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[whimsical music]

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00:00:30,783 --> 00:00:35,204
Oh, here you are.
Well, that was pretty good timing.

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00:00:35,287 --> 00:00:38,290
You're here and we're here.
Casey and Finnegan and I

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00:00:38,373 --> 00:00:40,584
have just come back
from a walk around the block.

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We had a very nice walk, too.

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00:00:45,756 --> 00:00:50,677
Having been Mr. Dressup for 20 years
has probably made me a better person.

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00:00:54,306 --> 00:00:57,935
Tell us what the secret is
to 30 years on the air.

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00:00:58,018 --> 00:00:59,728
I'm a child at heart.

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It's all doing things that
I always liked to do when I was a kid.

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00:01:08,278 --> 00:01:11,156
[silly sped up voices]

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00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:12,950
[Ralph]
What does Mr. Dressup mean to you?

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[Paul, over phone] Mr. Dressup has brought
imagination to the nation.

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Ladies and gentlemen,
one of the great Canadians, Mr. Dressup.

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[crowd cheers]

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00:01:28,799 --> 00:01:30,801
It didn't matter what race you were,
what color you were,

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what religion you were, what language
you spoke. You watched Mr. Dressup.

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00:01:34,721 --> 00:01:38,808
Ernie Coombs, Mr. Dressup,
he was just so kind and gentle.

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[Fred Rogers]
Ernie never forgot the child within him.

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And that informs everything that he does
with children.

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When you tell people that Fred Rogers
and Ernie Coombs came to Canada together,

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most people don't even realize
that they were very close friends.

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I'm making a book. You're just in time
to see how I made it.

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His warmth radiated through the screen.

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You didn't just learn...
"Here, learn this."

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There was, "What's over here?"

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I've got a good bat costume here
to show you.

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That's where the adventures would start.
As soon as he opened that lid,

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something was gonna happen.
Something fun, something magical.

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This is one of my favorite dress up
costumes.

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00:02:20,225 --> 00:02:23,562
That signature moment every episode.
Maybe it was a cape,

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and there was nothing on it.
But he'd cut out shapes,

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"Is it gonna be a wizard?
Oh, no, he's a dinosaur."

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The endless possibility of that.

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One of the reasons I became an actor was,
because very early age

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this person on television who was
an adult, but not an adult...

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[silly sounds]

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00:02:37,868 --> 00:02:40,370
...taught me that it was okay
to let my freak flag fly.

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00:02:41,788 --> 00:02:44,291
-Casey, are you in...
-[Casey] Ha-ha-ha!

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00:02:44,374 --> 00:02:46,793
I didn't know if Casey was a boy
or a girl.

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[Casey] Oh, my. What a lovely day.

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Can I say gender ambiguous?

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Because I was never sure if Casey
was a boy or a girl.

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Way ahead of its time. Not a little bit,
way ahead of its time.

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[Catherine Tait]
Four thousand episodes, thirty years.

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There are not that many shows
that last that long.

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00:03:04,478 --> 00:03:05,729
Hello!

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00:03:05,812 --> 00:03:10,442
The power of a word. The power
of a drawing. The power of dressing up.

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[Ernie] What wisdom
have I acquired during 30 years

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00:03:29,544 --> 00:03:32,714
of making various objects
out of toilet paper rolls?

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[audience laughs]

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00:03:34,883 --> 00:03:38,553
Is doing crafts on TV a source of wisdom?

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00:03:40,263 --> 00:03:41,264
Apparently not.

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And may I remind you for the last time,

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keep an open mind, and an open heart.

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Don't take life too seriously,
because it doesn't last forever, you know.

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And keep your crayons sharp.

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Don't get your sticky tape tangled
and always put the caps on your markers.

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[crowd cheers and applauds]

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00:04:11,962 --> 00:04:14,172
-[Casey] Finnegan?
-[birdsong]

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00:04:14,256 --> 00:04:19,511
Finnegan, where are you?
Oh, there you are.

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00:04:20,929 --> 00:04:25,517
You want me to tell you a story?
Oh, you want to hear the story, too?

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In that case, I think I'd better tell it.

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A long time ago,
in the United States, in Maine,

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a boy was born
and his name was Ernie Coombs.

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What, did I say something wrong?
What?

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Ernest Coombs. Oh, okay.
[sighs] I'll start again, then.

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A long time ago, in the United States,
in Maine, a boy was born,

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and his name was Ernest Coombs.
I got it right this time.

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Dad was born right before the Depression
in Lewiston, Maine.

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Twin Cities, Lewiston and Auburn.

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[Ernie] I was influenced a lot
by my mother

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because she was the kind of a person
that found something great

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and wonderful in everything.

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Having that influence when I grew up
was good because

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it gave me an outlook on life that
there is something nice wherever you are.

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Way, way, way, way back,
before I was in school,

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I had a hat that I thought
was a policeman's hat,

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and I actually jumped off my tricycle
and ran in the middle of the street

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to stop traffic. And I got heck for it.

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There was a screech of brakes, I guess.
My mother came running out of the house,

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"Ernest, what are you doing
in the middle of the street?"

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So, you know, I had delusions then
of dressing up and being another person.

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So when he was a young man, he was drafted
eventually into the military

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where he was a weatherman,
served in the Air Force as a weatherman.

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Going into the Philippines post-war
after victory must have been,

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you know, an incredibly enlightening
period of his life.

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[Craig Baird] After the military,
Coombs comes back to the United States,

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but it's a tough time financially.

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So, he has to start
following in the work, essentially.

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["I've Been Everywhere"
by Geoff Mack playing]

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♪ I've been everywhere, man ♪

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♪ I've been everywhere, man... ♪

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[Craig] And he starts
following his brother around

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as they move through
the Eastern United States

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down and as far as Florida

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and eventually making
their way back up North.

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[Ernie] I was going to be an artist,
a cartoonist or a commercial artist,

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so I went to art school and never thought
that I would get into showbiz at all.

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But I went into theater
through painting scenery

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and eventually got work
in a touring children's theater

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where I acted as well.

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I'd been doing a little bit of acting
along at the same time.

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♪ Now, there's just one place
I haven't been ♪

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♪ Stamp on the gas
and roll her, man ♪

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♪ Soon we're gonna be there, man
Soon we're gonna be there ♪

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Dad found himself at WQED
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

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where he was a jobbing actor,
taking just about anything he could get.

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That's where he met Fred Rogers.

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[Jordan Morris] Fred Rogers was
a seasoned TV producer when he met Ernie.

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Fred had experience
as a floor manager at NBC

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and had been working at WQED
in Pittsburgh from its inception.

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Fred, in the mid-fifties, started
a program called The Children's Corner,

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and it was extremely successful,
not just in Pittsburgh,

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it got syndicated in other parts
of the country.

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[Chris] Dad became involved in that
as a sort of a member of the cast.

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These two people coming together,
in terms of children's shows,

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is like Lennon and McCartney.

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[Maxwell] Fred really was
the innovator who developed this program,

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but he was also deeply disappointed in it,
because it was very successful

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on the level of entertainment,
but not so much on the level of education.

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And Ernie and Fred were talking about
what kind of television could be made.

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[Chris] And it was after that
that my father moved on

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to a show called Dimple Depot.

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And that's where he worked with my mother,
who was a puppeteer.

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Marlene, whom everybody called Lynn,
knocked Ernie's socks off immediately.

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I was the ingenue and he was the juvenile.

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-I was a juvenile at one time.
-Yes, he was, once.

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Handsome prince.

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And we spent all of our courting time
sitting in the studio.

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I sat on the ladder
watching him paint the sets.

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[Ernie] That was a typical date for us.
I'd go over and paint and we'd talk,

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and then we'd go out to have a coffee
afterwards. That was a cheap date.

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I had a hound dog in those days,
a beautiful old dog named Pip,

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and he fell in love with Lynn.
He used to go over to her apartment.

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He'd stay there for overnight,
sometimes couple of days.

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00:09:02,752 --> 00:09:04,587
So, I had to marry her
to get the dog back.

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00:09:08,591 --> 00:09:11,511
[Cathie LeFort] Fred Rogers was
the best man at my parents' wedding,

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00:09:11,594 --> 00:09:14,681
so they had a connection
beyond a professional connection.

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Maybe something
brought two people together

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00:09:18,059 --> 00:09:21,563
that had something to give to children.

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[Maxwell] There was a creative intensity
and seriousness about Ernie Coombs

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that was matched by Fred Rogers.
They were both very creative,

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but both very capable of being focused
and intense about their work.

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[Chris] He was making money, not a ton,
but he was earning a living

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doing what he wanted to do.
And then they just had my sister Cathie.

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[Craig] Things seem to be going
pretty well, but his contract runs out.

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And now he finds himself married,
he has a daughter,

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and he doesn't have any work.

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[Jordan] And that's when CBC,

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00:09:59,601 --> 00:10:01,728
who had been developing
their own children's department,

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00:10:01,811 --> 00:10:04,939
approached Fred Rogers
and offered him complete creative control

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00:10:05,023 --> 00:10:09,486
and a chance to create a show with more
resources than he had ever had before.

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00:10:09,569 --> 00:10:12,697
[Ernie] Fred knew that I was unemployed
when he had this chance

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00:10:12,781 --> 00:10:16,659
to come up to Toronto
and asked me if I'd come along

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00:10:16,743 --> 00:10:19,329
because he knew he needed
an extra puppeteer.

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00:10:19,412 --> 00:10:21,790
So, we all came up to Toronto.

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00:10:21,873 --> 00:10:25,085
[whimsical music]

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[announcer]
This is the CBC Television Network.

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[Jordan] When the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation

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00:10:40,725 --> 00:10:43,686
began broadcasting, almost immediately,
television became

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00:10:43,770 --> 00:10:45,772
the country's number one pastime.

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00:10:45,855 --> 00:10:48,691
There was no tablet,
there was no video games,

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so it was a very different role.

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00:10:50,527 --> 00:10:56,324
The public broadcaster at that time
was really the network of choice.

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00:10:56,408 --> 00:10:59,536
CBC did something
that no other market was doing.

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They started developing shows
directly for children.

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00:11:02,622 --> 00:11:04,833
Oh, and how are you this fine day?

168
00:11:04,916 --> 00:11:06,626
Very well, sir. [giggles]

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00:11:06,709 --> 00:11:12,090
The concept at that time was one of,
uh, an educational component.

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00:11:12,799 --> 00:11:17,220
CBC was the epitome
of quality children's television

171
00:11:17,303 --> 00:11:19,389
in the '50s, '60s and beyond.

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00:11:20,849 --> 00:11:24,519
The children's department
was a remarkable part of the CBC.

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00:11:24,602 --> 00:11:29,399
It wasn't really high on the radar
of the programmers,

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00:11:29,482 --> 00:11:33,486
and that allowed something remarkable
to happen.

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00:11:33,570 --> 00:11:36,948
The children's programmers didn't have to
worry too much about the politics.

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00:11:37,031 --> 00:11:38,950
They didn't have to worry about revenue.

177
00:11:39,033 --> 00:11:42,620
They could just create good shows
and that's what they did.

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00:11:42,704 --> 00:11:47,833
We do have a staff of 20 or 25 people
who work patiently from day to day,

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00:11:47,917 --> 00:11:50,837
developing standards
for children's programs.

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00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:53,298
We are proud that we have, perhaps,

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00:11:53,381 --> 00:11:57,635
the only children's television department
in North America.

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00:11:58,761 --> 00:12:02,265
[Jordan] Fred Rogers was
a particularly savvy choice of Rainsbury's

183
00:12:02,348 --> 00:12:04,684
to bring up and help develop a show with.

184
00:12:04,767 --> 00:12:10,523
He said, "You know, Fred,
I've watched you talk with children.

185
00:12:10,607 --> 00:12:14,611
I'd like you to translate that
into television."

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00:12:15,945 --> 00:12:17,864
If it hadn't been for Fred Rainsbury,

187
00:12:17,947 --> 00:12:20,575
I probably would
never have been on camera.

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00:12:20,658 --> 00:12:23,786
Well, it turned out to be
a good day after all.

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00:12:23,870 --> 00:12:27,999
When you tell people that Fred Rogers
and Ernie Coombs came to Canada together,

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00:12:28,082 --> 00:12:30,793
most people don't even realize
that Fred Rogers was ever here,

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00:12:30,877 --> 00:12:32,921
or that CBC gave him a start.

192
00:12:33,004 --> 00:12:36,216
♪ My name is Mister Rogers ♪

193
00:12:36,299 --> 00:12:39,636
♪ I'm glad that you are near ♪

194
00:12:39,719 --> 00:12:43,932
♪ You've made this day a special day ♪

195
00:12:44,015 --> 00:12:48,478
♪ By just your being here... ♪

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00:12:48,561 --> 00:12:52,607
Mister Rogers was developed in Canada
out of Studio One.

197
00:12:52,690 --> 00:12:55,944
Not only was he on camera
for the first time,

198
00:12:56,027 --> 00:12:59,239
but there was a wonderful set
that was developed with him.

199
00:12:59,322 --> 00:13:04,077
That wonderful trolley
that came by King Friday the 13th

200
00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,497
and all of the wonderful characters
that came about.

201
00:13:07,580 --> 00:13:09,582
And it was on that first show
for the CBC,

202
00:13:09,666 --> 00:13:11,709
which at that point
was called Mister Rogers,

203
00:13:11,793 --> 00:13:15,588
where Fred really came into his own
and started the long journey

204
00:13:15,672 --> 00:13:17,966
to becoming the famous Mr. Rogers
we know today.

205
00:13:18,049 --> 00:13:23,513
And watching Fred perfect his on screen
persona had an immediate effect on Ernie.

206
00:13:23,596 --> 00:13:26,683
[Dr. Frogg] I prescribe several smiles
each and every day

207
00:13:26,766 --> 00:13:30,103
and an occasional chuckle to be taken
after each "Please" and "Thank you."

208
00:13:30,186 --> 00:13:31,229
[patient puppet laughs]

209
00:13:31,312 --> 00:13:34,440
[Dr. Frogg] That'll be signed,
Dr. Frank Lee Frogg, with two G's.

210
00:13:34,524 --> 00:13:35,692
-Remember that.
-Two G's.

211
00:13:35,775 --> 00:13:41,406
The CBC had far, far more resources
to support the kind of vision

212
00:13:41,489 --> 00:13:46,744
Rogers was developing than WQED had.
Well, you know, just one example,

213
00:13:46,828 --> 00:13:50,415
the carpentry shop was huge
and could fashion anything

214
00:13:50,498 --> 00:13:54,002
Rogers could think of
for children's television.

215
00:13:54,085 --> 00:13:55,503
And he had a really clear vision.

216
00:13:55,587 --> 00:13:58,047
And the Toronto years
is where it crystallized.

217
00:13:58,131 --> 00:14:01,718
[Craig] In Canada,
Fred Rogers is churning out content.

218
00:14:01,801 --> 00:14:04,971
He puts out over 300 episodes
of Mister Rogers

219
00:14:05,054 --> 00:14:07,223
in the space of only about two years.

220
00:14:07,307 --> 00:14:09,058
But he wants to go back to Pittsburgh,

221
00:14:09,142 --> 00:14:11,978
and that's eventually what he does
when his contract runs out.

222
00:14:12,061 --> 00:14:16,441
I remember some of the people saying,
"What are we going to do

223
00:14:16,524 --> 00:14:19,527
when Mister Rogers leaves?"
And I said,

224
00:14:19,611 --> 00:14:23,948
"Well, why don't you build a program
around Ernie? Ernie Coombs."

225
00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:29,954
Ernie has never forgotten
the child within him.

226
00:14:31,623 --> 00:14:37,545
And that informs everything that he does
with children.

227
00:14:39,130 --> 00:14:43,259
[Sandra Beech] Lynn was the dynamo
behind Mr. Dressup.

228
00:14:43,343 --> 00:14:46,638
And Lynn stepped right in
and said Ernie could do it.

229
00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,099
And that's exactly what happened.

230
00:14:53,061 --> 00:14:56,147
That is the beginning of Ernie's career.
That is the beginning

231
00:14:56,230 --> 00:14:58,316
of what became Mr. Dressup.

232
00:14:58,399 --> 00:15:01,194
And it all started with a show
called Butternut Square.

233
00:15:03,905 --> 00:15:05,698
-Well, I have a chef's hat here...
-Oh.

234
00:15:05,782 --> 00:15:09,202
...that I can put on if that helps.
And I also have a spoon.

235
00:15:10,161 --> 00:15:12,330
And now I'll start my cake with a bowl.

236
00:15:13,456 --> 00:15:18,503
Ernie stayed and
became the character Mr. Dressup.

237
00:15:18,586 --> 00:15:22,131
He brought skills with him.
He was an artist.

238
00:15:22,215 --> 00:15:24,550
-He was a mimeist.
-[quacking]

239
00:15:24,634 --> 00:15:28,680
He had a rapport with people
that was exceptional.

240
00:15:28,763 --> 00:15:30,139
[Casey] Yep, we're nearly ready.

241
00:15:30,223 --> 00:15:32,809
There was singing, dancing.
There was puppetry.

242
00:15:32,892 --> 00:15:34,352
There was make-believe.

243
00:15:34,435 --> 00:15:36,938
Here we go. Just swing it right around.

244
00:15:37,021 --> 00:15:40,983
[Chris] And it was actually on this show
that Mr. Dressup was formed.

245
00:15:41,067 --> 00:15:42,443
Look at all this!

246
00:15:42,527 --> 00:15:44,946
Gee, look at all the marvelous costumes!

