Time for another of my rare forays beyond the big-screen world of the movies into the small-screen but no less fascinating world of TV. Today, after almost 60 years on from my first viewing of it, I am revisiting what for me will always be a wonderful, uniquely special TV show.
What is the very first TV show that you can remember watching? In my case, it is the truly magical but nowadays all-but-forgotten children's show to which this present blog article of mine is devoted – Mr Piper.
Created in Toronto, Canada, by Martin Andrews and Allan Wargon in 1960, and with Wargon also serving as its executive producer, Mr Piper was a 25-min show that was originally screened by CBC Television in Canada in 1963, and was also shown on ITV in the UK during the 1960s, initially in its entirety, but when reshown here during the 1970s it was split into two 12.5-min shows (see later for more details). It takes its name from its central character and narrator, the somewhat stout, ever-cheerful, and totally magical Mr Piper, played by Canadian actor/opera singer Alan Crowfoot, and clearly inspired both in costume and in concept by the Pied Piper of Hamelin of European folklore. But whereas the latter used dark enchantments to lure children away from their parents and homes, TV's Mr Piper used his sunny enchantments to lure children into spending a happy, fun-filled time watching his joyful and also subtly educational show, which I absolutely loved as a small child in the early 1960s, viewing it with Mom on ATV, ITV's now long-gone West Midlands regional channel.
Incidentally, there is some controversy in online coverages of Mr Piper regarding the total number of episodes that were made and screened, with claims ranging from 13, 14, or 15, right up to as many as 39. However, my own memories tally with 15 episodes (39 episodes seems far too high a number, unless the subsequently-screened 12.5-min split versions of the original 25-min ones are also being included in this count, i.e. as separate episodes in their own right?).
Moving on, here is a breakdown of the Mr Piper show's fondly-remembered format. Each episode would begin with Crofoot as Mr Piper very tunefully singing over its animated opening titles what is unquestionably one of the catchiest TV theme songs ever written. Although I last watched this show on TV during the early 1970s, I have never forgotten that irrepressibly cheery song, and when, several years ago, I was delighted to be able to buy at long last a couple of DVDs containing a few segments (mostly Tele Tunes, see below) from various Mr Piper episodes, I discovered that I had indeed accurately remembered its theme song verbatim. If you'd like to hear it for yourself, click here to do so on YouTube.
After the theme song ended, each episode would then consist of 4 wholly autonomous segments (each with its own director), which could therefore be shown in any sequence, but here in the UK they were always screened in the following one (in Canada, they were apparently shown in a different sequence).
Segment 1 was 'Bag of Tricks', directed by Allan Wargon, during which Mr Piper would invariably get himself into all manner of humorous slapstick trouble when he pulled out of his big, polka-dotted, box-shaped bag of tricks a magical object (a different one in each episode). Memorably, he would always preface this segment with a short but relevant introductory statement, and point with his thumb or index finger to add emphasis, an action often accompanied by the sound of a single invisible bell ring, emphasizing the magical nature of what is about to happen. 'Bag of Tricks' was my favourite of the four segments per episode, so I was always glad that it was shown first within each episode screened here in the UK.
Segment 2 was 'Tele Tunes', directed by James Mackay, in which Mr Piper would narrate a fairy story, usually a traditional folktale from somewhere in Europe or from the Arabian Nights. It would be accompanied by a visual portrayal of the story using (very) limited but nonetheless charming animation, and end with Mr Piper drawing forth a worthy moral from the tale. I was to learn many years later that in much of the USA, the Tele Tune cartoons were the only segments broadcast from episodes of Mr Piper, so that viewers there were entirely unaware that each episode originally contained three other segments too. Crofoot would provide some of the character voices, with others provided by an uncredited Billie Mae Richards.
Segment 3 was 'Port of Call' (whose director is not presently known to me), the most educational segment, in which Mr Piper would narrate documentary-style film footage about cultures from around the world as seen through the eyes of their children. Once again, this was very charmingly conceived and presented, but due to its distinct lack of either magic or animals, I'm ashamed to say that I personally found it to be the least interesting of the quartet of segments per episode of Mr Piper. Even at that tender age, it was clear that my future career leanings were not going to point towards any sociological or anthropological aspirations!
Much more to my liking, conversely, was Segment 4, entitled 'Animal Farm', and directed by Vincent Vaitiekunas. Reminiscent of another popular 1960s children's TV show, the UK's Tales From the Riverbank, it was a very sweet vignette featuring several small animals inside a tiny barnyard, who would be talking to one another with human voices, mostly supplied by Crowfoot (plus some by Richards again), and involved in all manner of adventures. All of the animals had alliterative names, with my favourite animal being a beautifully-marked black and white pet rat called Rupert. Others that I could still readily recall even before chancing upon the above-mentioned Mr Piper DVDs some years ago include Kookie the Kitten, Harriet the Hen, and Bessie the Bunny.
Finally, albeit not a full-length segment in its own right, usually being interposed between the end of Segment 4 and the show's closing credits instead, was a brief scene featuring a talking scarlet macaw named Polly who in each episode would poses a different taxing riddle for Mr Piper to solve. She would always begin by uttering the line: "Piper – fiddle diddle, here's a riddle", to which Mr Piper variously replied: "All right, Polly" or "What is it, Polly?" She would address him in a somewhat imperious, peremptory manner as "Piper", and squawk with triumphant laughter when he invariably failed to work out the answer to her riddle. Here’s one of them: "When is it correct to eat with a knife, fork, AND spoon?" I'll leave you to puzzle over that while reading the remainder of this review (but if you can't wait that long, the answer is revealed at the end of the review).
