Here's the trailer for the upcoming movie about Fred Rogers starring Tom Hanks: They made a good choice with the casting here. IMO, Tom Hanks is to movies now, what Jimmy Stewart was to movies sixty years ago - when you want to have a firm reassuring presence onscreen this is the guy you look for.
I'm still not sure about this film, but I ain't going to lie, the final scene in the trailer choked me up.
It's not just the shoes but the jacket -- he's coming from the outside world, where he's wearing a sports coat and shoes to the more relaxed environment of his TV neighborhood, where he's got his zip-up cardigans and his sneakers.
This looks very nice, if a bit schmaltzy. The character should be given an aspect of darkness with flashbacks to his top-secret early career as an elite Marines sniper. Just kidding. But that was the least of the dumb rumors I remember hearing about Mr. Rogers when I was a kid. Kor
Thank God he is not trying to do his work in today's world. Now, some would make up some truly mean stories about him. ... Then again, maybe we need him now more than ever.
The ironic thing about doing a good Mr. Rogers--like Stalin--you have to wince a bit to get the eyes down....
I’ve heard that the soundstage squeaked (Mr. Rogers filmed at Desilu?), and the tennis shoes were easier on the sound. Urban legend, you decide. Or if you dare.
Total urban legend; the series was produced for its entire run, from 1968 to 2001, at WQED in Pittsburgh.
Mr Dressup! IRL, Ernie Combs and Fred Rogers were friends who had both started in the Canadian broadcasting industry, with Fred eventually moving on to the States. In fact, the first version of Mr Rogers was a Canadian version (a very early B&W version in 1963), and Combs worked with Fred Rogers as an assistant puppeteer. Rogers eventually bought the show from them and returned to the States, bringing the sets he had developed in the CBC studios with him. Combs stayed behind and eventually got his own show. Mr Dressup shares a similar ethos and both had similar puppet styles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Dressup
The changing of shoes and sweater and the song were a ritual so small kids would know that something new was happening, a changeover from whatever they had just been doing to settling down and paying attention. The same way that teachers have everyone sit in their seats, take roll etc. Obviously that wasn't possible on a TV show, so that's what he came up with.
I really liked the trailer for this and think Tom Hanks will do a great job as Mr. Rogers. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was uplifting (especially the subway scene), but is there a reason Hanks is channeling Forrest Gump in Mr. Rogers' speech patterns?
He's imitating Fred Rogers' speech patterns. If there's any similarity between Forrest Gump and Fred Rogers, it's that they both clearly enunciated their words.