247
00:15:45,029 --> 00:15:46,989
Just in time!

248
00:15:47,073 --> 00:15:49,200
[Stu Gilchrist]
The cast of Butternut Square

249
00:15:49,283 --> 00:15:54,622
comprised of Sandy Cohen,
Don Himes, of course, was the music man.

250
00:15:54,706 --> 00:15:55,707
[piano playing]

251
00:15:55,790 --> 00:15:59,544
And two of the puppets that
Dad interacted with very, very much

252
00:15:59,627 --> 00:16:00,753
were Casey and Finnegan.

253
00:16:00,837 --> 00:16:03,089
[Casey] Finnegan,
are you sure you saw a squirrel

254
00:16:03,172 --> 00:16:04,924
out there in Butternut Square? You did.

255
00:16:05,007 --> 00:16:07,135
And voiced by Judy Lawrence.

256
00:16:08,594 --> 00:16:11,139
[Judith Lawrence] I was born
in a place called Bairnsdale,

257
00:16:11,222 --> 00:16:15,309
but we were living in a city,
a small city called Ballarat,

258
00:16:15,393 --> 00:16:18,271
which had been one of the biggest
gold finds in Australia.

259
00:16:19,313 --> 00:16:22,483
I used to listen to a children's program
on the radio,

260
00:16:22,567 --> 00:16:25,278
and it was called the Children's Session.

261
00:16:25,361 --> 00:16:27,405
They would talk about how to do something.

262
00:16:27,488 --> 00:16:29,991
And the one time they talked about
how to do puppets

263
00:16:30,074 --> 00:16:32,243
and I made a puppet head.

264
00:16:32,326 --> 00:16:37,248
And I asked my mother, would she sew
the body for this puppet on the machine,

265
00:16:37,331 --> 00:16:40,251
and she said, no, she wouldn't,
but she'd show me how to use the machine.

266
00:16:41,002 --> 00:16:44,964
So, she showed me how to use a machine,
so I made a puppet, I made two puppets.

267
00:16:45,047 --> 00:16:49,969
I used to be invited to go to kids'
birthday parties in the neighborhood.

268
00:16:50,052 --> 00:16:51,929
And that's how I got into puppetry.

269
00:16:52,013 --> 00:16:54,015
-[Casey] Oh, Aunt Abigail?
-Yes?

270
00:16:54,098 --> 00:16:57,143
[Casey] Finnegan says, would you
bend over just a little bit closer

271
00:16:57,226 --> 00:16:59,771
-so he can get a better look at you?
-Well, certainly.

272
00:16:59,854 --> 00:17:04,065
Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, Finnegan.

273
00:17:04,150 --> 00:17:05,735
[Casey]
You're not Aunt Abigail.

274
00:17:05,818 --> 00:17:08,780
You know, Mr. Dressup,
I had a funny feeling about you.

275
00:17:08,862 --> 00:17:10,406
[Jordan] After only two years
of production,

276
00:17:10,489 --> 00:17:14,202
Butternut Square was slated
for cancellation due to budget cuts

277
00:17:14,285 --> 00:17:16,245
and to make room
for an exciting new talk show

278
00:17:16,329 --> 00:17:17,955
called This Hour Has Seven Days.

279
00:17:18,039 --> 00:17:22,376
[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen,
This Hour Has Seven Days.

280
00:17:24,754 --> 00:17:27,799
We were shocked. I mean, I was shocked.

281
00:17:27,882 --> 00:17:31,260
We were getting great ratings.
Great ratings.

282
00:17:32,470 --> 00:17:35,973
I told Ernie, and I'll never forget
when I told Ernie.

283
00:17:36,057 --> 00:17:38,518
Ernie said, "Well, I'll go
back down to Pittsburgh

284
00:17:38,601 --> 00:17:41,687
and maybe I can be a puppeteer
with Fred Rogers again,

285
00:17:41,771 --> 00:17:43,439
or maybe I'll drive a school bus."

286
00:17:43,523 --> 00:17:45,817
He really wasn't sure
what he was going to do.

287
00:17:46,984 --> 00:17:50,321
[Judith] Some of us,
the people who'd been involved,

288
00:17:50,404 --> 00:17:53,366
proposed that we do a different program

289
00:17:53,449 --> 00:17:56,494
and that we build it around one of
the characters from Butternut Square.

290
00:17:57,829 --> 00:18:01,082
[Stu] So, I phoned the director
of television for the English Network.

291
00:18:01,165 --> 00:18:04,710
I said, "It's a big set?
Is there gonna be big set in the studio?"

292
00:18:04,794 --> 00:18:07,380
He said, "No, there's set at all."

293
00:18:07,463 --> 00:18:10,758
He said, "All there is, is
a 15-foot riser,

294
00:18:10,842 --> 00:18:12,802
three chairs and a table."

295
00:18:13,970 --> 00:18:17,348
I said, "You're canceling Butternut Square

296
00:18:18,641 --> 00:18:21,561
for a 15-foot riser and three chairs?

297
00:18:22,395 --> 00:18:23,771
Give me half the studio."

298
00:18:26,399 --> 00:18:30,319
I said, "Ernie, can you play around
with this half studio?"

299
00:18:30,403 --> 00:18:34,282
And he got the crayons out and a pencil.
He started drawing,

300
00:18:34,365 --> 00:18:38,077
he drew Mr. Dressup's house
and he drew the counter

301
00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:40,746
and I said, "What about an exterior?"
He said,

302
00:18:40,830 --> 00:18:42,874
"Well, we'll put a little patio
out the back

303
00:18:42,957 --> 00:18:45,459
and we'll put the tree
at the back of the patio."

304
00:18:48,004 --> 00:18:51,966
He said, "Stu, we can't
call it 'Butternut Square' anymore

305
00:18:52,049 --> 00:18:53,718
because we have no square."

306
00:18:53,801 --> 00:18:56,804
And I said, "We'll call it 'Mr. Dressup'."

307
00:18:57,555 --> 00:18:59,432
[whimsical music]

308
00:19:04,186 --> 00:19:08,274
Hi, I'm glad you came to see me today.
It's a nice day,

309
00:19:08,357 --> 00:19:10,902
and Casey and I have been playing
and Finnegan's been playing,

310
00:19:10,985 --> 00:19:13,237
-and we've all been having a good time.
-[knocking]

311
00:19:13,321 --> 00:19:15,698
Somebody is at the door.
Let's go see who it is.

312
00:19:18,367 --> 00:19:20,369
[exclaiming]

313
00:19:20,453 --> 00:19:22,830
-[Casey] Oh, hi, Mr. Dressup.
-Hi.

314
00:19:22,914 --> 00:19:24,290
[Casey]
I was being a turtle.

315
00:19:24,373 --> 00:19:28,169
Yeah, that's a nice thing
that you did with the blanket, Casey.

316
00:19:28,252 --> 00:19:31,339
[Stu]
In the early days, it was heavily scripted

317
00:19:31,422 --> 00:19:34,467
and Ernie didn't respond to scripted.

318
00:19:34,550 --> 00:19:37,053
You know, he'd forget half the lines.

319
00:19:37,136 --> 00:19:41,349
I scrapped the scripting.
We're going down to concepts.

320
00:19:41,432 --> 00:19:43,142
Would you like to help me do the dishes?

321
00:19:43,225 --> 00:19:44,226
[Casey]
Oh, yes!

322
00:19:44,310 --> 00:19:46,395
[Judith]
It was the spontaneity of that

323
00:19:46,479 --> 00:19:49,357
that was the difference between us
and a scripted program.

324
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,275
[Casey]
Hey, Finnegan, get out from there.

325
00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,695
I said, "There will be a theme
for each show,

326
00:19:54,779 --> 00:19:59,492
but there will be a series of concepts
that will build a narrative."

327
00:19:59,575 --> 00:20:02,578
Hi. We're building all kinds of things.

328
00:20:02,662 --> 00:20:05,539
[Casey] Now, we need a big one of those
to go along the top here.

329
00:20:05,623 --> 00:20:10,461
The scripts at the beginning
were really only six, seven pages,

330
00:20:10,544 --> 00:20:15,174
and it required and counted on

331
00:20:15,257 --> 00:20:19,720
the talents of Ernie and Judith to adlib.

332
00:20:20,930 --> 00:20:24,600
Maybe Miss Fizz dropped it down
from the spot, oh...

333
00:20:24,684 --> 00:20:26,268
[Casey] That's a great big boot!

334
00:20:26,352 --> 00:20:27,979
That's a great big mystery!

335
00:20:28,062 --> 00:20:29,271
[Casey] It's a mystery boot.

336
00:20:29,355 --> 00:20:31,357
Well, what do you mean?

337
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,360
[Mr. Dressup] Well, I found it
up in my fireplace chimney

338
00:20:34,443 --> 00:20:36,612
when I was cleaning it out,
getting the soot out,

339
00:20:36,696 --> 00:20:39,073
and I can't figure out
who could have dropped a boot

340
00:20:39,156 --> 00:20:42,243
-down my chimney or stuck it up in there.
-Must be Santa Clause.

341
00:20:42,910 --> 00:20:45,162
-Santa! Santa Clause!
-[Casey] Santa Clause!

342
00:20:45,246 --> 00:20:47,581
Great! Where is he? Where is he?

343
00:20:47,665 --> 00:20:51,502
Making the Dressup TV show was old school.

344
00:20:52,378 --> 00:20:55,756
[Judith] We did live to tape,
they called it in those days.

345
00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,426
We did two rehearsals
and then we taped.

346
00:20:58,509 --> 00:21:01,470
And we hardly ever stopped tape
because we couldn't afford to.

347
00:21:01,554 --> 00:21:03,639
We didn't have the money
for that sort of thing.

348
00:21:03,723 --> 00:21:06,225
Some of the tools I was using,
look at this great big wrench.

349
00:21:06,308 --> 00:21:10,312
I thought I was going to need this
to tighten up the pipe, you see.

350
00:21:10,396 --> 00:21:15,026
A live show like that,
you have to remember all your lines.

351
00:21:15,109 --> 00:21:16,527
There's no second take.

352
00:21:16,610 --> 00:21:19,989
[Jani Lauzon] It's a real skill
to be able to not only improvise,

353
00:21:20,072 --> 00:21:23,659
but watch what's going on,
get a sense of the length

354
00:21:23,743 --> 00:21:27,705
and know that it's about to wrap up and
then you just wrap it up.

355
00:21:27,788 --> 00:21:31,959
And they... Wow, they had that skill.
It was really, really incredible.

356
00:21:32,043 --> 00:21:34,295
I'm a fireman.

357
00:21:34,378 --> 00:21:36,839
I'm a fireman, too. [chuckles]

358
00:21:36,922 --> 00:21:42,595
We had a very clear understanding
that there would be no sexism,

359
00:21:42,678 --> 00:21:47,016
no racism, none of the...
that sort of thing that...

360
00:21:47,099 --> 00:21:51,729
that sometimes does creep in, you know,
because people don't know.

361
00:21:51,812 --> 00:21:54,106
-[Mr. Dressup] Joey, come on in.
-Hi, Mr. Dressup.

362
00:21:54,190 --> 00:21:57,359
-Hi! Gee, it's nice to see you.
-It's nice to see you.

363
00:21:57,443 --> 00:21:59,487
-Actually, I'm here for a reason.
-Oh, yeah?

364
00:21:59,570 --> 00:22:01,363
-Well, I had to be in the neighborhood...
-Uh-huh.

365
00:22:01,447 --> 00:22:02,573
...to pick up my tap shoes

366
00:22:02,656 --> 00:22:03,741
-from the shoe repair man.
-Oh, yes.

367
00:22:03,824 --> 00:22:07,328
So, do you want me to help you
with your tap shoes?

368
00:22:07,411 --> 00:22:10,247
No, no, no, I want to...
I really need a costume.

369
00:22:10,331 --> 00:22:13,501
I'd like to borrow one, go over
and surprise my granddaughter.

370
00:22:13,584 --> 00:22:15,377
Oh, well, I can help you there.

371
00:22:15,461 --> 00:22:16,837
Oh, that's good. You know...

372
00:22:16,921 --> 00:22:22,718
There's so much meanness in the world,
and some people have...

373
00:22:22,802 --> 00:22:27,598
they've just forgotten human kindness.
And he personified it.

374
00:22:27,681 --> 00:22:31,268
[Ernie] Judith was very socially conscious
and very much a feminist,

375
00:22:31,352 --> 00:22:34,688
and she was very good at
rooting out anything

376
00:22:34,772 --> 00:22:38,859
that where we might have a stereotype.
Like the typical woman

377
00:22:38,943 --> 00:22:42,530
has to be a housewife
and work in the home and do that.

378
00:22:42,613 --> 00:22:46,784
And Judith would say,
"Well, you know, that ain't so,

379
00:22:46,867 --> 00:22:48,369
and let's get rid of that notion."

380
00:22:48,452 --> 00:22:51,622
When it comes to that, the whole question
around sexual stereotyping,

381
00:22:51,705 --> 00:22:55,793
we've done quite a lot of work on that,
I think, over the years,

382
00:22:55,876 --> 00:22:59,797
and that very much reflects the attitudes
of the people involved in the program.

383
00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:03,425
So, I mean, there was a time when Ernie...
well, if he needed something sewn,

384
00:23:03,509 --> 00:23:07,054
he might send for one
of his women friends to come and do it.

385
00:23:07,138 --> 00:23:09,515
And if... Susan or somebody
needed a plumber,

386
00:23:09,598 --> 00:23:12,059
the plumbing fixed, they might get Ernie
to come and do it.

387
00:23:12,143 --> 00:23:13,769
But we've changed that.
That doesn't happen anymore.

388
00:23:14,436 --> 00:23:15,938
[Paul Soles]
How come it worked so well?

389
00:23:16,021 --> 00:23:19,024
[Ernie] I don't know. I think
it was just a very lucky combination

390
00:23:19,108 --> 00:23:20,776
of certain people getting together,

391
00:23:20,860 --> 00:23:23,612
and we all liked each other
from the start.

392
00:23:23,696 --> 00:23:25,990
And you know, we related very well
to each other.

393
00:23:26,073 --> 00:23:30,369
I think we all had the same ideas
about what a children's show should be.

394
00:23:30,452 --> 00:23:33,038
[Casey] How much money do you get?
I forget how much.

395
00:23:33,122 --> 00:23:36,375
Well, some bottles, it's five cents
and some bottles it's two cents.

396
00:23:36,458 --> 00:23:38,544
-And some bottles are three cents.
-[Casey] Oh.

397
00:23:38,627 --> 00:23:40,004
We'll just have to see.

398
00:23:40,087 --> 00:23:44,633
You have to have a connection for kids
on screen.

399
00:23:44,717 --> 00:23:47,136
And that's what Casey is.
That's the child.

400
00:23:47,219 --> 00:23:49,305
[Casey] Come on Finnegan,
we have to get busy

401
00:23:49,388 --> 00:23:51,182
'cause we got a lot
of cleaning up to do.

402
00:23:51,265 --> 00:23:55,561
You knew he was a puppet and
you knew the dog was a puppet, obviously,

403
00:23:55,644 --> 00:23:59,732
but there was something
that really came to life.

404
00:23:59,815 --> 00:24:01,525
[Casey] Mr. Dressup?

405
00:24:01,609 --> 00:24:03,736
Casey? Where are you?

406
00:24:03,819 --> 00:24:05,529
[Casey] In the bathroom.

407
00:24:05,613 --> 00:24:07,323
The bathroom?

408
00:24:07,406 --> 00:24:09,366
[Casey] Mr. Dressup, I can't get out.

409
00:24:10,075 --> 00:24:12,411
Is the door locked?
Why is the door locked?

410
00:24:12,494 --> 00:24:14,246
[Casey] It was an accident.

411
00:24:14,330 --> 00:24:15,706
Where are you?

412
00:24:15,789 --> 00:24:18,542
[Casey] I didn't want you
to be mad at me. I'm behind the door.

413
00:24:18,626 --> 00:24:22,588
Come on, Casey. All I want from you
right now is a nice big hug. Come on.

414
00:24:22,671 --> 00:24:23,714
[Casey] All right.

415
00:24:23,797 --> 00:24:27,843
And Finnegan is the sidekick.
Everybody has a sidekick or a best friend.

416
00:24:27,927 --> 00:24:29,845
[Casey] How long do you think
an hour is, Finnegan?

417
00:24:31,013 --> 00:24:36,227
Fifteen centimeters? Very funny,
that's not the same thing at all.

418
00:24:36,310 --> 00:24:40,147
Casey and Finnegan, they were
the stars of the show, ultimately.

419
00:24:40,231 --> 00:24:42,107
And he was like the adult.

420
00:24:42,191 --> 00:24:45,736
[Bruce McCulloch] Mr. Dressup had the
ability to sort of consider him a friend.

421
00:24:45,819 --> 00:24:48,948
He was just like a pal to them.
And I think in a way

422
00:24:49,031 --> 00:24:51,992
that a standard authority figure is not.
Even though sometimes,

423
00:24:52,076 --> 00:24:54,370
he would have authoritative things,
he would go, "No, no, no,

424
00:24:54,453 --> 00:24:57,957
you need to eat that chicken noodle soup."
And that's as mean as he would get.

425
00:24:58,040 --> 00:24:59,583
Casey, your soup is your lunch,

426
00:24:59,667 --> 00:25:02,544
now finish it up so I can get
my gardening done, please.

427
00:25:02,628 --> 00:25:06,048
[Casey] I don't want anymore,
thank you. I'm finished.

