The Friendly Giant

I watched "The Friendly Giant" as a young boy, and sometimes when I was older, I watched it out of reminiscence, and because I appreciated the sweet and calm gentleness of the program. Most of today's programs are so fast-paced and are far from educational, even children's programs. This program helped me develop a like for reading and for music. The pipe and harp theme song "Early One Morning" still sticks in my head.

Bob Homme, who passed away on May 2, 2000, created one of the finest preschool programs ever, and certainly, along with Mr. Dressup, the finest in Canada. By reading a book, playing the pipe, harp (played by the late John Duncan) and talking about simple, but important things with Rusty and Jerome, children had 15 minutes of quiet where they learned things important to them, at their own pace.

As a child in Detroit, Michigan, I had many favorite CBC television shows, and this was one of them--along with Mr. Dress-up, Chez Helene, etc.

There was just something so gently magical about it, even though Rusty the Rooster really scaried me at first. I always dreamt that he was hiding under my bed waiting to peck at my feet! Anyhow, a great show. I'd love to see some of it again.

Musidora

I was in the Czech Republic last month, and my host took me out to Karlstejn Castle, built by Charles IV of Bohemia, who became the Holy Roman Emperor, it was on the top of a ridge over a deep river valley, for its defensive value. As soon as I got through the gate, my mind clicked on with the recorder, accompanied by a gentle harp, playing "Early One Morning" Fact is, you had to "Look up, Wa-a-ay up" to see the castle, and once inside, there was not a lot of furniture left, maybe three chairs and a fireplace, one was big enough for two kids to curl up in and then you could put a rocking chair in the middle. (Can anyone remember the entire quote? Why hasn't it been added here?) I did look over the turrets for giraffes - even whistled for them. Just waited for someone to say "And there's that boot." It is a beautiful place to tour, but it will always be made more memorable by the connection my mind made back to my childhood and some of its warmest memories.

I can do no more than echo the sentiments of others on here, that there was something magical about the calm and jocular Friendly Giant and his limbless companions. Loved seeing the cow make its jerky way over the moon. Loved the stories and the walks over the countryside. Loved the arranging of the furniture in front of the fire, a big chair for two more to curl up in. The rocking chair, for someone who likes to rock. All the reliable and comforting things that a child never tires of hearing again and again. It is telling that there is not a single non-positive comment on the IMDb about the Friendly Giant. Click on 'Hated it', and you just get another positive comment. Bob Homme left a fine legacy.

Finding information about the Canadian children's icon The Friendly Giant is very difficult. Apparently there is some reason why the old TV series cannot be released on DVD. Now three generations are deprived of the wonderful nostalgia of a kinder gentler era in Children's TV. That simple armchair was a source of comfort to countless kids in Canada and the US. But, alas, that comfort is gone.

Thankfully, Grant D Fairley has done a masterful job in the 2007 release of "Look Up - Way Up." This is an authorized biography of Friendly based on Grant's personal taped interviews with Bob Homme. You can even hear his voice again at www.thefriendlygiant.info. This is as close as it will ever come to a sequel.