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Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings

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Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
GenreChildren's television series
Created byEdward McLachlan
Written byGlyn Frewler
Directed byIvor Wood
Narrated byBernard Cribbins
Theme music composerMike Batt
ComposerMike Batt
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes24
Production
EditorHelen Kelsey
Running time5 minutes
Production companyFilmFair
Original release
NetworkITV
Release5 October 1974 (1974-10-05) –
1976 (1976)

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings is a British-Canadian children's animated series about the adventures of a young boy named Simon, who has a magic blackboard.[1] 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 ITV and was originally a five-minute programme, broadcast around tea time in Britain. Despite that, it was first screened in Canada during CBC's Children's Cinema program on 5th October 1974 while selected ITV regions didn't start showing the program until 27th March 1976.[2][3] It also became familiar to North 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 writer and performer of the theme song is Mike Batt, with his first wife Wendy on vocals. Mike Batt also wrote the theme for The Wombles, also produced by FilmFair and narrated by Bernard Cribbins.

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

Original episodes

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Series overview

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Series Episodes First aired Last aired
1 12 5 October 1974 1975
2 12 1975 1976

Series 1

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No.

overall

No. in

series

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"

Series 2

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No.

overall

No. in

series

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

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Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
GenreChildren's television
Narrated byErnie Coombs (Canadian version)
Country of originCanada
China
Original languagesEnglish
Chinese
No. of series1
No. of episodes13 (65 shorts)
Production
Running time5 minutes
Production companiesCINAR Corporation
Shanghai Animation Film Studio
Original release
NetworkTeletoon
OTV (Shanghai Media Group)
Release2 September (2002-09-02)[4] –
18 September 2002 (2002-09-18)[5]

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; in a tragic subnote, he would suffer an ultimately-fatal stroke while recording his last sessions for the show [citation needed]). It was co-produced by Cinar Animation and Shanghai Animation Film Studio 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

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The series was later parodied on NBC's Saturday Night Live by Mike Myers.[6] The sketches open with the same musical theme and similar lyrics, but take place in Simon's bathtub, where he shows and discusses his "drawerings" with viewers.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sheridan, Simon (2004). The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. pp. 230–232. ISBN 1903111277.
  2. ^ "Children's Program: 5th October 1974".
  3. ^ "Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings: New series (27th March 1976)".
  4. ^ "Fall 2002 Highlights: Teletoon" (Press release). Toronto: Teletoon. Channel Canada. 28 August 2002. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Television Program Logs". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2 March 2016.[dead link] Alt URL
  6. ^ O'Connell, Mark (2017). Modern Brides & Modern Grooms: A Guide to Planning Straight, Gay, and Other Nontraditional Twenty-First-Century Weddings. Skyhorse. ISBN 9781510711525.
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