428
00:25:06,131 --> 00:25:11,470
Casey, you asked me especially
to have chicken noodle soup for lunch,

429
00:25:11,553 --> 00:25:12,721
and I didn't have any.

430
00:25:12,805 --> 00:25:15,641
Remember, I had to run down and borrow
a can of soup from Susan

431
00:25:15,724 --> 00:25:17,851
and heat it up.
And it's all special for you.

432
00:25:17,935 --> 00:25:20,271
-And now, you're not eating it.
-[Casey] Right.

433
00:25:20,354 --> 00:25:23,983
He'd sometimes get pissed at Casey.
He got kind of angry.

434
00:25:24,066 --> 00:25:27,403
Not angry, but just kind of like,
"Well, I'm trying to give you soup

435
00:25:27,486 --> 00:25:28,821
and you won't take the soup."

436
00:25:28,904 --> 00:25:31,198
If you don't eat your soup,
you're going to be hungry

437
00:25:31,282 --> 00:25:33,701
in the middle of the afternoon.
You'll be wanting candy

438
00:25:33,784 --> 00:25:35,327
and all sorts of junk like that.

439
00:25:35,411 --> 00:25:38,956
He demanded the chicken noodle soup
and then he didn't want to eat it?

440
00:25:39,039 --> 00:25:43,210
Absolutely... bullshit, Casey. [laughs]

441
00:25:43,294 --> 00:25:47,047
[Casey] Mr. Dressup,
why are you making such a loud noise?

442
00:25:47,131 --> 00:25:48,632
What loud noise?

443
00:25:48,716 --> 00:25:50,592
[Casey] Yelling, shouting.

444
00:25:50,676 --> 00:25:51,760
I...

445
00:25:52,511 --> 00:25:55,723
Well, I guess I am shouting,
but that's because I was angry at you.

446
00:25:55,806 --> 00:25:58,934
He really listened to what Casey said.
He took it into account.

447
00:25:59,018 --> 00:26:01,895
He even listened to
what Finnegan said to Casey.

448
00:26:01,979 --> 00:26:04,732
I think that's something that children
really need to see.

449
00:26:04,815 --> 00:26:06,650
And I think it's something
they really long for,

450
00:26:06,734 --> 00:26:10,362
to be fully accepted
by the adults in their lives.

451
00:26:10,446 --> 00:26:12,489
[Casey] I got mad at Mr. Dressup.

452
00:26:12,573 --> 00:26:15,200
[Aunt Bird] You did? Why?

453
00:26:15,284 --> 00:26:18,120
[Casey] Because he was too busy,
and I wanted...

454
00:26:18,203 --> 00:26:21,040
I wanted him to help me with my blocks.

455
00:26:21,123 --> 00:26:25,669
The eternal question the children had,
was Casey a boy or a girl?

456
00:26:25,753 --> 00:26:28,797
Well, I know when kids would ask me,
"Is Casey a boy or a girl?"

457
00:26:28,881 --> 00:26:30,341
I usually would say, "Yes."

458
00:26:32,217 --> 00:26:33,427
[Casey] Hello, dear.

459
00:26:33,510 --> 00:26:36,805
I've got your mail, Mrs. Jacoby,
you want to send down your basket?

460
00:26:36,889 --> 00:26:39,350
[Casey]
Oh, just a minute, now.

461
00:26:39,433 --> 00:26:41,977
[Kim Wilson] I mean, here we are
at this time, everybody's talking about,

462
00:26:42,061 --> 00:26:44,772
"Oh, we better have some non-binary
or androgynous..."

463
00:26:44,855 --> 00:26:47,191
like trying to be more reflective
of the audience we serve.

464
00:26:47,274 --> 00:26:50,152
And you think back to the '60s, you think,
"Oh, there was nothing of that going on,"

465
00:26:50,235 --> 00:26:52,112
and here was this character
that was designed

466
00:26:52,196 --> 00:26:55,115
so it would look kind of like a boy,
kind of like a girl.

467
00:26:55,199 --> 00:26:56,909
I mean, really, if you think about it,

468
00:26:56,992 --> 00:27:00,662
Casey was the first non-binary character
on children's television.

469
00:27:00,746 --> 00:27:04,708
Casey, of course, was loveable,
and he, or she,

470
00:27:04,792 --> 00:27:10,798
represented the child, so the child
could see him or herself in Casey.

471
00:27:12,174 --> 00:27:16,512
[Susan]
Judith being the puppeteer she was,

472
00:27:16,595 --> 00:27:22,351
was able to make Casey come
completely alive for the viewing audience.

473
00:27:23,352 --> 00:27:26,855
And not just Casey and Finnegan,
of course, because she was Aunt Bird.

474
00:27:26,939 --> 00:27:29,191
[Aunt Bird]
Everybody has a bad temper sometimes.

475
00:27:29,274 --> 00:27:31,151
[Susan]
And she was Alligator Al.

476
00:27:31,235 --> 00:27:34,071
[Alligator Al] I said, "José,
do you think we can fix this ukulele?"

477
00:27:34,154 --> 00:27:35,614
And he said, "No way, José." Haha.

478
00:27:35,697 --> 00:27:39,118
[Susan] All completely
different characters.

479
00:27:39,201 --> 00:27:40,202
How are you?

480
00:27:40,285 --> 00:27:42,579
[Casey] I'm awful,
thank you. How are you?

481
00:27:42,663 --> 00:27:45,374
With Judith, she had
an incredible sense of humor. So that was,

482
00:27:45,457 --> 00:27:48,627
you know, that added a lot.
And he did too, really.

483
00:27:48,710 --> 00:27:53,173
But she was really quick...
with her sense of humor. Really fast.

484
00:27:53,257 --> 00:27:56,260
[Casey] You know, I'll give you a shock,
Boo! Ha-ha-ha!

485
00:27:56,343 --> 00:27:57,386
You guys.

486
00:27:57,469 --> 00:28:00,180
[Ernie] Judith was
very, very clever, very witty.

487
00:28:00,264 --> 00:28:02,683
Casey would say such things
while we were rehearsing.

488
00:28:02,766 --> 00:28:06,854
I'd come out and say, "Casey,
could you come out of the treehouse..."

489
00:28:06,937 --> 00:28:08,981
and I'd say,
"Well, what are you doing now?"

490
00:28:09,064 --> 00:28:11,608
And he was supposed to be saying,
I was playing, and he'd say,

491
00:28:11,692 --> 00:28:15,946
"I was reading Nietzsche
and I thought perhaps he might be right.

492
00:28:16,029 --> 00:28:18,365
But Finnegan says, no."
You know, these things.

493
00:28:18,449 --> 00:28:20,284
She was a very intelligent woman

494
00:28:20,367 --> 00:28:23,787
and her wit was always
on a very high plane.

495
00:28:25,247 --> 00:28:28,542
[Alyson Court]
Judith and Ernie vibed so well,

496
00:28:28,625 --> 00:28:31,628
because it was just laid back.

497
00:28:31,712 --> 00:28:35,090
It was together they had
the influence that they had.

498
00:28:35,174 --> 00:28:38,343
Can't mention Ernie without
mentioning Casey and Finnegan.

499
00:28:38,427 --> 00:28:40,971
You know, Ernie Coombs
fought for Judith Lawrence

500
00:28:41,054 --> 00:28:44,558
to be paid as much as he was being paid
'cause she was doing half the work

501
00:28:44,641 --> 00:28:46,727
as she was doing
these two puppet characters.

502
00:28:46,810 --> 00:28:51,982
We didn't talk about these things, ever.
And I never even knew what he earned.

503
00:28:52,065 --> 00:28:55,402
-Look what I caught. I caught a flower.
-[Casey laughs]

504
00:28:55,486 --> 00:28:57,237
[laughs]

505
00:28:57,321 --> 00:28:59,031
[Casey]
Was that a pretend dream?

506
00:28:59,114 --> 00:29:01,992
Yeah, that was.
I wasn't really dreaming, Casey.

507
00:29:02,075 --> 00:29:05,496
But it just worked,
because we didn't plan it,

508
00:29:05,579 --> 00:29:08,123
and we didn't talk about it.
We just did it.

509
00:29:08,207 --> 00:29:12,711
It's a trust they have in each other,
but it's also a trust they have in us

510
00:29:12,794 --> 00:29:16,757
and in our parents, too... "We're just...
we're making this up.

511
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,677
But we have... we have your kids'
best interests at heart."

512
00:29:20,761 --> 00:29:23,222
Now, this is the original tickle trunk

513
00:29:23,305 --> 00:29:27,601
that I thought up out of my own head
and actually made.

514
00:29:27,684 --> 00:29:31,855
And it's got about, I'd say,
at least eight coats of paint,

515
00:29:31,939 --> 00:29:33,982
very, very thickly painted.

516
00:29:34,066 --> 00:29:38,362
And at one point, the top cracked,
so I had to repair it.

517
00:29:38,445 --> 00:29:42,908
The tickle trunk was this magical,
like Pandora's box,

518
00:29:42,991 --> 00:29:45,536
the anticipation
of what's gonna happen.

519
00:29:45,619 --> 00:29:49,957
That's what I liked, was the idea
that you open something, a box,

520
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,126
and inside of it are all these things.
And you can take these things,

521
00:29:53,210 --> 00:29:56,296
like a wig and a hat and a spoon,
a pair of boots,

522
00:29:56,380 --> 00:30:00,467
and you can make another human being.
And I thought that was fascinating.

523
00:30:00,551 --> 00:30:03,262
And I became that person.
My first one person show,

524
00:30:03,345 --> 00:30:04,721
I toured with a tickle trunk.

525
00:30:04,805 --> 00:30:08,809
I always dug when he put on a hat
and he'd become the thing.

526
00:30:08,892 --> 00:30:11,478
How's that look? Okay?

527
00:30:11,562 --> 00:30:14,773
And that was so cool to me.
Like, as a kid before I considered acting

528
00:30:14,856 --> 00:30:19,027
as a hobby, let alone a vocation.
That putting on a hat

529
00:30:19,111 --> 00:30:23,949
and having it open your heart
and your soul to other experiences

530
00:30:24,032 --> 00:30:26,785
and what was it? What would a guy
who wore this hat do?

531
00:30:26,868 --> 00:30:29,871
There now. I'm tugboat Captain Dressup.

532
00:30:29,955 --> 00:30:32,833
It astounds me how many kids
keep their dressing up clothing

533
00:30:32,916 --> 00:30:35,210
in something
which they call a Tickle Trunk.

534
00:30:36,545 --> 00:30:41,717
This fella wears a hat like this
most of the time.

535
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,762
There was always a drawing segment.
He was a fantastic drawer.

536
00:30:45,846 --> 00:30:48,348
He could cartoon just fantastically.

537
00:30:48,432 --> 00:30:51,143
[Mr. Dressup]
And I've seen clowns in circuses

538
00:30:51,226 --> 00:30:55,022
that had great big shoes like that.

539
00:30:55,105 --> 00:30:58,609
The fact that he would use a marker
and draw something

540
00:30:58,692 --> 00:31:02,529
and it was like, it's so good.
Like, how do you do that?

541
00:31:02,613 --> 00:31:07,367
You're just like, mind blown that
he could just draw something so amazing.

542
00:31:07,451 --> 00:31:11,121
Because oak trees
are made of such strong wood,

543
00:31:11,204 --> 00:31:15,626
the limbs can go out a long way,
right out sort of sideways.

544
00:31:15,709 --> 00:31:17,044
Leaves on it there.

545
00:31:19,755 --> 00:31:22,341
[Bruce] For me,
having a tumultuous time in my life,

546
00:31:22,424 --> 00:31:26,094
I think just watching it was very calming
as he just drew the things

547
00:31:26,178 --> 00:31:27,971
you got from the grocery store.

548
00:31:28,055 --> 00:31:31,350
And you know
it's going to be milk and eggs.

549
00:31:31,433 --> 00:31:34,394
And he draws each egg.
And, oh, what is he going to have?

550
00:31:34,478 --> 00:31:36,688
A banana and you can get the answers.

551
00:31:36,772 --> 00:31:40,984
So I think it's just sort of calm
and there is a sense of kindness.

552
00:31:41,068 --> 00:31:45,155
[Graham Greene]
He taught kids to use their imagination.

553
00:31:45,238 --> 00:31:50,661
The imagination of a child
is a spectacular place to be in.

554
00:31:50,744 --> 00:31:56,333
Hi. I'm making something today.
A kind of a magical thing.

555
00:31:56,416 --> 00:31:59,378
See what it is? It's a little black box.

556
00:31:59,461 --> 00:32:03,632
And this little black box
is going to be a camera.

557
00:32:03,715 --> 00:32:08,053
This is going to be a mask.
Now, I know usually when you make masks,

558
00:32:08,136 --> 00:32:13,850
you make masks of animals or clowns
or something like that.

559
00:32:13,934 --> 00:32:18,480
When he did a craft,
you felt like you could make that

560
00:32:18,563 --> 00:32:24,319
'cause he did it with actual
toilet paper tubes and paste and...

561
00:32:24,403 --> 00:32:26,697
-Stuff you have in your house.
-Yeah, and tissue paper.

562
00:32:26,780 --> 00:32:30,367
I like to save these. You know,
you get them from paper towels,

563
00:32:30,450 --> 00:32:34,204
from toilet paper rolls.
And here's a great big one.

564
00:32:34,287 --> 00:32:37,249
I don't know what this came from,
but it's a good one to use.

565
00:32:37,332 --> 00:32:42,087
We had a beer together and I opened
the beers and I had the bottle caps

566
00:32:42,170 --> 00:32:44,798
and I was looking to throw them away
and he took them,

567
00:32:44,881 --> 00:32:49,010
he said, "No, no, save those for crafts,"
and put them in his pocket.

568
00:32:49,094 --> 00:32:52,180
-There you go. Eyeballs for something.
-Yeah.

569
00:32:52,264 --> 00:32:56,560
[Mr. Dressup]
Here goes tape. Here goes the cap.

570
00:32:56,643 --> 00:33:00,313
And he always wanted it
to be simple stuff, he said,

571
00:33:00,397 --> 00:33:04,443
so that nobody was excluded,
so that everybody could make the crafts.

572
00:33:04,526 --> 00:33:05,861
I take scissors...

573
00:33:06,987 --> 00:33:10,198
and I make a cut, a little cut in it.

574
00:33:10,282 --> 00:33:12,743
As a father, we're always
doing arts and crafts together.

575
00:33:12,826 --> 00:33:16,413
We were making lanterns
for Lunar New Year,

576
00:33:16,496 --> 00:33:20,208
and like, I had all the materials out,
laid out.

577
00:33:20,292 --> 00:33:23,003
I was doing the cuts, showing them,
helping them with it.

578
00:33:23,086 --> 00:33:25,130
And that's from the show.

579
00:33:25,213 --> 00:33:26,965
There's my lantern.

580
00:33:27,048 --> 00:33:30,343
And you can draw decorations on it
if you want to, but you don't have to.

581
00:33:30,427 --> 00:33:32,429
Now we've got the lanterns.
I think I'll go out

582
00:33:32,512 --> 00:33:35,056
and see how Casey's coming along.
See you outside.

583
00:33:35,140 --> 00:33:36,892
It just felt like there was no agenda.

584
00:33:36,975 --> 00:33:39,102
It was like,
"Hey, let's hang out together.

585
00:33:39,186 --> 00:33:42,647
Let's draw some pictures, Let's talk."
You know, there is no strict agenda,

586
00:33:42,731 --> 00:33:47,110
but there kind of is, in a sense of like
how to be kind. How to be kind?

587
00:33:47,194 --> 00:33:50,071
Sometimes nice isn't considered
the most important thing,

588
00:33:50,155 --> 00:33:52,073
but it kind of is.

589
00:33:52,157 --> 00:33:55,660
Thousands and thousands of Canadian
children would be watching Mr. Dressup.

590
00:33:55,744 --> 00:34:00,749
At its peak, it was bringing in
500,000 viewers every single day.

591
00:34:00,832 --> 00:34:03,251
I know I have a lot
of clown things in here.

592
00:34:03,335 --> 00:34:05,921
So, in many ways,
it kind of unites the country because

593
00:34:06,004 --> 00:34:07,714
no matter where you are,
whether you're in Vancouver,

594
00:34:07,798 --> 00:34:10,634
you're in Halifax or you're up North,
you're getting Mr. Dressup

595
00:34:10,717 --> 00:34:14,179
talking directly to you, it's like
he's talking one-on-one with you.

596
00:34:14,262 --> 00:34:19,893
What would a clown be without
a big red nose? Beep-Beep. Woo-hoo!

597
00:34:19,976 --> 00:34:25,981
I wonder how his children felt
about sharing their dad with the country.

598
00:34:26,650 --> 00:34:28,985
[gentle guitar music playing]

599
00:34:34,407 --> 00:34:36,952
[Cathie] It was really a kind of
a blessed childhood,

600
00:34:37,035 --> 00:34:39,871
not necessarily because dad
was Mr. Dressup,

601
00:34:39,954 --> 00:34:42,916
but probably more because my parents
were who they were as people.

602
00:34:42,999 --> 00:34:46,753
[Chris] You assume that he comes home
and kicks off his Mr. Dressup shoes

603
00:34:46,836 --> 00:34:49,088
and becomes a different person
when he's at home.

604
00:34:49,172 --> 00:34:50,340
And that just simply didn't happen.

