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. Things that Simon draws on the chalkboard become real in the Land of Chalk Drawings, a parallel world 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 5 October 1974 while selected ITV regions didn't start showing the program until 27 March 1976. 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
Series overview
Series 1
Series 2
2002 revival
A new series premiered in 2002 on Teletoon in Canada with a new theme song, a new character in that of Lily, who was added to make the show appeal to girl viewers "Producers resurrect antiquated heroes to brave the new programming reality"., an updated and more casual outfit for Simon, a different colour scheme and narrated by Ernie Coombs.
Parody
The series was later parodied on NBC's Saturday Night Live by Mike Myers. 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
- The Magic Chalk (1949)
- ChalkZone (1998/2002)
- Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955)
- Penny Crayon (1989)
- Zaczarowany ołówek
References
External links
- Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings at IMDb
- Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings (2002) at IMDb
- Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings at TheChestnut.com. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
