hentai pornography. It also had a few comedic appearances in cartoons aimed at adult audiences. But a series for children aged four to eight years centered around the “man with the world’s longest willy” may have been a step too far – at least for some Danish parents.
One angry reaction on the channel’s Facebook page called it the “most distasteful and least child-friendly I’ve seen a channel for children in a long time.” Another rebuke said the show must be immediately removed because “children should not see” what is shown in it.
“Do you seriously believe that something like this belongs on children’s TV?” yet another person asked. “What healthy person can seriously come up with something like this?”
Critics claim the show teaches kids the wrong lesson about what “private” means in the expression “private parts,” and may potentially make children more vulnerable to sex predators.
Still, other Danes support DR Ramasjang. They say “John Dillermand” is really entertaining for children and adults alike, and fits well with the channel’s overall style. They dismiss the pedophilia concerns as a moral panic.
The channel stands by its creation, with the head of the company, Morten Skov Hansen, announcing it had involved experts in child psychology during production.
“There are many positive comments from parents who have used the series to talk to their children about the body,” he noted. “It should be fun for them.”
The series is to have 20 five-minute-long episodes in its first season, with more than half of them already released via the channel’s website.
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