605
00:34:51,132 --> 00:34:54,219
I remember watching Friendly Giant
one time with my son

606
00:34:54,302 --> 00:34:57,097
before it was time for him
to start school,

607
00:34:57,180 --> 00:34:59,391
and Friendly Giant
was coming to an end,

608
00:34:59,474 --> 00:35:00,851
and Chris turned to me and said,

609
00:35:00,934 --> 00:35:03,144
"Daddy, you've got to go to the studio,
you're on next."

610
00:35:03,228 --> 00:35:06,398
[Chris] There was always laughter,
great laughter, 'cause my dad

611
00:35:06,481 --> 00:35:07,774
was a very funny, funny man

612
00:35:07,858 --> 00:35:09,442
and my mum had
a fantastic sense of humor

613
00:35:09,526 --> 00:35:11,611
and the two of them got on
like a house on fire.

614
00:35:12,279 --> 00:35:14,823
[Lynn] The kids tease me a lot
because I laugh at his jokes.

615
00:35:14,906 --> 00:35:17,617
That's why I married you,
because you're such a great audience.

616
00:35:17,701 --> 00:35:19,870
-I'm a good audience, right.
-She still laughs after.

617
00:35:19,953 --> 00:35:22,789
I can hear the same joke
and I still laugh and the kids say,

618
00:35:22,873 --> 00:35:25,750
"Mom, come on,
you've heard that 17 times."

619
00:35:26,835 --> 00:35:30,672
[Cathie] Chris and I each had
our activities. He was involved in sports.

620
00:35:31,256 --> 00:35:34,593
I was crazy about horses
from the time I could walk.

621
00:35:34,676 --> 00:35:37,971
It's kind of funny. For instance,
when Chris, he's on a skiing team,

622
00:35:38,054 --> 00:35:42,642
freestyle skiing team, and I,
as a father, went out to help set up

623
00:35:42,726 --> 00:35:45,520
during the competitions,
and I think it was kind of funny at first

624
00:35:45,604 --> 00:35:49,858
when the other kids realized
that Chris Coombs' dad was Mr. Dressup.

625
00:35:49,941 --> 00:35:54,863
As a young child, there were times
where kids would make fun of me.

626
00:35:54,946 --> 00:35:56,948
"Your dad plays with puppets
for a living," you know,

627
00:35:57,032 --> 00:35:58,241
or "Your dad's a sissy" or whatever.

628
00:35:58,325 --> 00:36:00,702
And I found that difficult
to deal with sometimes.

629
00:36:00,785 --> 00:36:05,749
They handled it pretty well. They just
said, "Well, does your father have a job?"

630
00:36:05,832 --> 00:36:07,876
"Yeah." "Well, my father has a job too."

631
00:36:07,959 --> 00:36:11,880
Some of their peers expected more
from them or something from them

632
00:36:11,963 --> 00:36:15,175
that they really didn't want to give.
But I think now that they're teenagers,

633
00:36:15,258 --> 00:36:17,302
it's all taken for granted, now.

634
00:36:18,762 --> 00:36:21,640
She was the kind of lady,
from everything I could see,

635
00:36:21,723 --> 00:36:25,644
that wanted to be the best that she
could be at any job she was doing,

636
00:36:25,727 --> 00:36:30,815
whether it was as a mother to her
two children or as a supporter for Ernie.

637
00:36:32,442 --> 00:36:35,236
[Cathie] My mom
was a pretty amazing woman.

638
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:39,741
Whatever she put her mind to,
she was successful at.

639
00:36:40,533 --> 00:36:43,578
My mom was trying to find
a nursery school for my brother.

640
00:36:43,662 --> 00:36:46,206
He would have been about preschool age.

641
00:36:47,290 --> 00:36:52,003
And in her inimitable way,
she couldn't find one, so she started one.

642
00:36:53,672 --> 00:36:58,426
Butternut Learning Center.
The name came from Butternut Square.

643
00:36:59,844 --> 00:37:03,098
They took over a building,
which was an old schoolhouse.

644
00:37:03,181 --> 00:37:05,016
And that was a huge venture.

645
00:37:05,100 --> 00:37:09,688
We want the child, by the end of the time
that he spends in Butternut,

646
00:37:09,771 --> 00:37:13,608
to feel very good about himself.
Any effort that he's made

647
00:37:13,692 --> 00:37:18,655
toward developing in any area
is roundly applauded by the staff.

648
00:37:18,738 --> 00:37:24,035
We want them to have a good concept
of themselves. "I can do it.

649
00:37:24,119 --> 00:37:27,539
If I can't do it now,
I'll be able to do it in a little while,

650
00:37:27,622 --> 00:37:29,833
once I've developed to a certain point."

651
00:37:30,834 --> 00:37:35,547
[Terry McManus] His wife, Lynn, wonderful,
wonderful woman, had started a daycare.

652
00:37:35,630 --> 00:37:38,633
That costs money. It costs money to do,

653
00:37:38,717 --> 00:37:41,845
and it costs money to build it
and the rest of it.

654
00:37:41,928 --> 00:37:47,475
And so, being out on the road
was a way for Ernie to pay those bills.

655
00:37:47,559 --> 00:37:52,147
I think, for Ernie, it was the best time.
Ernie loved being on the road.

656
00:37:52,230 --> 00:37:56,651
["Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf playing]

657
00:37:57,402 --> 00:38:00,905
[Chris] Dad was a very resourceful person.
He built a replica,

658
00:38:00,989 --> 00:38:06,411
a tickle trunk that turned into a horse.
He came up with magic and songs and dance

659
00:38:06,494 --> 00:38:09,789
and everything like this
and started touring the show by himself,

660
00:38:09,873 --> 00:38:13,752
carting all of the stuff in the VW bus,
setting the set, doing the show,

661
00:38:13,835 --> 00:38:17,047
striking the set,
selling merchandise out front,

662
00:38:17,130 --> 00:38:19,591
signing autographs, meeting people,
and then, you know,

663
00:38:19,674 --> 00:38:22,052
coming home exhausted
and a few hundred bucks richer.

664
00:38:23,845 --> 00:38:27,098
[Terry] I mean, the tickets
were only four and five dollar tickets.

665
00:38:27,182 --> 00:38:33,188
He was going off and playing places
and walking away with $100, $150.

666
00:38:33,271 --> 00:38:36,316
And Don Jones changed that.

667
00:38:38,359 --> 00:38:41,613
My father is a concert promoter
in Canada.

668
00:38:41,696 --> 00:38:45,283
Clients in Canada were Alice Cooper
and Deep Purple.

669
00:38:45,366 --> 00:38:49,621
The Mr. Dressup touring show
would go to Nova Scotia,

670
00:38:49,704 --> 00:38:54,667
New Brunswick, P.E.I., Newfoundland
and Southern Ontario, Northern Ontario.

671
00:38:54,751 --> 00:38:58,004
They'd go out to B.C.
and go as far as the island.

672
00:38:58,088 --> 00:38:59,506
[screeching brakes]

673
00:38:59,589 --> 00:39:02,509
♪ Born to be wild ♪

674
00:39:06,137 --> 00:39:09,265
♪ Born to be wild ♪

675
00:39:13,269 --> 00:39:16,231
[Jim Parker]
He felt a responsibility to his audience.

676
00:39:16,314 --> 00:39:20,735
You know, they took the time
to come and see him.

677
00:39:20,819 --> 00:39:23,947
He was gonna take the time
to meet with them.

678
00:39:25,657 --> 00:39:28,201
I saw him, I saw one of his shows
and I met him,

679
00:39:28,284 --> 00:39:30,620
and it was, like, one of
the biggest memories of my life,

680
00:39:30,703 --> 00:39:34,541
is I got to meet Mr. Dressup.
And I told him I loved his drawings.

681
00:39:34,624 --> 00:39:37,669
And we had a little interaction, and
I held on to that for the rest of my life.

682
00:39:38,336 --> 00:39:42,257
Can you imagine a little Andrew
going and actually seeing Mr. Dressup?

683
00:39:43,299 --> 00:39:46,094
[Craig] The children are able to go up
to Mr. Dressup and actually see him,

684
00:39:46,177 --> 00:39:47,846
shake his hand and get a picture with him.

685
00:39:47,929 --> 00:39:52,600
So, it makes it feel like his world,
his house actually exists.

686
00:39:53,601 --> 00:39:57,438
When I go on tour,
and we frequently perform at colleges

687
00:39:57,522 --> 00:40:00,650
and high school auditoriums,
and you get some big strapping kid

688
00:40:00,733 --> 00:40:04,154
come up and say, "Mr. Dressup!"
and gives me a big hug, you know.

689
00:40:04,237 --> 00:40:06,406
That's, uh, that's kind of nice.

690
00:40:10,743 --> 00:40:15,456
Don Jones set up the whole tour
and did all the advance work.

691
00:40:15,540 --> 00:40:17,959
I couldn't say enough good things
about him.

692
00:40:18,042 --> 00:40:20,753
And you know what?
They were close friends.

693
00:40:20,837 --> 00:40:25,550
Very different people. Not the kind of
people that you would necessarily think

694
00:40:25,633 --> 00:40:28,887
would go together because
here you have Ernie, this artist,

695
00:40:28,970 --> 00:40:32,932
kind of slight in stature to some degree.
And then you had Don,

696
00:40:33,016 --> 00:40:38,813
who was a pretty big guy,
and he was the boss. Don was the boss.

697
00:40:38,897 --> 00:40:42,192
And God bless him
for what he did for Ernie.

698
00:40:42,275 --> 00:40:44,319
[Jim] The tour is almost over.

699
00:40:44,402 --> 00:40:48,114
-Two more shows. Two more shows.
-[Jim chuckles]

700
00:40:48,198 --> 00:40:51,743
There is a Lord and a God. Two more shows.

701
00:40:51,826 --> 00:40:54,621
-[Jim] And here's Ernie.
-[Don] Here's Ernie.

702
00:40:54,704 --> 00:40:56,414
[Jim] The end of the tour.

703
00:40:56,497 --> 00:40:59,834
-This is what we've made so far.
-[Jim laughs]

704
00:40:59,918 --> 00:41:02,086
I had some, but Don took it.

705
00:41:04,339 --> 00:41:08,718
His share, he takes the first 100%.
And then after that, I get what's left.

706
00:41:08,801 --> 00:41:10,011
[Jim] You lucky fella.

707
00:41:12,889 --> 00:41:15,391
[Terry] Ernie had this clown routine
that he did,

708
00:41:15,475 --> 00:41:18,269
and he put this clown nose on.

709
00:41:18,353 --> 00:41:21,481
Well, Don filled it with shaving cream.

710
00:41:21,564 --> 00:41:25,360
So, Ernie opens up the tickle trunk.
"Let's see what we have in here."

711
00:41:25,443 --> 00:41:29,530
And we can hear him start to laugh, okay?
He's starting to laugh

712
00:41:29,614 --> 00:41:33,284
because he sees the nose there
with the shaving cream.

713
00:41:33,368 --> 00:41:37,413
The son of a gun,
he had an extra clown nose.

714
00:41:37,497 --> 00:41:42,085
And he put that on and he turned around,
kind of looked at us offstage,

715
00:41:42,168 --> 00:41:44,796
like, you know, "You can't get me."

716
00:41:45,797 --> 00:41:47,840
Who carries extra clown noses?

717
00:41:47,924 --> 00:41:52,011
[children laughing]

718
00:41:52,095 --> 00:41:55,473
He could have been
a vaudevillian comedian. He was...

719
00:41:55,556 --> 00:41:59,477
Actually, he was a comedian
just hamming it up, doing something.

720
00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:01,688
[Jim] That's quite an outfit
you're wearing, sir.

721
00:42:01,771 --> 00:42:04,274
Thank you. It is my "at home."

722
00:42:07,026 --> 00:42:10,488
There's green, and then there's mint
and there's chartreuse.

723
00:42:13,366 --> 00:42:15,368
[man]
And then there's only one olive left.

724
00:42:15,451 --> 00:42:18,705
Which is racing green.
And then there's olive green.

725
00:42:18,788 --> 00:42:20,290
-[Jim laughs]
-Ooh. [indistinct]

726
00:42:21,124 --> 00:42:23,251
[Jim] There was a snowstorm.

727
00:42:23,334 --> 00:42:27,463
We had to pull off the highway
and just wait out the storm.

728
00:42:27,547 --> 00:42:31,843
So, we stayed up way into the night.

729
00:42:31,926 --> 00:42:34,554
I was having anxiety attacks at the time,

730
00:42:34,637 --> 00:42:36,431
and it turned out that
he was having them, too.

731
00:42:37,098 --> 00:42:39,809
[voice breaking]
He and I talked all night.

732
00:42:42,186 --> 00:42:45,064
And I think that's when
we became like that, you know.

733
00:42:45,148 --> 00:42:46,441
[Mr. Dressup] You know what, folks?

734
00:42:46,524 --> 00:42:49,360
I think Mr. Dressup
is gonna need all your clapping hands

735
00:42:49,444 --> 00:42:51,738
to help him keep time. So, let's hear it.

736
00:42:51,821 --> 00:42:56,117
-[clapping]
-[singing]

737
00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:58,828
[Peter Moss] When you're in a studio,
you feed an audience.

738
00:42:58,911 --> 00:43:01,497
When you're up on stage,
you're fed by an audience.

739
00:43:01,581 --> 00:43:04,917
You go out there and you're up on stage
and there's lots of kids

740
00:43:05,001 --> 00:43:07,712
and they're all singing along
and they're clapping and they're laughing.

741
00:43:07,795 --> 00:43:11,090
It's great. For someone like Ernie,
I'm sure it was terrific.

742
00:43:13,176 --> 00:43:15,803
One time he came to pick me up
from the school,

743
00:43:15,887 --> 00:43:20,433
and that was probably the day that
I really realized, like, how big he was.

744
00:43:21,100 --> 00:43:26,981
Three packed school busses in the front
and just screaming like it was a concert.

745
00:43:27,065 --> 00:43:30,234
I just remember him being like,
you know, "Hi."

746
00:43:32,862 --> 00:43:35,239
[caller] Mr. Dressup, I have to tell you,
I grew up on your show.

747
00:43:35,323 --> 00:43:37,950
My son, when he was four,
I had an opportunity to take him

748
00:43:38,034 --> 00:43:41,662
to see your live show here in Nappanee.
And I have to tell you

749
00:43:41,746 --> 00:43:44,749
how magical you made my childhood
and his childhood.

750
00:43:44,832 --> 00:43:47,001
And I just want to say thank you.

751
00:43:47,085 --> 00:43:49,045
[chuckles] Well, thanks, for saying that.

752
00:43:49,128 --> 00:43:50,880
-It's great.
-It's nice, but...

753
00:43:50,963 --> 00:43:54,592
you know, I had a lot of help, though.
If we hadn't had all of our great writers

754
00:43:54,675 --> 00:43:58,054
and puppeteers and musicians,
it wouldn't have been much of a show.

755
00:43:58,137 --> 00:44:01,182
For more than two years, Mr. Dressup
greeted kids every single morning

756
00:44:01,265 --> 00:44:03,393
in a way that no other show ever had.

757
00:44:03,476 --> 00:44:08,147
It was a unifying, dependable daily voice,
unlike anything that had come before it.

758
00:44:08,231 --> 00:44:09,899
And there was almost no competition.

759
00:44:09,982 --> 00:44:12,527
One of the more fascinating additions
to the morning hours

760
00:44:12,610 --> 00:44:15,780
will be what is perhaps
the most interesting and acclaimed

761
00:44:15,863 --> 00:44:19,909
children's series ever made.
It's called Sesame Street.

762
00:44:19,992 --> 00:44:23,913
[whimsical music]

763
00:44:23,996 --> 00:44:27,458
[Deb Bernstein] It was the first time
where you brought together producers,

764
00:44:27,542 --> 00:44:32,213
writers, educators and researchers
to create a show

765
00:44:32,296 --> 00:44:34,757
with specific developmental goals.

766
00:44:34,841 --> 00:44:36,717
[Sesame Street narrator]
That's a something.

767
00:44:36,801 --> 00:44:37,885
Something starts with "S."

768
00:44:37,969 --> 00:44:40,847
What Sesame Street,
I think, did extremely well,

769
00:44:40,930 --> 00:44:44,559
was taking a lot
of the educational concepts...

770
00:44:44,642 --> 00:44:46,185
counting, reading...

771
00:44:46,269 --> 00:44:50,815
You need a "W" to make such words
as "Wash" and "Woman"

772
00:44:50,898 --> 00:44:53,734
and "Weeping Willow" and, um...

773
00:44:55,695 --> 00:44:57,738
Of course, when Sesame Street came on,
they said,

774
00:44:57,822 --> 00:44:59,115
"Oh, that'll be the end of you."

775
00:44:59,198 --> 00:45:00,741
You know, "Dressup will be canceled."

776
00:45:01,868 --> 00:45:05,079
Somebody, a producer, thank goodness,
I don't remember who it was, said,

777
00:45:05,163 --> 00:45:07,373
"You know, you have to do something
with those puppets.

778
00:45:07,457 --> 00:45:11,502
You're gonna have to make their eyes move
and make their mouths move."

779
00:45:11,586 --> 00:45:13,129
And I said, "No, I'm not going to."

780
00:45:13,212 --> 00:45:17,675
Finnegan's mouth moved. Casey's didn't.
Didn't matter to the kids anyway.

781
00:45:17,758 --> 00:45:22,972
[Susan] We were worried that
maybe this is the way it's gonna go.

