Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
Genre	Children's television
Created by	Edward McLachlan
Directed by	Ivor Wood
Narrated by	Bernard Cribbins
Theme music composer	Mike Batt
Composer	Mike Batt
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	24
Production
Editor	Helen Kelsey
Running time	5 minutes
Production company	FilmFair
Original release
Network	Thames Television
Release	1974 – 1976

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings is a British children's animated series about the adventures of a young boy named Simon, who has a magic blackboard. Things that Simon draws on 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. The 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 goes on a rampage.

The programme is based upon a series of four children's books by Edward McLachlan. It was produced in the mid-1970s by FilmFair Productions in London for Thames Television, and was originally a five-minute programme, broadcast around tea time in Britain. It 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. In Canada, it aired on TVOntario. The performer of the theme song is unknown, as his/her name is not mentioned in the credits.

In 2002 the series was remade in Canada, with Ernie Coombs as the narrator.

Original episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes	First aired	Last aired
1	12	1974	?
2	12	?	1976

Season 1

No. overall	No. in season	Title
1	1	"Simon Meets Henry"
2	2	"Simon Meets the Teacher and the Children"
3	3	"Simon and the Chalk Drawing Band"
4	4	"Simon and the Moon Rocket (part one)"
5	5	"Simon and the Moon Rocket (part two)"
6	6	"Simon and the Caveman"
7	7	"Simon and the Sea"
8	8	"Simon and the Chameleon"
9	9	"Simon's Double"
10	10	"Simon and the Elephant"
11	11	"Simon and the Football Match"
12	12	"Simon and the Return Match"

Season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title
13	1	"Simon and the Early Morning"
14	2	"Simon and the Chalk Drawing Cars"
15	3	"Simon and the Dinosaur"
16	4	"Simon and the Knight"
17	5	"Simon and the Rainbow"
18	6	"Simon and the Pied Piper"
19	7	"Simon and the Robot"
20	8	"Simon and the Measles"
21	9	"Simon and the Flags"
22	10	"Simon and the Chalk Drawing Sports Day"
23	11	"Simon and the Pop Singer"
24	12	"Simon and the Detective"

2002 revival

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
Genre	Children's television
Country of origin	Canada China
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	13 (65 shorts)
Production
Running time	5 minutes
Production companies	CINAR (now Cookie Jar) Shanghai Animation Film Studio
Original release
Network	Teletoon
Release	2 September (2002-09-02) – 18 September 2002 (2002-09-18)

A new series premiered in 2002 on Teletoon in Canada with a new theme song, an updated and more casual outfit for Simon, a different colour scheme and narrated by Ernie Coombs (in his final role). It was produced by Cinar Animation and directed by Francois Perreault. Simon's friend Henry is replaced with a girl named Lily. In this new version, Simon wears a striped T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers.

Parody

The series was later parodied on NBC's Saturday Night Live by Mike Myers. The sketches open with the same musical theme and lyrics, but take place in Simon's bathtub, where he shows and discusses his "drawerings" to viewers.

See also

• The Magic Chalk (1949)
• ChalkZone (1998)
• Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955)
• Penny Crayon (1989)

External links

• Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings at IMDb
• Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings (2002) at IMDb
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• Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings at TheChestnut.com. Retrieved 5 January 2014.