Neighborhood of Make-Believe

The Neighborhood of Make-Believe is the fictional kingdom inhabited by the hand puppet characters on the children's television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, produced from 1968 to 2001. The show's principal puppeteer is Fred Rogers himself, who also developed many of the puppet characters in the 1950s for Josie Carey's program, The Children's Corner.

Contents

Bio

The adventures of the citizens of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe appear in a short segment once in the middle of almost every episode. Mr. Rogers deliberately makes clear the distinction between the "real world" and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe by transitioning in and out of the Neighborhood segment via a distinctive red and yellow model electric trolley that enters and exits through small tunnels in the wall (or occasionally by setting up small tabletop models of the various Neighborhood of Make Believe buildings), and by discussing what had happened with his audience after the end of each segment. The same storyline continues for a week or more (a la a soap opera), though Rogers is always sure to recap the plot for children.

Characters

Characters in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe included hand puppets and actors, both costumed and uncostumed.

Regular puppets

Most of the main puppet characters were played by Fred Rogers. The regular puppet characters include:

Rarely seen puppets

These characters appeared more frequently in the original series than the modern series.

Live characters

These characters, some in costumes, are much larger than the puppet characters, and sometimes help the puppets with tasks such as lifting or moving large objects, which the small puppet characters are unable to do. Some of these live characters include:

Other characters

Regions

The world of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe also features several other "regions." Along with King Friday's realm, there are also bordering territories, including:

Characters also frequently interact with the inhabitants of Planet Purple, where everything and everyone are purple and exactly the same. Every girl on Planet Purple is named "Pauline," every boy, "Paul." Purple Panda, a resident of Planet Purple, can return there "the purple way" (just by thinking). Moreover, all of the planet's inhabitants speak in monotone English, often intoning, "WE ARE PEOPLE FROM THE PLANET PURPLE." Inhabitants of Planet Purple are forbidden to sit in rocking chairs, and if they do, they are not allowed to return home. In one visit to the Neighborhood, Purple Panda sits in one of Cornflake S. Pecially's rocking chairs. However, with the help of the rest of the Neighbors, it is agreed that sitting in rocking chairs is an acceptable activity for all people, and Purple Panda is allowed to return home. Planet Purple was discovered by Lady Elaine Fairchilde.

Layout of the Neighborhood of Make Believe (from left to right)

Operas and Plays

During the course of the series, the people and puppets in The Neighborhood of Make-believe produce 13 mini-operas, with the assistance of Reardon, and a play, Josephine the Short-necked Giraffe (1989), with the help of Princess Zelda.

Operas

The 13 operas are titled, or at least known as:

Animated series

In July 2011 during the annual Television Critics Association summer press tour, it was announced that Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, a new animated spinoff to Mister Rogers Neighborhood, is in production, for debut on PBS in Fall 2012. The series will feature Daniel Tiger (the son of "Daniel Stripèd Tiger")[4] as a host of the series, which will feature characters of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe all grown older, with the children now having families of their own.[5][6]

References

External links