782
00:45:23,055 --> 00:45:26,350
And if that's the way it's gonna go

783
00:45:26,434 --> 00:45:30,104
with fast-paced shows,

784
00:45:30,188 --> 00:45:35,485
how are we gonna survive
with our gentle, quiet,

785
00:45:35,568 --> 00:45:38,905
take-our-time... show?

786
00:45:38,988 --> 00:45:40,573
One banana...

787
00:45:41,574 --> 00:45:43,951
[Casey] Do you have a lot of monkeys
coming to this bank, Mr. Banks?

788
00:45:44,035 --> 00:45:46,329
No, this is the first monkey so far,

789
00:45:46,412 --> 00:45:48,581
and the first monkey I've ever seen
that said "oink."

790
00:45:48,664 --> 00:45:50,666
-[Casey] Oh.
-That's why I like working in the bank.

791
00:45:50,750 --> 00:45:54,670
You meet so many different people.
Two bananas.

792
00:45:55,588 --> 00:45:59,675
While other shows have gone
to be disco-fied, video hit shows,

793
00:45:59,759 --> 00:46:03,221
this show has remained as serene and
simple as it always was. How come?

794
00:46:03,304 --> 00:46:07,808
Because we program to preschoolers,
and they have their own little world.

795
00:46:07,892 --> 00:46:10,603
They're not familiar with
the great outside world too much.

796
00:46:10,686 --> 00:46:13,314
They're dealing with their own emotions
and how to grow up

797
00:46:13,397 --> 00:46:16,609
and how to learn to tie your shoelaces,
eh, Casey?

798
00:46:16,692 --> 00:46:18,277
[Casey] I'm still learning to do mine.

799
00:46:18,361 --> 00:46:19,403
It's not easy.

800
00:46:19,487 --> 00:46:23,115
Whereas Sesame Street
had to be more current,

801
00:46:23,199 --> 00:46:28,371
and even Mr. Rogers to an extent, had to
be more reflective of the world outside.

802
00:46:28,454 --> 00:46:30,706
Mr. Dressup was a haven.

803
00:46:30,790 --> 00:46:35,336
At first, I didn't think
that Sesame Street was going to work,

804
00:46:35,419 --> 00:46:37,213
but obviously it did.

805
00:46:37,296 --> 00:46:40,299
So, we didn't go the Sesame Street route.

806
00:46:40,383 --> 00:46:43,511
We let them go their way
and we continued on our way.

807
00:46:43,594 --> 00:46:47,848
Our audience reduced for a while,
again, you know what?

808
00:46:47,932 --> 00:46:52,353
Not very long after,
our audience came back.

809
00:46:53,521 --> 00:46:55,022
And stayed with us.

810
00:46:55,106 --> 00:46:59,235
[announcer] Live
from the Harbor Castle Hotel in Toronto,

811
00:46:59,318 --> 00:47:03,322
the 1978 ACTRA Awards!

812
00:47:03,406 --> 00:47:07,451
The best children's television program...
Mr. Dressup!

813
00:47:07,535 --> 00:47:10,955
[audience cheers]

814
00:47:11,038 --> 00:47:14,041
I've never been so nervous
in all my life. I usually talk to puppets.

815
00:47:14,125 --> 00:47:15,251
[audience laughs]

816
00:47:15,334 --> 00:47:19,297
Actually, Casey and Finnegan
should be here to accept this lovely lady,

817
00:47:19,380 --> 00:47:22,341
but it's past their bedtime.
So, I have to accept it

818
00:47:22,425 --> 00:47:26,596
on behalf of the entire family
that produces Mr. Dressup.

819
00:47:27,638 --> 00:47:30,600
Before I mention the names,
I would like to say that

820
00:47:30,683 --> 00:47:34,895
I'm very happy that ACTRA finally...
Well, I shouldn't say "finally,"

821
00:47:34,979 --> 00:47:39,400
but I'm very happy to say that there is
a children's category now in television.

822
00:47:42,153 --> 00:47:43,613
Thank you.

823
00:47:44,655 --> 00:47:47,533
[Scott Henderson]
By the 1970s, television's a mainstay.

824
00:47:47,617 --> 00:47:51,329
You know, it's starting to turn into
a full blown industry.

825
00:47:51,412 --> 00:47:53,456
["Takin' Care of Business"
by Bachman-Turner Overdrive playing]

826
00:47:54,999 --> 00:47:58,711
♪ You get up every morning
from your alarm clock's warning ♪

827
00:47:58,794 --> 00:48:02,214
♪ Take the 8:15 into the city ♪

828
00:48:02,298 --> 00:48:05,968
♪ There's a whistle up above
and people pushin', people shovin' ♪

829
00:48:06,052 --> 00:48:08,804
♪ And the girls
who try to look pretty... ♪

830
00:48:08,888 --> 00:48:12,558
Having those early shows
like Mr. Dressup that were a staple,

831
00:48:12,642 --> 00:48:14,685
every day you go and see Mr. Dressup,

832
00:48:14,769 --> 00:48:17,480
you know, started to bring
a lot of similar shows.

833
00:48:17,563 --> 00:48:21,317
TVO launched with
Polka Dot Door, Today's Special.

834
00:48:22,443 --> 00:48:24,487
So, there was a lot more live action.

835
00:48:24,570 --> 00:48:28,783
♪ And I'll been taking care of business
every day ♪

836
00:48:28,866 --> 00:48:32,161
♪ Taking care of business every way ♪

837
00:48:32,244 --> 00:48:34,580
♪ I've been taking care of business... ♪

838
00:48:34,664 --> 00:48:37,208
As the importance of Canadian programing

839
00:48:37,291 --> 00:48:40,878
and the relevance
of Canadian programing grew,

840
00:48:40,961 --> 00:48:43,589
so did the restrictions on it.

841
00:48:43,673 --> 00:48:46,342
And that, I think,
was a result of politics.

842
00:48:46,425 --> 00:48:50,846
It was the turn of both the CBC and CTV
television networks today to appear

843
00:48:50,930 --> 00:48:54,350
before the Canadian Radio-television
and Telecommunications Commission.

844
00:48:55,184 --> 00:49:00,147
[Craig] In the 1980s, the landscape
is starting to change for the CBC.

845
00:49:00,231 --> 00:49:03,651
The economy,
there's big changes happening with that.

846
00:49:03,734 --> 00:49:08,072
But one of the biggest changes
is in 1984, when the Liberal government

847
00:49:08,155 --> 00:49:12,410
that had been in power since about 1963
is defeated.

848
00:49:12,493 --> 00:49:17,164
[newscaster] Look at this. Conservatives,
leading are elected in 190 seats.

849
00:49:17,248 --> 00:49:19,166
The Liberals totally wiped out.

850
00:49:20,251 --> 00:49:23,796
[Craig] And that brings in the progressive
Conservative government to Brian Mulroney.

851
00:49:23,879 --> 00:49:27,299
We're gonna recapture
the Canadian dream together

852
00:49:27,383 --> 00:49:30,302
and we're gonna bring about
a brand-new wave of prosperity

853
00:49:30,386 --> 00:49:31,971
that will do honor to all of you.

854
00:49:32,054 --> 00:49:36,517
And they're looking to cut costs.
And because the CBC is heavily funded

855
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:39,603
by the federal government,
that means the CBC

856
00:49:39,687 --> 00:49:41,897
is going to be suffering some deep cuts.

857
00:49:41,981 --> 00:49:45,359
And they have to start looking at
where they're going to cut.

858
00:49:45,443 --> 00:49:47,778
Now they can look at something
like Hockey Night in Canada,

859
00:49:47,862 --> 00:49:51,115
which is bringing in massive dollars
with advertising.

860
00:49:51,198 --> 00:49:53,075
Or they can look at
the children's department

861
00:49:53,159 --> 00:49:55,619
where there's not really any advertisers.

862
00:49:55,703 --> 00:50:00,875
And they have to start looking at ways
to cut costs there. And unfortunately,

863
00:50:00,958 --> 00:50:05,379
one of the main ways they do that
is they end The Friendly Giant.

864
00:50:05,463 --> 00:50:07,757
The CBC has chopped The Friendly Giant.

865
00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:11,594
The final episode of the popular
children's show was taped last week.

866
00:50:11,677 --> 00:50:14,597
Friendly Giant has been
on the air for 26 years.

867
00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:17,391
I couldn't even understand why the show
was canceled in the first place,

868
00:50:17,475 --> 00:50:19,810
because it was popular
and it was a wonderful show.

869
00:50:19,894 --> 00:50:22,646
[Craig] Mr. Dressup does survive
through that,

870
00:50:22,730 --> 00:50:24,648
but you see changes in the show.

871
00:50:24,732 --> 00:50:28,486
[Susan] In the beginning,
there seemed to be more money

872
00:50:28,569 --> 00:50:32,823
for certain things.
There was a lot more money for filming.

873
00:50:32,907 --> 00:50:38,662
We went on location and filmed things
like "Casey and Finnegan in the car wash."

874
00:50:38,746 --> 00:50:44,752
We went to Marineland.
We did a film shoot about ice fishing.

875
00:50:44,919 --> 00:50:49,215
We did a shoot going to the dentist.
So there was money for that,

876
00:50:49,298 --> 00:50:53,344
which seemed to dwindle out later on.

877
00:50:53,427 --> 00:50:59,433
But when I got there, the costume budget
was $25 for two episodes,

878
00:50:59,517 --> 00:51:04,522
and I think I managed to get up
to $35 an episode by the time I left.

879
00:51:05,231 --> 00:51:07,441
And Ernie and I would make jokes
about this. He'd say,

880
00:51:07,525 --> 00:51:10,152
"You know, it's not like
the show is called Mr. Math."

881
00:51:10,236 --> 00:51:13,656
And I'd say, "No, it is Mr. Dressup,
you'd think there'd be a costume budget."

882
00:51:13,739 --> 00:51:15,616
But it was just such a low budget show.

883
00:51:15,699 --> 00:51:20,663
We kind of absorbed
the need to make money, to an extent,

884
00:51:20,746 --> 00:51:23,040
from the American influence.

885
00:51:24,083 --> 00:51:26,669
It became
much more of a bottom-line thing.

886
00:51:28,671 --> 00:51:34,009
[Judith] I felt as if we were
moving towards creating consumers,

887
00:51:34,093 --> 00:51:36,720
and I didn't like that idea at all.

888
00:51:36,804 --> 00:51:39,974
I mean, that was what I really hated
about television, was that,

889
00:51:40,057 --> 00:51:44,353
you know, so much was commercial
and it's selling stuff to people.

890
00:51:46,063 --> 00:51:49,066
[Susan] There were a couple
of us that knew

891
00:51:49,149 --> 00:51:51,527
that Judith was talking about
leaving the show.

892
00:51:52,695 --> 00:51:57,449
Her decision to leave the show, obviously,
really well thought out

893
00:51:57,533 --> 00:52:00,244
and in some way, a courageous one.

894
00:52:00,327 --> 00:52:04,707
But she left a big, big hole in the show
when she went.

895
00:52:04,790 --> 00:52:10,629
Casey and Finnegan, Aunt Bird,
Alligator Al. That was a huge deal.

896
00:52:10,713 --> 00:52:14,300
There was a question whether the show
would go on without her.

897
00:52:15,134 --> 00:52:17,928
[Susan] It was worrisome because...

898
00:52:18,012 --> 00:52:21,265
"Is it gonna fly?
Is it gonna continue?"

899
00:52:21,348 --> 00:52:27,187
What will happen? I mean,
as much as Mr. Dressup was Mr. Dressup,

900
00:52:27,271 --> 00:52:29,982
and all the things that he was
and brought to the show,

901
00:52:30,065 --> 00:52:35,362
could not imagine how the show could go on
without Casey and Finnegan.

902
00:52:36,363 --> 00:52:39,575
[Ernie] When Casey and Finnegan left,
it was a little bit like

903
00:52:40,284 --> 00:52:42,745
my kids growing up and leaving home.

904
00:52:43,996 --> 00:52:48,000
Judith had her own particular way
of going through rehearsals

905
00:52:48,083 --> 00:52:51,921
and her own particular wit
that I missed a lot.

906
00:52:52,004 --> 00:52:57,134
I had a bit of a tussle with the CBC
about who owned Casey and Finnegan.

907
00:52:58,135 --> 00:53:01,180
And I said, "Well, I made them, you know.
I do own them."

908
00:53:02,181 --> 00:53:07,269
And they tried to tell me that they did.
But anyway, that didn't go anywhere.

909
00:53:07,353 --> 00:53:11,273
I said, "No, no, you can't do that."
I said, "When I'm dead,

910
00:53:11,357 --> 00:53:14,526
up to that point, no, they're mine.
You know, I own them.

911
00:53:14,610 --> 00:53:16,570
I made them. They're my puppets."

912
00:53:18,530 --> 00:53:20,449
[easy guitar music playing]

913
00:53:23,911 --> 00:53:28,999
I remember driving off the ferry
onto Hornby Island and thinking,

914
00:53:29,083 --> 00:53:31,335
"Oh, yes, this is where I want to be."

915
00:53:33,128 --> 00:53:35,965
This is a small island
off Vancouver Island

916
00:53:36,048 --> 00:53:38,592
between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

917
00:53:51,605 --> 00:53:54,650
[man over mic] We're gonna go
way back in time

918
00:53:54,733 --> 00:53:57,152
and remember a guy named Mr. Dressup.

919
00:53:57,236 --> 00:53:59,113
[audience cheering]

920
00:53:59,196 --> 00:54:02,908
Ladies and gentlemen, Casey and Finnegan.

921
00:54:06,078 --> 00:54:08,747
[Judith] I mean, it's astounding.
I couldn't believe it.

922
00:54:08,831 --> 00:54:10,749
Lot of these adults were crying
and I thought,

923
00:54:10,833 --> 00:54:13,544
"What the earth's matter with
these people? What are they crying for?"

924
00:54:13,627 --> 00:54:15,713
[man] Does Finnegan ever say anything?

925
00:54:15,796 --> 00:54:17,923
[Casey]
He only says things to me.

926
00:54:19,633 --> 00:54:23,887
He says he's learned
a lot of good, new, rude words tonight.

927
00:54:23,971 --> 00:54:25,305
[audience laughs]

928
00:54:25,389 --> 00:54:28,726
And I thought it was just good fun,
and I couldn't imagine what...

929
00:54:28,809 --> 00:54:32,396
I said afterwards... I said,
"Why were people crying?"

930
00:54:33,147 --> 00:54:35,649
Well, because they were put in touch
with their childhood

931
00:54:35,733 --> 00:54:40,320
in a way that I guess I didn't appreciate,
or something. I don't know.

932
00:54:42,656 --> 00:54:47,161
-Did you want something? What? Come on.
-[chickens clucking]

933
00:54:50,414 --> 00:54:52,416
Looking back on it, well, now I wonder,

934
00:54:52,499 --> 00:54:55,335
how on earth did I manage
to do it for so long?

935
00:54:55,419 --> 00:54:56,420
Come on, chickens.

936
00:54:57,463 --> 00:55:02,134
And then, how on earth have I managed
to survive so long after I finished?

937
00:55:02,217 --> 00:55:04,470
Those questions are very hard to answer.

938
00:55:13,979 --> 00:55:17,191
[Bob Dermer] When Judith left,
they had some big shoes to be filled,

939
00:55:17,274 --> 00:55:22,071
and how to dole that out to one puppeteer.
They didn't see doing that,

940
00:55:22,154 --> 00:55:25,741
so they invited several of us
to come in and do the show.

941
00:55:25,824 --> 00:55:31,413
Cheryl Wagner, and Nina Keogh,
Karen Valleau and myself.

942
00:55:34,208 --> 00:55:35,542
[Truffles]
Here I am!

943
00:55:35,626 --> 00:55:36,835
-Hello.
-Hello.

944
00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:38,962
-Hi.
-Hi.

945
00:55:39,046 --> 00:55:43,175
[Susan] I think Truffles might have
been the first and then Chester the Crow.

946
00:55:43,258 --> 00:55:47,137
Oh, Mr. Dressup.
You knew it was me all the time!

947
00:55:47,221 --> 00:55:48,806
[Susan] And Granny.

948
00:55:48,889 --> 00:55:51,016
[Granny] Okay.
Thank you very much, Mr. Dressup.

949
00:55:51,100 --> 00:55:52,559
-I'll see you later.
-[Mr. Dressup] Okay.

950
00:55:52,643 --> 00:55:54,061
[Susan] And Lorenzo.

951
00:55:54,144 --> 00:55:57,898
Well, it is an old sock,
but it's also my trunk.

952
00:55:57,981 --> 00:55:59,066
[Susan] And Annie.

953
00:55:59,149 --> 00:56:03,028
[Annie] That's it,
I'd like to build a castle when I grow up.

954
00:56:03,112 --> 00:56:06,573
-[puppet] Hello!
-[laughs]

955
00:56:06,657 --> 00:56:09,743
[Jani Lauzon] You know, the realization
that we were actually going to tape.

956
00:56:09,827 --> 00:56:13,997
We were actually going to do this. I was
actually here. It was actually Ernie.

957
00:56:14,081 --> 00:56:16,291
And then trying to figure out
the mechanics

958
00:56:16,375 --> 00:56:19,503
of how we could actually
make all of this work.

959
00:56:19,586 --> 00:56:24,007
While the learning curve was high, I think
we were all just really, really excited.

960
00:56:27,177 --> 00:56:29,972
All of our newer puppeteers
could be very outrageous...

961
00:56:30,055 --> 00:56:31,098
[Granny] Ooh!

962
00:56:31,181 --> 00:56:35,310
...very witty, and just break me up
completely during our rehearsals.

