FWIS3

One of Mr. Rogers' signature songs. It's now the title of a new documentary about Fred Rogers and his long running PBS show. We watched it last night and it was awesome. Maybe the best TV I've seen in quite a while. I spent the entire time smiling or crying. I wasn't alone, many celebrities interviewed on how the show impacted them we also quite emotional. What a treat.

I'll check it out.

The PBS affiliates are using it in their fundraising programming. I saw some trailers and clips on Youtube but haven't researched where else you can find the approximately 1 hour show.

Mr Rogers was after my time, so it's difficult to relate to as an adult ... invariably nuanced by Eddie Murphy

There were older adults in the film relating how he affected their children or how he was probably affecting anyone's children.

I'm sure I'd enjoy the documentary. And, I have a soft spot for nice guys.

They're having it at the Toronto Documentary film festival starting at the end of next month. I'm a member of the documentary film house here and am totally getting tickets ASAP once they get online! (They have quite a few I'm eager to see, ranging from a doc about Bill Murray to the women in the secret astronaut program for women in the 60s.)

Also, I heard several weeks ago that Tom Hanks is going to play Mister Rogers in a film about him. I dunno if Tom Hanks can pull it off, but I think if anyone could it would be Hanks.

(I told you guys before how Mister Rogers is from Pittsburgh, and I literally had cousins and classmates who grew up in his neighborhood, right? He's a pretty dear person to my heart, and I sing some of his songs to my niece.)

The secret astronaut thing for women is a real thing? I thpught they made it up for that movie.

Rommie wrote:(I told you guys before how Mister Rogers is from Pittsburgh, and I literally had cousins and classmates who grew up in his neighborhood, right? He's a pretty dear person to my heart, and I sing some of his songs to my niece.)

I think Hanks will be able to pull it off. There was a wonderful interview with Fred Rogers on Fresh Air repeated just last month. It was just delightful.

So, how about I was lucky enough to go to the international premier of Won't You Be My Neighbor? on Saturday as it was at the documentary film festival here in Toronto. I feel very swanky on saying I'd gone to the international premiere of something!

And yeah, it's set for wider release in June, but I can 100% say you would all love it and should go see it. Just a wonderful movie about not Mister Rogers's life, but the show and ideas behind it and how it did the exact opposite of everything "good television" should be. They had a Q&A after the show with the director and the guy in charge of the "Mister Rogers Foundation," and the director said what prompted him to do this film was how there is no one in our culture right now who shows kindness like Mister Rogers, and we are seriously lacking that. Hopefully the film would provide some reflection on that once out to the wider public.

Also, everyone pretty much agreed that the show would not succeed if it was made today- hell, even in the 1980s Mister Rogers had this opinion. What I found hilarious is apparently literally the first week of the show in the 1960s focused on King Friday XIII being against changes in the Land of Make Believe and building a wall around the castle... and then Daniel Tiger and Henrietta Pussycat etc tying words like "love" and "tenderness" and "charity" on balloons and having them fly over the wall to remind King Friday XIII that these values exist. Dude was so ahead of his time.

That sounds cool. I can't wait to see it.