Final Rating: 4/5
From 1967 until 1996 every weekday, for thirty minutes, children in Canada were treated to the mastery of Ernie Coombs and his show Mr. Dressup. A mainstay that taught children easy to understand educational tools as well as how to be creative and learn positive social cues. Coombs was so successful as a children’s entertainer that he was eventually named as a Member of the Order of Canada, one of the highest honours a Canadian can receive from the country.
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, directed by Robert McCallum, is a new documentary that tells the history of the Mr. Dressup character and program along with details about Coombs’ life and family. Along the way we get plenty of celebrity interviews that extolled the virtues of the program for them and their children growing up.
Most people likely don’t even know that the iconic Canadian Mr. Dressup was actually born in the United States. After serving as a weatherman in the US Army, Coombs struggled to find his place in the world. Eventually he started working for a television station in Pittsburgh as a set painter and actor for children’s programs. It was here at WQED where he worked for a floor manager named Fred Rogers, the man who would eventually become Mister Rogers.
The CBC in Canada was looking to aggressively expand its children’s television programming and lured Rogers and his team up north and were given carte blanche to create whatever they wanted with minimal oversight. Rogers had always wanted children’s programs to be heavily focused on education rather than just entertainment and so he created the show Misterogers. It was actually the first time Fred Rogers was a performer on screen. After a successful stint in Canada, Rogers returned to Pittsburgh but not before setting up Coombs as his successor at the CBC. Coombs started the show Butternut Square, a Fred Rogers style of programming but with Coombs own infectious personality as the centrepiece.
Butternut Square eventually became the program that lasted for four thousand episode across 29 years in Mr. Dressup. McCallum traces in great detail the formation of Coombs’ ethos in educating children and what his mission statement would grow to be. We get interviews with plenty of Mr. Dressup cast and crew members, most notably with Judith Lawrence. Lawrence was a puppeteer who created and operated the characters of Casey and Finnegan. The young child and dog were flagship staples of the program, which Coombs believed made up two thirds of the show’s focus. Due to the importance of Lawrence’s contributions, Coombs ensured that she received equal pay to him at all times, something that is rare even for today.
Lawrence was also key in ensuring that the show, which prided itself being inclusive, didn’t include any accidental sexist or racist stereotypes. The show was also notable as Lawrence’s puppet Casey was never revealed to be either male or female as its androgynous name and vocal performance meant that boys and girls could imagine themselves as Mr. Dressup’s friend.
The film doesn’t shy away from criticism that the show faces through a modern lens though. It’s easy to brush off the fact that Jim Parker, a white musician and actor on the show, voiced a black puppet named Alex in an attempt to include more diverse characters on the program. Parker admits that he wasn’t the right choice to voice the puppet, but that everyone on the production was excited to bring to life a new character. Today we have people like Hank Azaria and Jenny Slate, from The Simpsons and Big Mouth, stepping down from voicing characters of different ethnicities than their own, but at the time it was completely commonplace.
We also get a treasure trove of Canadian icons to give talking head interviews including Eric McCormack, Michael J. Fox, Graham Greene, the Barenaked Ladies, Andrew Phung and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee from Kim’s Convenience, Scott Thompson and Bruce McCulloch from Kids in the Hall and fellow children’s entertainer Fred Penner among many more. With each appearance more exciting than the next.
As the documentary goes on, it delves into Coombs personal life including the tragic passing of his wife Marlene and how that affected him. Things continue to get emotional as we see the end of Mr. Dressup and Coombs’ eventual passing in 2001. For people who grew up on the show, it is an emotional ride that is filled with plenty of smiles and tears. The film doesn’t do anything new to the genre, but it’s a welcome reprieve from the drudgery of life like a warm blanket and a few hours with your childhood idol. Now the only question is that if Fred Rogers got a documentary (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) followed by a narrative film (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), who will be cast to compliment the Tom Hanks performance since Coombs now has his documentary?
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe will be available globally on Prime Video October 10
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe was seen during the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival. Thank you to The Mint Agency for the screener.
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