963
00:56:35,394 --> 00:56:38,438
[Granny] Not fair, I was fixing my legs.
See? [laughs]

964
00:56:38,522 --> 00:56:40,649
Oh, Truffles! Hiya, hiya, hiya.

965
00:56:40,732 --> 00:56:43,777
He was really good with me,
because I would be below the set

966
00:56:43,861 --> 00:56:48,323
and I was always next to his legs
when I'm working my puppet.

967
00:56:48,407 --> 00:56:52,661
And so I would always... I'd bite his leg
or something during rehearsals.

968
00:56:52,744 --> 00:56:54,746
-I'll race ya! Okay!
-Oh, all right.

969
00:56:54,830 --> 00:56:57,082
Here I go. Here I go! [laughs]

970
00:56:57,916 --> 00:57:01,211
Follow the puck. Whoops.

971
00:57:01,295 --> 00:57:03,839
She's a speedy little devil, isn't she?

972
00:57:03,922 --> 00:57:06,133
It's not going the way it went last time.

973
00:57:06,216 --> 00:57:11,346
[Susan Sheehan] Nina, she was very good
to work with, very upbeat and fun.

974
00:57:11,430 --> 00:57:14,766
They all were, actually.
Puppeteers are amazing people.

975
00:57:14,850 --> 00:57:17,227
[Jim] Hi, Nina. Nina does Truffles.

976
00:57:17,311 --> 00:57:20,063
When I came in, and then,
Karen and the others,

977
00:57:20,147 --> 00:57:23,901
I think it was maybe
a lot more playful or something, or crazy.

978
00:57:23,984 --> 00:57:26,904
Do you think this is funny? [farts]

979
00:57:26,987 --> 00:57:29,198
[laughs]

980
00:57:29,281 --> 00:57:30,824
Yeah, pretty funny, Chester.

981
00:57:30,908 --> 00:57:34,661
Boy, last time Mr. Dressup did this to me,
I couldn't sit down for a week.

982
00:57:34,745 --> 00:57:36,747
[crew laughs]

983
00:57:36,830 --> 00:57:40,792
I don't know if they really knew what was
gonna hit them when we arrived.

984
00:57:40,876 --> 00:57:44,671
And we were like,
"Pow, we're here!" You know, so...

985
00:57:44,755 --> 00:57:48,967
Hey, everybody, I'm Alex.
You haven't met me yet.

986
00:57:49,051 --> 00:57:51,970
I'm the new addition
to the Mr. Dressup show.

987
00:57:52,054 --> 00:57:56,350
Jim Parker started out as a guest singer.

988
00:57:56,433 --> 00:58:00,187
-Hey, Jim! Hi!
-Hi, Mr. Dressup! [chuckles]

989
00:58:00,270 --> 00:58:05,108
[Susan] Jim Parker became interested
in doing the new puppet Alex.

990
00:58:05,192 --> 00:58:10,447
And we did auditions, and he
really worked very, very hard

991
00:58:10,530 --> 00:58:13,325
because he was not a puppeteer.

992
00:58:13,408 --> 00:58:19,122
Jim's a pretty special guy. He just had
a similar kind of personality to Ernie

993
00:58:19,206 --> 00:58:24,127
and that same kind of love and enthusiasm
for children and play.

994
00:58:24,211 --> 00:58:29,132
And the way that he expressed himself
creatively and just a super nice guy.

995
00:58:29,216 --> 00:58:33,178
Like a super nice guy.
Would it have been nice

996
00:58:33,262 --> 00:58:38,642
to have a black puppeteer? Absolutely.
Not taking anything away from Jim.

997
00:58:39,434 --> 00:58:41,520
[Jim Parker] Today, it would have been
totally different.

998
00:58:41,603 --> 00:58:44,398
Think it was, "Here's Parker,
he can do it.

999
00:58:44,481 --> 00:58:47,484
He's got the relationship
with Ernie already.

1000
00:58:47,567 --> 00:58:50,570
So let's, you know, if he can do it,
let's let him do it."

1001
00:58:50,654 --> 00:58:53,657
-[guest] Yoo-hoo. We're here.
-[Granny] Oh, hello?

1002
00:58:53,740 --> 00:58:55,575
-[guest] Anybody around?
-[Granny] In here.

1003
00:58:55,659 --> 00:58:58,036
-Where's Granny?
-[Granny] Over here.

1004
00:58:58,120 --> 00:59:00,163
Oh, there you are, Granny.
How are you?

1005
00:59:00,247 --> 00:59:01,957
[Granny] I'm fine, thank you.

1006
00:59:02,040 --> 00:59:04,459
We brought the costumes, Granny.
You want to see them?

1007
00:59:04,543 --> 00:59:06,503
[Granny]
Oh, good. Yes, of course I do.

1008
00:59:06,586 --> 00:59:08,547
I don't even think
it was a different show,

1009
00:59:08,630 --> 00:59:11,758
but it had certainly
felt a little different, I think.

1010
00:59:11,842 --> 00:59:16,054
New set, that community center.
Yeah, the community center.

1011
00:59:16,138 --> 00:59:18,932
As a Métis woman,
I think the idea of community

1012
00:59:19,016 --> 00:59:21,226
has always been really,
really super important,

1013
00:59:21,310 --> 00:59:24,396
and the community center
offers an environment

1014
00:59:24,479 --> 00:59:28,900
where that is the most important thing.

1015
00:59:28,984 --> 00:59:32,404
For writers, it was a little easier
to work with that,

1016
00:59:32,487 --> 00:59:36,366
because you had different characters
who could have different experiences.

1017
00:59:36,450 --> 00:59:39,953
But everybody missed Casey and Finnegan.

1018
00:59:40,037 --> 00:59:42,414
But it didn't really affect the ratings.

1019
00:59:42,497 --> 00:59:46,209
I mean, it didn't affect
how kids responded to Mr. Dressup.

1020
00:59:46,293 --> 00:59:50,255
♪ We have a band
This is how we play ♪

1021
00:59:50,339 --> 00:59:56,345
♪ We each make music
in a different way ♪

1022
00:59:56,428 --> 01:00:00,390
[Lynn] Here we have
my big sister Caitlin, holding me.

1023
01:00:00,474 --> 01:00:03,560
Well, my grandchildren like to
come over and visit

1024
01:00:03,643 --> 01:00:06,521
and come down here
and get into the tickle trunk.

1025
01:00:06,605 --> 01:00:10,567
They dress up in the costumes
and do little plays.

1026
01:00:12,027 --> 01:00:15,030
And even though the costumes don't fit,
they have a lot of fun.

1027
01:00:15,113 --> 01:00:20,077
Look, a Christmas elf
ringing the Christmas bells.

1028
01:00:20,160 --> 01:00:25,957
♪ Oh, Tannenbaum, oh, Tannenbaum
How lovely are your branches ♪

1029
01:00:26,041 --> 01:00:32,047
♪ And your electric lights
and all the other decorations ♪

1030
01:00:32,130 --> 01:00:34,800
-Can't take it out. Ooh, it's a secret.
-[Ernie laughs]

1031
01:00:34,883 --> 01:00:37,094
Can't take it out.
We have to put it in the box.

1032
01:00:37,177 --> 01:00:40,097
[Ernie] All right, we better cut here.
There's an elf in the way. Cut!

1033
01:00:40,180 --> 01:00:42,974
♪ We wish you a merry Christmas ♪

1034
01:00:43,058 --> 01:00:47,354
♪ And a Happy New Year ♪

1035
01:00:47,437 --> 01:00:48,814
We wish you were here.

1036
01:00:48,897 --> 01:00:52,401
Yes, but since you're there,
have a good Christmas anyway.

1037
01:00:52,484 --> 01:00:55,737
And Natalie, too.
And we'll see you as soon as possible.

1038
01:00:55,821 --> 01:00:56,822
Bye!

1039
01:00:56,905 --> 01:00:59,032
[Cathie]
From Casey and Finnegan.

1040
01:00:59,116 --> 01:01:02,202
And me, Mr. Dressup. [laughs]

1041
01:01:14,631 --> 01:01:17,259
[Nina] We were having a wrap party,

1042
01:01:17,342 --> 01:01:21,138
and we didn't want
to really start the event

1043
01:01:21,221 --> 01:01:25,642
'cause we were waiting
for Ernie's wife, Lynn, to come.

1044
01:01:27,686 --> 01:01:29,521
He had bought her flowers.

1045
01:01:31,356 --> 01:01:33,442
They were her favorite color.

1046
01:01:35,402 --> 01:01:36,486
Um...

1047
01:01:37,946 --> 01:01:41,825
He was like a kid in a candy store
waiting for his wife.

1048
01:01:41,908 --> 01:01:44,619
But then, as time went on,
I think we were getting the sense

1049
01:01:44,703 --> 01:01:47,080
that Ernie was getting concerned.

1050
01:01:47,164 --> 01:01:50,667
My dad had called me,
this is before the time of cell phones,

1051
01:01:50,750 --> 01:01:53,295
but he had called me to ask
if I'd heard from my mom.

1052
01:01:53,378 --> 01:01:59,009
I just... my last memory of Ernie that day
was just holding those flowers.

1053
01:02:00,177 --> 01:02:03,680
I remember my neighbor
coming in and saying,

1054
01:02:03,763 --> 01:02:05,807
"Cathie, let me hold the baby."

1055
01:02:05,891 --> 01:02:08,935
And as soon as he said that to me,
I knew.

1056
01:02:10,562 --> 01:02:14,858
The wife of popular children's entertainer
Ernie Coombs, better known as Mr. Dressup,

1057
01:02:14,941 --> 01:02:17,694
has been killed
in a tragic motor vehicle accident.

1058
01:02:17,777 --> 01:02:21,656
Marlene Coombs was hit by a car
outside a downtown supermarket.

1059
01:02:21,740 --> 01:02:23,867
CFTO's Austin Delaney has more.

1060
01:02:23,950 --> 01:02:26,077
[Austin Delaney]
Fifty-five year old Marlene Coombs

1061
01:02:26,161 --> 01:02:28,455
was walking on the sidewalk
on Young Street in Temperance

1062
01:02:28,538 --> 01:02:31,875
late yesterday afternoon, when
a southbound car clipped another vehicle

1063
01:02:31,958 --> 01:02:34,419
and went out of control.
The car mounted the curb

1064
01:02:34,503 --> 01:02:36,630
and ended up in the doorway
of a Loblaw's store.

1065
01:02:41,593 --> 01:02:43,345
[Chris] Dad...

1066
01:02:43,428 --> 01:02:48,642
just took me and he said,
"I've lost my wife.

1067
01:02:48,725 --> 01:02:50,101
But you've lost your mother.

1068
01:02:52,020 --> 01:02:54,523
And I'm going to look after you."

1069
01:02:56,691 --> 01:02:58,944
And I said,
"I'll stay as long as you want."

1070
01:02:59,027 --> 01:03:01,446
And he said, "Well, how about forever?"
[chuckles, sniffles]

1071
01:03:05,575 --> 01:03:09,955
And he wrote a letter to the universe...

1072
01:03:10,038 --> 01:03:12,249
[voice breaking]
about how that made him feel.

1073
01:03:15,085 --> 01:03:16,211
And, uh...

1074
01:03:20,674 --> 01:03:22,551
You know, it was hard to read.

1075
01:03:25,220 --> 01:03:29,266
The way life takes someone
so beautiful as she was

1076
01:03:29,349 --> 01:03:34,271
and so important to Ernie is very,
very sad. And I've never forgotten it.

1077
01:03:35,939 --> 01:03:40,944
[Susan] How in the world
was Ernie going to continue?

1078
01:03:41,027 --> 01:03:47,033
Would he want to? How could he possibly?
And what was he gonna need if he did?

1079
01:03:48,368 --> 01:03:51,621
[Denise] I remember
speaking to Cathie, his daughter,

1080
01:03:51,705 --> 01:03:54,583
and sort of trying to suss it out.
And she said,

1081
01:03:54,666 --> 01:03:59,629
"The two most important things in
my dad's life was his marriage to my mom

1082
01:03:59,713 --> 01:04:03,216
and being Mr. Dressup."
And she said, "He's lost one this year,

1083
01:04:03,300 --> 01:04:05,051
he can't lose two this year."

1084
01:04:08,013 --> 01:04:12,892
Nobody talked about... As soon as
we got on set, nobody talked.

1085
01:04:12,976 --> 01:04:14,894
Because he didn't want it.

1086
01:04:16,438 --> 01:04:22,110
He just wanted to be able to come on set,
do the job, and he did it.

1087
01:04:22,193 --> 01:04:26,865
It was clear that we were gonna go on now
as long as he wanted to go on.

1088
01:04:27,907 --> 01:04:30,118
[Fred] When he came on my show,
that's when the...

1089
01:04:30,201 --> 01:04:34,122
That's when the challenge happened.
This was, I think,

1090
01:04:34,205 --> 01:04:38,084
only maybe two or three weeks
after his wife had been tragically killed.

1091
01:04:38,168 --> 01:04:42,589
And we contacted him and said,
"You know, we're fine canceling.

1092
01:04:42,672 --> 01:04:45,884
You know, we're so sorry, etc..."
And he said, "No, no."

1093
01:04:45,967 --> 01:04:49,596
That the day he and his wife
had talked about his being on the show

1094
01:04:49,679 --> 01:04:53,933
and he was really looking forward to it.
So, we proceeded.

1095
01:04:54,768 --> 01:04:55,977
[Fred] Are you okay?

1096
01:04:56,061 --> 01:04:59,105
Yep! Just working my way through the log.
What a great log you have there.

1097
01:04:59,189 --> 01:05:01,650
-It's a long crawl.
-[laughs] Yes, but it's fun. Hi!

1098
01:05:01,733 --> 01:05:03,777
-It's good to see you.
-Oh, I'm glad to be here.

1099
01:05:03,860 --> 01:05:05,070
Say hello to my friends.

1100
01:05:05,153 --> 01:05:07,530
Hi. We're going to have
a lot of fun today.

1101
01:05:07,614 --> 01:05:09,240
Glad you're visiting too.

1102
01:05:09,324 --> 01:05:12,702
So, we worked the whole thing through.
All the pieces were there.

1103
01:05:12,786 --> 01:05:18,792
And we got to the last song.
We're sitting on the top level,

1104
01:05:18,875 --> 01:05:20,001
just outside of the log

1105
01:05:20,085 --> 01:05:22,253
and the song we're doing is
a Tom Chapin song

1106
01:05:22,337 --> 01:05:24,589
called "Together Tomorrow."

1107
01:05:24,673 --> 01:05:30,261
And I don't know how we had not realized
what this song was really saying

1108
01:05:30,345 --> 01:05:32,514
because it was talking about his wife.

1109
01:05:32,597 --> 01:05:37,310
♪ But we will be happy together tomorrow ♪

1110
01:05:37,394 --> 01:05:41,648
♪ Together tomorrow again ♪

1111
01:05:41,731 --> 01:05:46,778
♪ Every day must pass away ♪

1112
01:05:46,861 --> 01:05:51,491
♪ Never to come again ♪

1113
01:05:51,574 --> 01:05:57,330
♪ Tonight when I'm sleeping
I'll dream of us being ♪

1114
01:05:57,414 --> 01:06:00,458
♪ Together tomorrow again ♪

1115
01:06:00,542 --> 01:06:02,085
[Fred] That's my dream.

1116
01:06:02,168 --> 01:06:07,590
♪ Together tomorrow ♪

1117
01:06:07,674 --> 01:06:13,096
♪ Together tomorrow, my friend... ♪

1118
01:06:13,179 --> 01:06:17,684
In all of the shows that I had done,
you know, 900-plus,

1119
01:06:17,767 --> 01:06:22,522
that was the most poignant moment
that I had ever experienced

1120
01:06:22,605 --> 01:06:26,025
on, you know, on television
or on a stage. It was just...

1121
01:06:26,109 --> 01:06:28,611
It was powerful, to say the least.

1122
01:06:28,695 --> 01:06:33,783
♪ We will be happy when we get together ♪

1123
01:06:33,867 --> 01:06:39,873
♪ Together tomorrow again ♪

1124
01:06:43,418 --> 01:06:44,878
[cheering]

1125
01:06:44,961 --> 01:06:47,088
[reporter]
One hundred and twenty-seven Canadians,

1126
01:06:47,172 --> 01:06:49,674
a little later this afternoon
right here on Parliament Hill,

1127
01:06:49,758 --> 01:06:52,010
will be sworn in as new Canadians.

1128
01:06:52,093 --> 01:06:54,929
[Peter Mansbridge] You know who
one of those is going to be? Mr. Dressup?

1129
01:06:55,013 --> 01:06:56,222
[reporter] Mr. Dressup.

1130
01:06:56,306 --> 01:07:01,478
When I asked Ernie why he decided
to become a Canadian citizen

1131
01:07:01,561 --> 01:07:05,815
after all of these years of
living in Canada and being in America,

1132
01:07:07,233 --> 01:07:11,112
he told me about a letter that he received
from a nine-year-old child

1133
01:07:11,196 --> 01:07:14,115
whose class project was to

1134
01:07:14,783 --> 01:07:18,286
write to and learn about
their favorite Canadian.

1135
01:07:18,369 --> 01:07:21,206
And this child had written to Ernie,

1136
01:07:21,289 --> 01:07:26,044
and he had had to reply back
that he wasn't a Canadian.

