Mr. Dressup

Ernie Coombs was an American cartoonist cum television personality who was hired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to appear as a character named Mr. Dressup in a children's program, "Butternut Square". While the show became popular, Mr. Dressup had the most appeal and got his own series within a few years. The opening animation was always interesting - this was animated for many years by crack CBC staffer Gary Pearson, who did a great job of duplicating Coombs drawing style and putting it in motion.

The two puppets Casey and Finnegan were great characters for Mr. Dressup to play off. Casey, the naive little boy with a slight British accent and his silly dog Finnegan, who made us all laugh. Coombs style was simple, tasteful and respectful. It wasn't the zany, condescending, almost lewd style some kid's programs, like "Tree House", "Soupy Sales", "Uncle Floyd" and others embraced. He, Casey and Finnegan would have a challenging craft, or dress up for a fun little skit, but it never got lascivious, or offensive. I have to take my Napoleon hat off to him for that!

CBC always recognized the importance of quality children's programming, with shows like "Chez Helene", "Friendly Giant", the first incarnation of "Mister Rogers" and later on "Sesame Street", "Fred Penner" and so on. Puppeteer Judith Lawrence retired and Coombs died in the mid-1990s, effectively ending production. However, the show remains extremely popular with kids in reruns, as CBC occasionally shows them today.

Growing up I watched quite a few shows that I still remember fondly. "The Polka Dot Door" springs to mind as does "Sesame Street". But nothing quite calmed me down and made me listen quite so much as "Mr. Dressup". I've always wanted my own Tickle Trunk and the desire to live in a treehouse still hasn't been flushed from my system. I'll miss this show. I'll miss the others as well, but not in the same way. All the other shows were shows that I watched in my childhood. "Mr. Dressup" was a *part* of my childhood.

When I was a wee lass living in the sunny tropical city of Ottawa Canada, I waited until 9:30 in the morning with bated breath. You see that was the time that Mr Dressup aired. He was always there with a new story or a new idea, or just all around fun. It inspired me to be imaginative. It inspired me to be creative and not just plod through life. It taught me that you can make up your own friends and have them live in trees. It taught me everything.

I will miss him very much. Everyone in Canada, who grew up with a TV will. I am glad that CBC still shows it, so I can hopefully show my Children this show.

RIP Mr Dressup.

Growing up in metro Detroit, I watched as much CBC content as PBS. Obviously, there was Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers', but I also could watch Canadian Sesame Street (second language was French, not Spanish), The Friendly Giant, and Mr. Dressup. I had mittens that looked like dogs and I pretended they were Finnegan puppets. Ah, when life was fun and simple. Good memories. I need to find some videos now.

Right now even in my teen years, I remember those precious toddler years when I was still learning my abcs. Every morning I would watch Mr. Dressup with my friends and everytime we watched it, it was like a magical spell was put over us. We watched quietly without speaking a word and I think I learned from this show more than any other kids show I've ever seen. When I get a holiday and watch the present children's programs, I see shows that do not benefit the children's learning in any way. The shows are meant for entertainment and I found a small increase of violence in the shows. But even if they stopped filming Mr. Dressup, it is still broadcast on TV and his kind and loving spirit is still greatly appreciated in Canadian children's television.

And as for Mr. Dressup, thank you for all those wonderful years of all those crafts, songs and stories. I loved this show even more than Sesame Street or any other show in my early years.