Mr. Dressup is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 children's television series produced by CBC Television

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

 that ran from 1967 to 1996.

The series starred Ernie Coombs

Ernie Coombs

Ernest "Ernie" Arthur Coombs, CM was a children's entertainer that starred in the Canadian television series Mr. Dressup....

 as Mr. Dressup. The show aired every weekday morning, and each day Mr. Dressup would lead children through a series of songs, stories, arts, crafts, and imagination games, with the help of his friends Casey and Finnegan, a child and a dog who lived in a treehouse in the back yard. Judith Lawrence

Judith Lawrence

Judith Lawrence is a Canadian puppeteer associated with the long-running CBC children's television program Mr. Dressup. Her best known characters were Casey and Finnegan, although she also created other occasional characters, such as Aunt Bird and Alligator Al...

 was the puppeteer who brought Casey and Finnegan, along with other occasional puppet visitors like Alligator Al and Aunt Bird, to life. The set for the show included the inside of Mr. Dressup's house, with scenes shot in the living room, kitchen, and a kind of play room that included the Tickle Trunk (where costumes used in make-believe skits were stored) and a long counter where Casey and Finnegan often appeared. Sometimes, the action moved outside to Casey and Finnegan's treehouse.

One of Mr. Dressup's segments featured his Tickle Trunk, from which he would get a costume. It might be an animal costume, or a policeman's or fireman's uniform, or some other outfit in which he could dress up and play whatever role was suggested by the costume. Occasionally, the Tickle Trunk would not open, in which case Mr. Dressup sang a song which ended in him tickling the lock, hence its name. The trunk appeared to be magic as it always had the right costumes, in the right sizes, neatly folded at the top of the piles of costumes. Occasionally Mr. Dressup would need to make an accessory for his costume, such as a hat, which would lead to a craft.

Mr. Dressup would usually create some kind of drawing or craft and sing a song with the puppets, such as "Down by the Bay

Down by the Bay

"Down by the Bay" is a traditional children's song. A famous version was performed by Raffi and appears on his 1976 album Singable Songs for the Very Young...

". On occasion, Mr. Dressup would also read a book or show a short documentary to the audience. The films were usually silent and Mr. Dressup would narrate in order to explain events. He often drew pictures on his drawing board to either tell a short story or to play a game with one of his visitors. He would frequently encourage children to try the craft at home or to sing along with the songs.

In later years, Judith Lawrence chose to retire from the show. Rather than cast a new puppeteer in the roles of Casey and Finnegan a team of new puppeteers were brought in, including Karen Valleau (Chester the Crow), Nina Keogh

Nina Keogh

Nina Keogh is a Canadian puppet builder, puppeteer based in Toronto. She is a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, Canadian Actors' Equity Association, UDA and ACTRA. She has worked for TVO and CBC Television...

 (Truffles), Jani Lauzon

Jani Lauzon

Jani Lauzon is a Canadian puppeteer and musician of Métis heritage from East Kootenay, British Columbia, Canada. She is a three time Juno Award Nominee with Muppet Show credits that include additional puppetry on Follow That Bird, performing on The Jim Henson Hour, and the character Dip in the...

 (Granny), Cheryl Wagner

Cheryl Wagner

Cheryl Wagner, the creator of The Big Comfy Couch, is a Gemini Award and Emmy award- winning Canadian children’s television writer, showrunner and producer who began her career as a performer in both theatre and on the screen...

, and later, Ruth Danziger (Annie), Jim Parker (Alex), and Bob Dermer

Bob Dermer

Bob Dermer is a children's entertainment actor who first made his contributions to Canadian television starting with the 1976 series Readalong....

 (Lorenzo the Raccoon). The new characters would visit Mr. Dressup, and over time, became the lead characters, as Casey and Finnegan appeared less and less in the show until they quit appearing altogether. This was done gradually so children wouldn't notice the absence of Lawrence's beloved Casey and Finnegan characters upon her retirement. When Casey and Finnegan stopped appearing on the show it was explained on screen that Casey and Finnegan were now attending kindergarten. With the addition of new characters, new sets were also added including the community centre.

The final episode of Mr. Dressup was taped on February 14, 1996. Coombs spent most of the next few years touring college campuses giving talks about his time on the show (his target audience being students who grew up with his series), before he died of a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 on September 18, 2001, in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, when he was seventy-three years old.

Rebroadcasts of the series continued for a decade after it ended, until CBC announced that it was taking Mr. Dressup out of its weekday morning lineup and moving it to Sunday mornings effective July 3, 2006. The final repeat telecast aired on September 3, 2006.

Due to the long run of the series, several generations of Canadian children, as well as kids growing up in northern regions of the United States which received the CBC signal, grew up watching Mr. Dressup and his adventures. Ernie Coombs and the character of Mr. Dressup have become strong Canadian icons and a part of Canadian pop culture.

As of 2010, two iconic elements of the series have been preserved for public viewing. They are Casey's treehouse is on display in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre

Canadian Broadcasting Centre

The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, located in Toronto, Ontario, is the broadcast headquarters and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English-language television and radio services...

 in downtown Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 and the Tickle Trunk (with assorted props) is on display in the CBC Museum.

Discography

• Mr. Dress Up
  Mr. Dress Up (album)
  Mr. Dress Up was a Canadian children's album spin-off of the TV series Mr. Dressup. Performed by Ernie Coombs and Judith Lawrence , it was recorded in Studio G, at CBC Toronto. The recording engineers were Stan Horobin and Bruce Ritchie, and its executive producer was Jury Krytiuk...
  
  (1967)
• Mr. Dressup: Happy Birthday Alligator Al (1976)
• Mr. Dressup and Friends: For a Song (1979)
• Wake Up Mr. Dressup! (1982)

External links

• The Mr. Dressup Pictures and Sound Page by Buffalonian Steve Cichon
• Puppet Wikia: Mr. Dressup