1137
01:07:26,127 --> 01:07:28,463
[announcer]
Here to share with us his unique talent

1138
01:07:28,546 --> 01:07:33,843
for bringing generations of Canadians
together each and every day, Mr. Dressup.

1139
01:07:33,927 --> 01:07:38,473
[cheering]

1140
01:07:40,475 --> 01:07:41,768
♪ Oh, Canada! ♪

1141
01:07:41,851 --> 01:07:43,144
♪ Oh, Canada! ♪

1142
01:07:43,228 --> 01:07:44,395
♪ Hey, Canada! ♪

1143
01:07:44,479 --> 01:07:45,563
♪ Hey, Canada! ♪

1144
01:07:45,647 --> 01:07:46,731
♪ Oh, Canada! ♪

1145
01:07:46,815 --> 01:07:48,066
♪ Oh, Canada! ♪

1146
01:07:48,149 --> 01:07:49,275
♪ Hey, Canada! ♪

1147
01:07:49,359 --> 01:07:50,652
♪ Hey, Canada! ♪

1148
01:07:50,735 --> 01:07:55,198
♪ My name is Mr. Dressup
You can call me Mister D ♪

1149
01:07:55,281 --> 01:08:00,370
♪ I'll sing you a song about Canada
from Newfoundland to B.C ♪

1150
01:08:00,453 --> 01:08:02,080
♪ Hey, Canada! ♪

1151
01:08:02,163 --> 01:08:06,000
[crowd cheers]

1152
01:08:06,084 --> 01:08:08,461
[Chris] He is such a massive part
of Canadian culture.

1153
01:08:08,545 --> 01:08:11,339
And yeah, he's American,
born in Maine.

1154
01:08:11,422 --> 01:08:14,676
But he was able to get Canadian
citizenship eventually,

1155
01:08:14,759 --> 01:08:16,052
and it meant a lot to him.

1156
01:08:19,179 --> 01:08:21,933
[indistinct chatter]

1157
01:08:22,016 --> 01:08:25,186
And it's so wonderful to be able to say...
"fellow citizens."

1158
01:08:28,647 --> 01:08:32,235
[Chris] He was constantly humbled
and honored by the accolades,

1159
01:08:32,317 --> 01:08:33,777
that he got.

1160
01:08:37,574 --> 01:08:40,743
[Fred Rogers] I would like to say,
Ernie, that all of your friends here

1161
01:08:40,826 --> 01:08:43,830
in this neighborhood
are very proud of you.

1162
01:08:43,913 --> 01:08:49,252
We've worked together a long time and
known each other for many, many years

1163
01:08:49,335 --> 01:08:52,297
and just know that we all love you

1164
01:08:52,380 --> 01:08:56,049
and that you are in our thoughts
and prayers always.

1165
01:08:56,134 --> 01:08:57,759
Congratulations to you.

1166
01:08:59,304 --> 01:09:02,389
[Chris] When Dad received
his Earle Grey Award at the Geminis,

1167
01:09:02,473 --> 01:09:04,683
and he dedicated it to Mom.

1168
01:09:04,767 --> 01:09:07,395
I wish that my wife Lynn
could've been here.

1169
01:09:07,478 --> 01:09:11,399
She would love things like this.
You know, she gave me so much support

1170
01:09:11,482 --> 01:09:15,069
and criticism over the years
and a lot of information

1171
01:09:15,152 --> 01:09:18,072
about the right way
to handle preschoolers,

1172
01:09:18,156 --> 01:09:19,949
because that was her field of expertise.

1173
01:09:20,033 --> 01:09:23,911
So, this is gonna be dedicated
to Lynn's memory.

1174
01:09:23,995 --> 01:09:27,540
That was a lovely moment.
And she would have been very proud.

1175
01:09:27,624 --> 01:09:29,459
Thank you. Thank you all.

1176
01:09:35,589 --> 01:09:39,969
[Nina] It's interesting when you're
doing a series, I mean, you never know

1177
01:09:40,053 --> 01:09:46,058
if or when it's going to be canceled.
I mean, if it's really popular,

1178
01:09:46,142 --> 01:09:50,103
you figure it's gonna go on forever,
you know.

1179
01:09:50,188 --> 01:09:54,442
And then something will always happen
'cause no show ever goes on forever.

1180
01:09:54,525 --> 01:09:57,904
Hi, there you are.
I've been sitting here waiting for you.

1181
01:09:57,987 --> 01:10:00,823
And I'm glad you're here.
And I'm really glad that I'm here.

1182
01:10:00,907 --> 01:10:03,368
[Chris] We also asked him about
when he was thinking of retirement.

1183
01:10:03,451 --> 01:10:05,286
It was a question that a lot of people
started to ask him

1184
01:10:05,370 --> 01:10:08,790
simply because he'd been on the air
for so long, and he was kind of like,

1185
01:10:08,873 --> 01:10:11,167
"I don't know. I hadn't thought about it
until you mentioned it."

1186
01:10:11,250 --> 01:10:13,211
For the last three years,
people have said,

1187
01:10:13,294 --> 01:10:17,465
"Do you have any plans for retirement?"
I think finally it got into me and I said,

1188
01:10:17,548 --> 01:10:19,801
"Do I have... Yeah,
I guess I better retire.

1189
01:10:19,884 --> 01:10:21,636
It looks like the thing to do."

1190
01:10:21,719 --> 01:10:23,846
Where do we want to put the sun in?

1191
01:10:24,555 --> 01:10:26,724
[Cathie] I think, you know,
he just kind of maybe felt

1192
01:10:26,808 --> 01:10:30,395
that he'd come to a point where
they'd done as much as they could do.

1193
01:10:30,478 --> 01:10:35,191
And it was time in his life to try...
while he was still feeling healthy

1194
01:10:35,274 --> 01:10:38,027
and at a good place in his life,
it was time to move on

1195
01:10:38,111 --> 01:10:40,154
and do some things for himself.

1196
01:10:43,199 --> 01:10:46,244
[Chris] You know, it wasn't
because of my mom's passing.

1197
01:10:46,327 --> 01:10:48,663
You know, it certainly wasn't
any pressure by the CBC

1198
01:10:48,746 --> 01:10:51,124
or Canadians turning away from him
or anything like that.

1199
01:10:51,207 --> 01:10:52,709
It just was the right time for him.

1200
01:10:53,376 --> 01:10:57,797
[Jani] There was something that had
changed in him that he was gonna be okay,

1201
01:10:57,880 --> 01:11:01,134
that he'd made that decision,
that that was good for him.

1202
01:11:01,217 --> 01:11:06,222
I remember thinking
that he deserved the rest, you know?

1203
01:11:06,305 --> 01:11:11,644
That he had done so much
for so many generations, for so long,

1204
01:11:11,728 --> 01:11:17,734
that just spending time with grandkids and
that's just really what he wanted to do.

1205
01:11:22,864 --> 01:11:24,782
[Nina] When you are doing a series

1206
01:11:24,866 --> 01:11:28,327
and you spend months or years every year,

1207
01:11:28,411 --> 01:11:32,707
and you get really close to people
and you realize that, "Oh, my gosh,"

1208
01:11:32,790 --> 01:11:35,960
you know, like, "This isn't
gonna be happening anymore."

1209
01:11:36,044 --> 01:11:40,840
There's this real sense of sadness,
you know, and loss.

1210
01:11:42,675 --> 01:11:46,429
I didn't want it to end.
I could've kept going.

1211
01:11:46,512 --> 01:11:48,347
That would've been all right for me.

1212
01:11:49,640 --> 01:11:54,729
I had never realized
what taping the last show would be,

1213
01:11:54,812 --> 01:11:57,732
what it would be like. I still don't know
what it's going to be like.

1214
01:11:57,815 --> 01:11:59,901
but it's going to be very, very emotional.

1215
01:12:00,610 --> 01:12:03,112
Here it is! February 14th.

1216
01:12:04,781 --> 01:12:06,032
Right there.

1217
01:12:06,991 --> 01:12:09,327
Last... Last day.

1218
01:12:18,669 --> 01:12:23,299
Okay, before we start, I just want to say
I want to make this like a regular show.

1219
01:12:23,382 --> 01:12:27,095
I love you all. [voice breaking]
And it won't be easy.

1220
01:12:27,178 --> 01:12:28,971
Okay, let's go.

1221
01:12:29,055 --> 01:12:32,558
[crew applauds]

1222
01:12:35,103 --> 01:12:38,439
[Chris] You know, I was there
when Dad spoke to the crew.

1223
01:12:40,233 --> 01:12:41,234
Yeah.

1224
01:12:42,735 --> 01:12:46,197
Yeah, 'cause...
what he must have been feeling.

1225
01:12:47,365 --> 01:12:52,703
You've made me what I am today.
You know that. And I appreciate it.

1226
01:12:52,787 --> 01:12:55,915
Okay, so, this is for the kids. So...

1227
01:12:55,998 --> 01:12:59,293
[Chris] Because everything in his life
was leading up to that moment,

1228
01:12:59,377 --> 01:13:02,088
and he was just going to
take some time for himself

1229
01:13:02,171 --> 01:13:05,133
and reflect and be a grandfather.

1230
01:13:05,216 --> 01:13:10,721
Hi. Here I am in the kitchen,
but I'm not cooking anything.

1231
01:13:10,805 --> 01:13:14,225
[Cathie]
That last show, if you were to watch it,

1232
01:13:14,308 --> 01:13:17,478
you would never know
it was the last taped show.

1233
01:13:17,562 --> 01:13:21,023
Dad was the ultimate
consummate professional.

1234
01:13:21,107 --> 01:13:25,862
But underneath, we knew as a family
that it was a real bittersweet moment,

1235
01:13:25,945 --> 01:13:30,366
because it was four years
after my mom had passed away.

1236
01:13:30,449 --> 01:13:36,247
And, you know, it was supposed to
have been their time together.

1237
01:13:37,582 --> 01:13:41,335
Until the next time,
we'll say bye-bye from...

1238
01:13:41,419 --> 01:13:44,255
-Lorenzo...
-Truffles...

1239
01:13:44,338 --> 01:13:48,009
-And me!
-Mr. Dressup!

1240
01:13:48,092 --> 01:13:49,343
[blows horn]

1241
01:13:49,427 --> 01:13:52,513
And then, whoever said,
"And that's a wrap..."

1242
01:13:53,806 --> 01:13:54,974
And then the tears.

1243
01:13:55,057 --> 01:13:56,475
[Mr. Dressup theme music]

1244
01:13:56,559 --> 01:14:01,939
[Chris] Don Himes played out
the regular Mr. Dressup theme

1245
01:14:02,023 --> 01:14:06,944
and then added
some lovely extension to it

1246
01:14:07,028 --> 01:14:10,448
that he that he played for a minute
or two, which was pretty sweet.

1247
01:14:10,531 --> 01:14:13,034
[grand piano finish]

1248
01:14:24,086 --> 01:14:27,715
[Jani] The last theme song,
the last note, the last show.

1249
01:14:27,798 --> 01:14:31,844
That was the finality of it.
The last note of that song was the end.

1250
01:14:33,012 --> 01:14:37,808
[Jim] It was sad. It was a bit of
a celebration, too. But it was sad.

1251
01:14:37,892 --> 01:14:42,688
That, you know, I can't believe that last
moment. "And me, Mr. Dressup."

1252
01:14:42,772 --> 01:14:46,484
[deep inhale, exhale]

1253
01:14:46,567 --> 01:14:49,111
[Ed Robertson]
It's a rare thing

1254
01:14:49,195 --> 01:14:51,989
that someone devotes their whole life
to something.

1255
01:14:52,073 --> 01:14:57,078
Lives up to all of everyone's
expectations of them.

1256
01:14:57,161 --> 01:15:01,332
Goes out completely classy and graceful.

1257
01:15:01,415 --> 01:15:06,963
And is untarnished.
You know, it's pretty amazing.

1258
01:15:08,297 --> 01:15:11,300
[Patty] I don't think we realized
at the time when it ended

1259
01:15:11,384 --> 01:15:16,681
that that is an end of an era.
It was an end of a kind of show

1260
01:15:16,764 --> 01:15:19,016
that I don't know if we'll ever see again.

1261
01:15:19,100 --> 01:15:20,768
I think people will try.

1262
01:15:22,019 --> 01:15:24,772
But there will only ever be
one Mr. Dressup.

1263
01:15:31,779 --> 01:15:36,701
[Caitlin] My grandpa's from Maine.
And when they were younger,

1264
01:15:36,784 --> 01:15:41,247
they bought a property right on the water,
just like you can smell the ocean.

1265
01:15:41,330 --> 01:15:43,374
-I'm with you, Grandpa.
-Okay, that's a wrap.

1266
01:15:44,917 --> 01:15:46,877
Everybody's invited to wrap party.

1267
01:15:48,296 --> 01:15:52,425
Dad was really a social guy.
He really enjoyed spending time

1268
01:15:52,508 --> 01:15:56,470
with friends and family,
so, you know...

1269
01:15:56,554 --> 01:15:59,223
I think that really...
really became the focus for him.

1270
01:15:59,307 --> 01:16:04,061
Here we are, Labor Day weekend
after much labor by Ken and Gerri,

1271
01:16:04,145 --> 01:16:08,649
providing a beautiful feast
of hamburgers and salad.

1272
01:16:11,736 --> 01:16:13,237
The old, old, olden car.

1273
01:16:13,321 --> 01:16:16,532
[Cathie] He was doing all those things
he had, for whatever reason,

1274
01:16:16,615 --> 01:16:18,409
had put off for all these years.

1275
01:16:18,492 --> 01:16:23,539
[Ernie] Drive the car. Vroom, vroom,
goes the Auburn. Vroom, vroom!

1276
01:16:26,500 --> 01:16:30,463
That's me. Yep.

1277
01:16:30,546 --> 01:16:34,300
Maine's finest.
No mad cow disease there.

1278
01:16:34,383 --> 01:16:35,885
[Chris] How do you feel?

1279
01:16:35,968 --> 01:16:38,054
-Full.
-[Chris] Full?

1280
01:16:41,265 --> 01:16:45,227
And so, he was having
an absolute whale of a time

1281
01:16:45,311 --> 01:16:50,858
being able to live his life,
on his schedule, and have a great time.

1282
01:16:54,153 --> 01:16:57,114
I don't think retirement
slowed dad down at all.

1283
01:16:59,533 --> 01:17:03,829
[cheering]

1284
01:17:03,913 --> 01:17:05,331
It is water.

1285
01:17:05,414 --> 01:17:07,208
[laughs]

1286
01:17:07,291 --> 01:17:11,128
Ernie and I came up with this idea, it was
called "The Tales of the Tickle Trunk,"

1287
01:17:11,212 --> 01:17:13,923
because so many of those generation,
the younger generation,

1288
01:17:14,006 --> 01:17:15,132
were now in university.

1289
01:17:15,216 --> 01:17:17,426
I was wondering about the story
behind Casey and Finnegan

1290
01:17:17,510 --> 01:17:19,220
'cause when I was a kid,
I used to wonder

1291
01:17:19,303 --> 01:17:21,389
why he didn't have a mommy and daddy
and why didn't he go home?

1292
01:17:21,472 --> 01:17:25,309
Shall we explain why Casey and Finnegan
are supposed to be little

1293
01:17:25,393 --> 01:17:28,896
and live out in the treehouse? [laughs]

1294
01:17:28,979 --> 01:17:31,482
So we decided,
"No, we'll just forget about it."

1295
01:17:31,565 --> 01:17:35,152
And kids like you
who wanted to know about that

1296
01:17:35,236 --> 01:17:37,530
could just try to figure it out yourself.

1297
01:17:37,613 --> 01:17:40,908
And they basically just became
Mr. Dressup Love Fests.

1298
01:17:40,991 --> 01:17:42,284
[girl] Thank you so much.

1299
01:17:43,577 --> 01:17:47,289
I have a confession to make. I started
a rumor about you when I was a kid

1300
01:17:47,373 --> 01:17:50,668
that you used to trace your drawings.
[laughs]

1301
01:17:50,751 --> 01:17:53,921
And I wanted to apologize
and ask you if that was true.

1302
01:17:54,004 --> 01:17:56,507
Sometimes I practiced a lot if they
were gonna be hard.

1303
01:17:56,590 --> 01:17:59,510
But, um, I forgive you.

1304
01:17:59,593 --> 01:18:01,303
[laughs]

1305
01:18:01,387 --> 01:18:04,765
That, to me, was really significant
because it spoke to

1306
01:18:04,849 --> 01:18:08,144
how he had touched the young people
at the time,

1307
01:18:08,227 --> 01:18:12,231
and what that kind of childhood memory
and nostalgia meant for them.

1308
01:18:12,314 --> 01:18:13,941
Cheese! Say "chicken feet."

1309
01:18:14,024 --> 01:18:16,569
[Cathie] People were generally
kind of in awe of the fact

1310
01:18:16,652 --> 01:18:19,572
that he was there in their pub,
somebody that they looked up to.

1311
01:18:19,655 --> 01:18:22,950
So, I think that people were
really respectful of who he was.

1312
01:18:23,033 --> 01:18:25,286
Now, do we have Mr. Rogers
on the phone right now?

1313
01:18:25,369 --> 01:18:28,164
Okay, well, you all know Fred Rogers
I would imagine

1314
01:18:28,247 --> 01:18:32,084
as well as you know Mr. Dressup.
And Fred has joined us on the phone now,

1315
01:18:32,168 --> 01:18:36,213
to say hi to Ernie and I guess, to say bye
to Ernie. How are you, Mr. Rogers?

