Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is a documentary that tells the story of Fred Rogers and his humble beginnings in public access television to being a cultural phenomenon loved by kids of many generations.
The documentary begins with Rogers being fresh out of college after focusing on religious studies. He planned on going to seminary school afterwards to become a minister though after seeing television with all of its loud and violent tendencies, he decided that he would go into the television industry. His focus was to make something different from not only all the other kids programs, but all the other programs as a whole. His focus became to create television that would be safe for children and allow them to learn but to also become more accepting/loving of themselves and others. We are shown footage of the program in its very beginning days as it moves further and further into the future and into mainstream. The sets change from drawings on cloth to small recreations of houses and castles to much larger, much more colorful creations.You are able to see the production grow while still maintaining the intimate environment associated with the show.
Beyond watching the show grow from a small local program to a nation wide affair, the documentary spends most of its time on Fred Rogers himself. It tells a little bit about his childhood upbringing and how he never forgot what it was like to be a child. His past co-workers and friends give their testimonies of having known him for the multiple decades that the show was on and the countless reasons they knew that Rogers loved them as well as the kids. One of his cast members, François Clemmons, spoke of a time when Rogers told him words that he had never heard from his father or anyone he considered to be a father figure and that at that moment he knew that Fred Rogers loved him. Nearly every member of the cast and crew featured in this documentary were able to share a story or a memory that assured that Rogers was a genuine person who cared deeply about his friends and his mission to help kids.
There was a part I was pleasantly surprised by was a couple stories shared by one of the crew members from the show involving Rogers’ slightly more adult sense of humor. One story being that whenever one crewman would see an unattended camera lying around on set, he would use the camera to take a picture of his bare butt and put it back. Then weeks later after the film was developed, the owner of the camera was in for a surprise. Fred Rogers once brought his camera to the set and left it out, the man did his thing and took a picture of his bottom. A few months later at Christmas time Rogers gave the man a poster sized version of the picture. Hearing this story and others similar to it helped me to better appreciate Rogers. To me, it helped humanize what seemed to be an unnaturally censored and straight edge man.
Another thing that I would like to commend is the use of animation in this film. In place of showing footage from Rogers youth they had a rather creative way of depicting his childhood. Many of the interviewees talk about how Daniel Striped Tiger was the embodiment of Rogers as a child. To continue this, the people behind the documentary created beautiful stylized animations of Daniel Striped Tiger in a house/world much bigger than him. This symbolized Rogers and what it felt like to be a child, being so much smaller than the world around you. The animations would often fall in line with stories or examples of what Rogers childhood was like and how it felt to him.
Upon seeing that this film was rated PG-13 I was a little taken back, I wasn’t sure how a documentary surround Mister Rogers Neighborhood would constitute anything other than a G rating. After viewing it I understand why it received this rating, at times it draws to light events that are too mature for children. Though the interesting thing is that Fred Rogers was no stranger to introducing children to mature topics or discussions. Not mature as in graphic or things that kids shouldn’t know/see. Though he believed that children should not be treated as lesser than adults and that adults should be able to talk to children about these topics so that they may better understand life as well as the world they live in.
As a whole I don’t believe that this documentary was made for the purpose of education, though you will certainly learn something. I don’t believe it was made to show the importance of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, despite it feeling rather significant. I believe that this was made to honor a man who devoted his life to helping kids get their lives started. I believe it was made as a way to say thank you for his hard work and to show that it did not go without notice.
