Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings

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Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings is a British children's animated television programme, featuring the adventures of a young child named Simon, who has a magic chalkboard. Things that Simon draws upon the chalkboard become real in "The Land of Chalk Drawings", which Simon can enter by climbing over a fence near his home with a ladder, interacting with his chalk drawings, including his chalk-drawn friend Henry. Stories often revolve around the unintended effects that Simon's drawings have on the Land of Chalk Drawings, such as when an upset Simon draws a picture of his angry self, which proceeds to go on a rampage.

The programme is based upon the writings of Edward McLachlan. It was produced in the early 1970s[1] by FilmFair Productions in London for Thames Television, and was originally a 5 minute programme, broadcast around tea time in England. The programme also became familiar to American audiences in the mid 1970s when it was featured on Captain Kangaroo (where it was narrated by Bob Keeshan instead of Bernard Cribbins), later on Pinwheel, and after that, on Romper Room[clarification needed]. In Canada it was narrated by Ernie Coombs and shown on CBC Television.[2]

Contents

[edit] Episodes

  • Simon and the Early Morning
  • Simon and the Chalk Drawing Cars
  • Simon and the Dinosaur
  • Simon and the Knight
  • Simon and the Rainbow
  • Simon and the Pied Piper
  • Simon and the Robot
  • Simon and the Measles
  • Simon and the Flags
  • Simon and the Chalk Drawing Sports Day
  • Simon and the Pop Singer
  • Simon and the Detective

A new version, currently[when?] being broadcast on Teletoon, features a new theme song, an updated outfit for Simon, blue and white colours in Simon's home world, and replaces his friend Henry with a new friend, a girl named Lily. In this new version, Simon wears a striped T-shirt, shorts and trainers, instead of a necktie.

[edit] Simon in popular culture

The series was later parodied on NBC's Saturday Night Live by Mike Myers. However, unlike the British series, the SNL sketches took place in Simon's bathtub, in which Simon shows, and discusses, drawings that correlate with his life.

Simon is also an award users can build on the popular internet game BrokenPictureTelephone. It is awarded to users by other users who feel the drawer has the drawing skills of a 4 year old.

[edit] References

Simon Sheridan The A to Z of Classic Children's Television (Reynolds & Hearn books, 2004, reprinted 2007) ISBN 1-903111-27-7.

  1. ^ Any copyright notice of the actual Simon shorts: e.g. this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki7jJgL6hDY from 1974
  2. ^ [1] Ernie Coombs listed as the narrator of the Canadian version on IMDB.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


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