1316
01:18:36,297 --> 01:18:38,048
[Fred Rogers, over phone]
I'm just fine, is this Ralph?

1317
01:18:38,132 --> 01:18:39,425
-It is.
-That's Ralph.

1318
01:18:39,508 --> 01:18:41,302
[Fred]
Hello, Ralph, and hello, Ernie.

1319
01:18:41,385 --> 01:18:43,596
-Hello, Fred! This is wonderful!
-[Fred] How are you?

1320
01:18:43,679 --> 01:18:47,516
I'm just overwhelmed.
I was going to send you a letter.

1321
01:18:49,852 --> 01:18:52,188
[Chris reading]

1322
01:19:21,258 --> 01:19:25,930
[audience cheering]

1323
01:19:26,013 --> 01:19:28,807
[Jonathan Torrens] There are two
highly rated episodes of Jonovision.

1324
01:19:28,891 --> 01:19:33,896
One was the Degrassi reunion
and the other was childhood heroes.

1325
01:19:33,979 --> 01:19:37,650
It had Sharon, Lois and Bram.
It had Polkaroo.

1326
01:19:37,733 --> 01:19:43,280
And even in that room, Mr. Dressup
was just on a whole other level.

1327
01:19:43,364 --> 01:19:45,574
Please welcome Mr. Dressup.

1328
01:19:45,658 --> 01:19:47,785
[cheering]

1329
01:19:47,868 --> 01:19:51,580
People couldn't contain themselves,
and the noise was deafening.

1330
01:19:51,664 --> 01:19:53,916
What have you been up to
since you've retired?

1331
01:19:53,999 --> 01:19:56,585
Oh, I've been very busy.
I've been touring,

1332
01:19:56,669 --> 01:19:59,880
-I've been doing personal appearances...
-[girl] We love you!

1333
01:19:59,964 --> 01:20:03,008
...and making speeches and keeping busy

1334
01:20:03,092 --> 01:20:05,553
and restoring my old car
and all kinds of stuff.

1335
01:20:06,303 --> 01:20:10,307
Dad had lost a few teeth, wore a bridge.

1336
01:20:10,391 --> 01:20:13,769
And I think he thought, "You know what,
I'd like to have a set of teeth."

1337
01:20:13,852 --> 01:20:19,066
But he had to undergo surgery
to remove cartilage from his rib

1338
01:20:19,149 --> 01:20:22,778
and have it grafted into his jaw
so that his jaw would be strong enough

1339
01:20:22,861 --> 01:20:23,904
to take the implant.

1340
01:20:24,488 --> 01:20:27,575
Don Jones,
his best friend and manager, said,

1341
01:20:27,658 --> 01:20:30,619
"You know, Ernie, you sure?
You sure you need to do that?"

1342
01:20:30,703 --> 01:20:33,831
And you know, and Dad said,
"Yeah, you know, it'll be fine."

1343
01:20:33,914 --> 01:20:36,292
And so he underwent the surgery.

1344
01:20:37,334 --> 01:20:40,462
[Jim] We were talking about doing
another tour and he wanted to come over

1345
01:20:40,546 --> 01:20:43,257
and just do some preliminary writing.

1346
01:20:44,341 --> 01:20:50,097
He was complaining because
he had had a little operation on his rib.

1347
01:20:50,180 --> 01:20:55,894
And yeah, so we hung out and then,
"Okay, see ya."

1348
01:20:55,978 --> 01:20:59,648
I got home and there were
a couple of messages from my dad

1349
01:20:59,732 --> 01:21:01,650
saying he wasn't feeling well.

1350
01:21:01,734 --> 01:21:04,695
So, I went to his house

1351
01:21:04,778 --> 01:21:09,283
and he was, you know,
obviously uncomfortable.

1352
01:21:09,366 --> 01:21:11,910
I was kind of saying, you know,
"We really should

1353
01:21:11,994 --> 01:21:13,912
go to the hospital
and get this checked out."

1354
01:21:13,996 --> 01:21:16,415
There was a drug they were
going to give him that would've helped

1355
01:21:16,498 --> 01:21:19,835
against pancreatitis, but because
of the heart medication that he was on,

1356
01:21:19,918 --> 01:21:21,795
he couldn't take the drug.

1357
01:21:21,879 --> 01:21:24,923
So they were doing some testing,
and I sat with him.

1358
01:21:25,007 --> 01:21:28,010
And then at some point, it was,
you know, 11:00 or 12:00 at night,

1359
01:21:28,093 --> 01:21:30,971
and I said, "I'm gonna go home
and get the kids off to school,

1360
01:21:31,055 --> 01:21:34,808
and I'll come back," and I left.

1361
01:21:34,892 --> 01:21:38,020
And at some point in the night,
I got a call from the hospital.

1362
01:21:38,103 --> 01:21:41,148
He had a stroke. He had a major stroke.

1363
01:21:43,901 --> 01:21:48,238
My brother was in the UK
having his second daughter

1364
01:21:48,322 --> 01:21:49,990
who was born on September 10th.

1365
01:21:51,408 --> 01:21:55,412
[Chris] We're still completely wired
from the birth of my daughter,

1366
01:21:55,496 --> 01:21:57,247
and the phone rang
and it was somebody that said,

1367
01:21:57,331 --> 01:21:59,458
"Oh, my God, turn on the television."

1368
01:21:59,541 --> 01:22:03,087
And that's when we saw the events of 9/11.

1369
01:22:09,593 --> 01:22:13,347
I was calling my brother on the phone
and saying, you know,

1370
01:22:13,430 --> 01:22:16,558
"You really you really need
to come to Canada. Dad's not well."

1371
01:22:16,642 --> 01:22:20,979
And he said, "All flights are grounded.
I can't come over there."

1372
01:22:21,063 --> 01:22:24,900
[Chris] I tried to get onto an Air Canada
flight and they said, "No, there's no way.

1373
01:22:24,983 --> 01:22:28,821
There's no way. We've got, you know,
days of people trying to get back home."

1374
01:22:30,406 --> 01:22:34,034
I've never done this before,
but I... The guy was Canadian.

1375
01:22:35,911 --> 01:22:37,788
And I said, "Do you know
who Mr. Dressup is?"

1376
01:22:37,871 --> 01:22:39,623
He's like, "Yeah, of course I do."

1377
01:22:40,541 --> 01:22:43,085
I said, "Look, between me and you,

1378
01:22:43,168 --> 01:22:46,338
but he's my dad. He's had a stroke.

1379
01:22:46,422 --> 01:22:48,799
I don't think he's gonna make it,
and I need to get home."

1380
01:22:50,384 --> 01:22:55,222
Guy was like, "Hang on a second."
He said, "All right, I got you a seat."

1381
01:22:55,305 --> 01:22:59,351
If he's watching... I appreciate you.

1382
01:22:59,435 --> 01:23:02,646
That meant the absolute world to me,
because I got home

1383
01:23:02,730 --> 01:23:04,148
and I was able to be with him.

1384
01:23:07,192 --> 01:23:10,154
I just remember being with him
and just telling him

1385
01:23:10,237 --> 01:23:15,868
it was okay to go and be with mom.
You know, we're gonna be okay. It's okay.

1386
01:23:16,702 --> 01:23:17,995
You know, I thought about it
and I thought,

1387
01:23:18,078 --> 01:23:20,914
"Wow, you know, what a life,

1388
01:23:22,416 --> 01:23:26,170
and what a death in the company of family,
in comfort,

1389
01:23:26,253 --> 01:23:30,507
dignity, respect and love."

1390
01:23:30,591 --> 01:23:32,801
We were all staying at his house.

1391
01:23:32,885 --> 01:23:36,555
I just felt like there was, like,
a ton to do, because there was...

1392
01:23:37,389 --> 01:23:42,853
It wasn't just us that had lost him.
It was everybody.

1393
01:23:42,936 --> 01:23:47,065
Before Barney, before Teletubbies,
there was Mr. Dressup,

1394
01:23:47,149 --> 01:23:50,652
a gentle man who delighted
generations of children.

1395
01:23:50,736 --> 01:23:54,114
Ernie Coombs died this morning
in a Toronto hospital

1396
01:23:54,198 --> 01:23:55,616
after suffering a stroke.

1397
01:23:55,699 --> 01:23:59,286
He was a wonderful, special,
gentle person,

1398
01:23:59,369 --> 01:24:04,917
and you will not likely see him again...
a person like him again.

1399
01:24:05,000 --> 01:24:07,711
[sniffles] Sorry.

1400
01:24:07,795 --> 01:24:11,423
Our whole generation was shaped
by seeing Mr. Dressup.

1401
01:24:11,507 --> 01:24:14,176
Well, he was your weekday routine.

1402
01:24:14,259 --> 01:24:16,720
I mean, he'll be missed,
but he'll be really remembered.

1403
01:24:16,804 --> 01:24:19,973
The fact that everyone's talking about it
and everyone remembers him is really nice.

1404
01:24:23,936 --> 01:24:28,690
[Craig] In parliament, they even
take a moment to talk about Ernie Coombs

1405
01:24:28,774 --> 01:24:31,109
and Mr. Dressup,
Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

1406
01:24:31,193 --> 01:24:34,154
He issues a statement
because of the impact that

1407
01:24:34,238 --> 01:24:36,698
Ernie Coombs had
on generations of children.

1408
01:24:36,782 --> 01:24:39,743
I remember when John Lennon was killed,
I remember when Elvis died.

1409
01:24:39,827 --> 01:24:42,037
And I remember when Mr. Dressup died.

1410
01:24:42,788 --> 01:24:46,416
I think a lot of adults were
probably more affected by it

1411
01:24:46,500 --> 01:24:48,502
than they thought they would be.

1412
01:24:48,585 --> 01:24:53,215
It took me back to my kidhood,
and I felt like I had lost a parent.

1413
01:24:53,298 --> 01:24:56,009
He had filled my life with so much joy.

1414
01:24:57,594 --> 01:25:00,514
Somehow, you thought
that he would never die.

1415
01:25:00,597 --> 01:25:04,268
I don't know. He was so much
a part of our lives.

1416
01:25:05,227 --> 01:25:08,438
[Jonathan] It had never
occurred to me that he was mortal.

1417
01:25:08,522 --> 01:25:11,817
He's forever. He always was
and he just always is.

1418
01:25:13,652 --> 01:25:17,447
We had a commemoration.

1419
01:25:17,990 --> 01:25:19,491
I went into Dad's closet...

1420
01:25:19,575 --> 01:25:21,785
[audience laughs]

1421
01:25:21,869 --> 01:25:24,705
...in the bedroom this morning
looking for something to wear

1422
01:25:24,788 --> 01:25:26,373
because Dad and I
are about the same size,

1423
01:25:26,456 --> 01:25:31,044
and I saw this and I thought,
"Well, hey, I can't think of anything

1424
01:25:31,128 --> 01:25:33,213
that would be better suited to the event."

1425
01:25:33,297 --> 01:25:36,675
[Casey] Hey, come on, Finnegan.
This looks like a good spot to me.

1426
01:25:41,513 --> 01:25:43,473
[Casey] Mr. Dressup's not here anymore.

1427
01:25:43,557 --> 01:25:46,935
-No, no, he's not.
-And we're pretty sad about that.

1428
01:25:47,019 --> 01:25:49,730
-Yes, we are.
-[Casey] We're very sad about it. Yep.

1429
01:25:50,814 --> 01:25:54,484
Huh? Hey, Finnegan says
he knows where Mr. Dressup is.

1430
01:25:54,568 --> 01:25:55,819
-Really?
-[Casey] Mm-hmm.

1431
01:25:56,486 --> 01:25:57,779
Where is he?

1432
01:25:57,863 --> 01:25:59,531
[Casey] He says he's in our hearts.

1433
01:26:00,657 --> 01:26:03,327
-Well, Finnegan... Finnegan's right.
-[Casey] That's right.

1434
01:26:03,410 --> 01:26:05,495
Mr. Dressup is in our hearts.

1435
01:26:06,622 --> 01:26:08,916
People just broke up over that.

1436
01:26:10,083 --> 01:26:13,795
And I think that's probably true.
He was... He was in our hearts.

1437
01:26:17,674 --> 01:26:19,384
[children chatter]

1438
01:26:19,468 --> 01:26:22,471
Just sit down over there, guys.
Close to the front.

1439
01:26:28,393 --> 01:26:34,399
I adored all those times that we talked
about how amazing children were.

1440
01:26:35,901 --> 01:26:37,861
Kid-me would say thank you.

1441
01:26:40,656 --> 01:26:42,491
And adult-me would say thank you too.

1442
01:26:42,574 --> 01:26:47,079
Oh, hello. You're here now,
so I'll put my book down.

1443
01:26:47,162 --> 01:26:51,208
You still live in my imagination,
and I hope you never go away.

1444
01:26:51,291 --> 01:26:52,960
Casey and Finnegan are out in the yard.

1445
01:26:53,043 --> 01:26:55,045
I don't know what they're doing,
but they were...

1446
01:26:55,128 --> 01:26:58,298
[Casey] Mr. Dressup, we found one,
we found one. We found the worms.

1447
01:26:58,382 --> 01:27:02,094
You played such an important part
of my life growing up,

1448
01:27:02,177 --> 01:27:03,637
and I didn't even realize it.

1449
01:27:03,720 --> 01:27:05,722
[Casey] I'll put them back in the dirt
where I found them

1450
01:27:05,806 --> 01:27:07,391
and then they can find their family.

1451
01:27:07,474 --> 01:27:10,394
It was the show that was fundamental

1452
01:27:10,477 --> 01:27:14,398
in developing me into the human being
that I am today.

1453
01:27:14,481 --> 01:27:17,901
You exceeded all of my expectations

1454
01:27:17,985 --> 01:27:21,780
of what meeting a childhood hero
can be like.

1455
01:27:21,863 --> 01:27:25,200
All right, I'll get my duck costume on,
it's right here in the trunk.

1456
01:27:25,283 --> 01:27:27,411
I think of you all the time.

1457
01:27:27,494 --> 01:27:32,040
When I'm putting on a costume,
when I'm drawing something.

1458
01:27:33,375 --> 01:27:36,086
Or when I talk to my son, Finnegan.

1459
01:27:36,169 --> 01:27:40,340
Well, you are a good dog, Finnegan,
so I'll do what I promised.

1460
01:27:40,424 --> 01:27:44,219
It's hard to imagine anyone having had
a bigger influence on my life.

1461
01:27:44,302 --> 01:27:46,471
[Casey]
And that's the end of the story.

1462
01:27:47,848 --> 01:27:50,267
Right now it's time
for us to say goodbye to you.

1463
01:27:50,350 --> 01:27:52,769
-[Casey] Oh.
-For now, until we see you next time.

1464
01:27:52,853 --> 01:27:56,857
Goodbye from Casey and Finnegan and me...

1465
01:27:56,940 --> 01:27:58,483
-[Casey] Mr. Dressup.
-Bye-bye.

1466
01:28:24,843 --> 01:28:26,970
[audience applauding]

1467
01:28:32,851 --> 01:28:35,353
We stand here tonight
in front of a nation

1468
01:28:35,437 --> 01:28:39,149
who loves our grandfather
just as much as we do.

1469
01:28:39,232 --> 01:28:43,820
My whole life, I have felt inspired by
the legacy my grandfather has left behind.

1470
01:28:44,905 --> 01:28:47,574
He gave the people of Canada
a unique kind of warmth,

1471
01:28:47,657 --> 01:28:51,036
kindness and compassion
that is still present to this day.

1472
01:28:51,119 --> 01:28:56,708
I feel so honored to be his granddaughter,
so lucky to have known him

1473
01:28:56,792 --> 01:28:58,835
and to have him be a part of my life.

1474
01:28:58,919 --> 01:29:02,089
And I feel a totally unmatched kind of joy

1475
01:29:02,172 --> 01:29:05,092
when I share with someone
that he was my grandfather

1476
01:29:05,175 --> 01:29:07,928
and they respond with such love
in their voices.

1477
01:29:08,011 --> 01:29:12,432
Ernie Coombs was never acting
when he was Mr. Dressup.

1478
01:29:12,516 --> 01:29:17,771
Sure, he may have been reading a script,
but all of his drawings,

1479
01:29:17,854 --> 01:29:22,734
his gentle nature, warmth, candor
and his ability

1480
01:29:22,818 --> 01:29:27,030
to create an imaginative space
was just him being himself.

1481
01:29:27,114 --> 01:29:30,575
So tonight, we accept this award
as his grandchildren,

1482
01:29:30,659 --> 01:29:33,912
but I think we accept it on behalf
of all Canadians

1483
01:29:33,995 --> 01:29:38,041
because we realize he belongs
just as much to you as he does to us.

1484
01:29:38,125 --> 01:29:39,918
Thank you so much, Canada.

1485
01:29:56,017 --> 01:29:57,853
[Casey] It's been a long time.

1486
01:29:58,854 --> 01:30:00,147
Yes, it has.

1487
01:30:00,939 --> 01:30:05,277
But I hope that you're gonna come back
and visit us again soon.

1488
01:30:05,360 --> 01:30:08,405
And I hope that you've learned
all sorts of things from us.

1489
01:30:09,072 --> 01:30:12,784
How to make things
and how to do things and how to have fun.

1490
01:30:12,868 --> 01:30:15,996
But now it's time for us to say goodbye

1491
01:30:16,079 --> 01:30:18,415
because I'm gonna take
Finnegan for a walk.

1492
01:30:19,082 --> 01:30:20,917
He's coming with me.

1493
01:30:22,961 --> 01:30:24,880
[soft whimsical music]