There are 15 different Tele Tune segments known to exist (another reason for believing that there were 15 original full-length episodes of Mr Piper in total), and these can be variously found online on YouTube, DailyMotion, etc, as well as on various DVD releases. However, few examples of the other three segments apparently still survive, sadly.
When Mr Piper was rescreened in the UK during the 1970s, the original 4-segment, 25-min episodes were now screened in split format, as 2-segment, 12.5-min episodes. Each of these half-length versions either contained one Segment 1 and one Segment 2, or one Segment 3 and one Segment 4. Obviously, me being me, with an abiding love of magic and cartoons, I preferred those half-length versions that contained Segments 1 and 2.
Until I purchased the DVDs, I'd never seen Mr Piper in colour (back in the 1960s and early 1970s when it was being screened, we still had a b/w TV set). So it was interesting and also pleasing to discover when watching the DVDs that the principal shades which featured, especially in Segment 1, were pastel greens, ochre, russets, and browns, nothing garish or gaudy, which would have been so out of place in this very tasteful, thoroughly genteel, and gentle, little show.
Prior to the coming of the internet, I'd been wholly unable to locate any mention of Mr Piper in any book or magazine that I'd ever read through in search of information concerning it, and it was only my exceptionally detailed, and happy, memories of it (plus those of my mother, who'd watched it with me) that convinced me that the show had indeed existed, and was not a product of my extremely fertile imagination as a child! But scattered in cyberspace are various details and a few rare screenshots too, plus the Tele Tune segments, thereby reinforcing the internet's invaluable nature as a source of information if utilised carefully.
Consequently, my online perusals finally revealed what had long been for me the hitherto-cryptic identity of the man who had played Mr Piper. He was Alan Crofoot, who, as already mentioned here, was a Canadian actor and classically-trained opera tenor. He had performed well-received roles in several major operas, such as Puccini's Tosca, Smetana's The Bartered Bride, Richard Strauss's Salome, and Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld (click here to hear him on YouTube in the dual role of John Styx/Charon the Ferryman singing 'King of the Boeotians' from Offenbach's afore-mentioned opera when staged in London by the famous Sadler's Wells Opera Company in 1960), as well as in stage productions of the smash-hit musicals Oliver! in London's West End and Man of La Mancha on Broadway. Moreover, Crowfoot had also starred in several Western movies and in a wide range of notable TV shows, the latter including Encounter, Quest, The Forest Rangers, Police Surgeon, NET Opera Theater, and The Great Detective.
Like I say, the internet is certainly a marvelous tool, enabling me to uncover information that had previously proved undiscoverable – but sometimes it can also yield information that I'd have preferred not to have uncovered. So it was with Mr Piper, for during my researches into this much-loved show, I was both shocked and extremely saddened to discover that Alan 'Mr Piper' Crofoot had committed suicide, in 1979, aged just 49. It was seemingly a tragic consequence of his inadvertent mixing of alcohol with blood pressure tablets. These tablets had previously sent him into fits of depression, and, exacerbated by alcohol drunk with them by him the night before, they apparently led Crofoot during the early morning of 5 March 1979 to jump to his death from the window of his fifth-floor hotel room in Dayton, Ohio – where he had been due to direct the Dayton Opera Company's production of Salome.
Such a tragic, terrible fate for someone who had always seemed so jolly and carefree in his Mr Piper persona, and who had brought so much happiness and joy to so many children, including me, down through the years, as well as to opera and stage musical aficionados, and to TV and movie buffs. May you rest in peace, Alan Crofoot, secure in the knowledge that even if Mr Piper is not widely known nowadays, with you as its star and genial title character it remains very fondly remembered and treasured in the memories of those of us who were fortunate enough to watch you in this warm-hearted, inspiring show back in its day, and which, by being both entertaining and educational, was far ahead of its time in the history of children's TV shows, a precursor of Play School and many others that have deftly combined fun and facts.
If this nostalgic blog article of mine (containing the most detailed Mr Piper coverage anywhere online) can help in however small or large a way to bring Mr Piper, and Mr Crowfoot, to the attention of modern generations of small-screen and music fans alike, I shall be very happy, and honoured.
Several of the Tele Tune cartoon segments
from episodes of Mr Piper can be
viewed on YouTube (here, here,
here,
and here,
for example), and are preceded by this show's thoroughly charming theme song. More recently, a few complete episodes have also surfaced on YouTube – so click here to watch one of them, and here to watch a second one (though its segments are not presented in this TV show's usual order of appearance).
Finally, I was pleasantly surprised to see a brand-new jumbo-sized Mr Piper fridge/freezer/locker magnet for sale on ebay recently, for just £1.99 plus p&p. Did I buy it? What do you think!! And here it is, a precious physical memento of my first-ever TV experience – and which remains to this day my all-time favourite TV experience too:
And the answer to Polly's earlier riddle? "When you're hungry!" Speaking of which: Polly's riddles were clearly an acquired taste!
To view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film/TV reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.
