If you grew up in the 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s you already know Fred Rogers. You spent a lot of time in “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood.” I did for sure, it was my favorite kid’s show. When Fred Rogers passed away in 2003, I was sad. I bought his book “The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember” (Oct 08, 2003), and realized Fred Rogers was more than a television neighbor or the puppeteer of “the Land of Make Believe.” He was a deep individual.
The documentary delves into that deep character even more. I don’t think there was enough runtime for this movie to cover every aspect of his life, unfortunately. (The book I mentioned is a nice compliment to the film.) It focuses, of course, on the television show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood from start to finish. Seeing behind the scenes, seeing Rogers himself performing the voices of the puppets is all surprising for a fan like me. Though I will admit, the original show did have some behind the scenes episodes.
The documentary was well paced and always had more to learn about Rogers. Seeing his cultural impact in other media portrayed in this doc puts much into perspective about the times we grew up in.
His original motivations was a spark of greatness at the right time. His talk with the US Senate is a particularly important speech. I wouldn’t have understood this as a kid, but as an adult, I love him ever so much more for it.
This documentary is an essential watch.
The fact that such simplicity in production created such timeless genius puts all the CGI in kids show’s today to shame. Hey… why do I have such knowledge of kids’ shows today, you may ask? Ever since my son was born a few years ago, I am awash in kids’ shows. I have so say… some modern shows are almost unwatchable.
A bit over a year ago, PBS showed 5 episodes of the original Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood that inspired episodes the modern show “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.” My son loved the original shows. And since then, I was able to track down a lot of the episodes.
It’s been nice to watch them again. I realized that it had been a long time since PBS showed original episodes. That’s a shame. I think the episodes would still fly with kids today.
Fred Rogers help foster our imaginations, helped us create from a piece of paper, and showed us how we should act towards our neighbors. What any young person needs.
We need people like Fred Rogers today.
Google just released a video celebrating Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Google stated in the description of their latest doodle: "On this date, September 21, 1967, 51 years ago, Fred Rogers walked into the television studio at WQED in Pittsburgh to tape the very first episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which would premiere nationally on PBS in February 1968. He became known as Mister Rogers, nationally beloved, sweater wearing, “television neighbor,” whose groundbreaking children’s series inspired and educated generations of young viewers with warmth, sensitivity, and honesty. Today’s stop-motion, animated video Doodle celebrating Mister Rogers was created in collaboration with Fred Rogers Productions, The Fred Rogers Center, and BixPix Entertainment. Set to the iconic opening song of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor"), the Doodle aims to be a reminder of the nurturing, caring, and whimsy that made the show feel like a “television visit” between Mister Rogers and his young viewers."
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