Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings

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Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
Genre Children's television
Created by Edward McLachlan
Written by Glyn Frewler
Directed by Ivor Wood
Narrated by Bernard Cribbins
Theme music composer Mike Batt
Composer(s) Mike Batt
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 24
Production
Editor(s) Helen Kelsey
Running time 5 minutes
Production company(s) FilmFair
Release
Original network Thames Television
Audio format Monaural
Original release 1974 (1974) –
1976 (1976)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings is a British children's animated series about the adventures of a young boy named Simon, who has a magic blackboard.[1] Things that Simon draws on the chalkboard become real in the Land of Chalk Drawings, 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 Thames Television, and was originally a five-minute programme, broadcast around tea time in Britain. It also became familiar to 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 performer of the theme song is unknown, as his/her name is not mentioned in the credits.

In 2002 the series was remade in Canada, with Ernie Coombs as the narrator.

Original episodes

Series overview

Series Episodes First aired Last aired
1 12 1974 1975
2 12 1975 1976

Series 1

No.

overall

 No. in

series

 Title
1 1 "Simon Meets Henry"
2 2 "Simon Meets the Teacher and the Children"
3 3 "Simon and the Chalk Drawing Band"
4 4 "Simon and the Moon Rocket (part one)"
5 5 "Simon and the Moon Rocket (part two)"
6 6 "Simon and the Caveman"
7 7 "Simon and the Sea"
8 8 "Simon and the Chameleon"
9 9 "Simon's Double"
10 10 "Simon and the Elephant"
11 11 "Simon and the Football Match"
12 12 "Simon and the Return Match"

Series 2

No.

overall

 No. in

series

 Title
13 1 "Simon and the Early Morning"
14 2 "Simon and the Chalk Drawing Cars"
15 3 "Simon and the Dinosaur"
16 4 "Simon and the Knight"
17 5 "Simon and the Rainbow"
18 6 "Simon and the Pied Piper"
19 7 "Simon and the Robot"
20 8 "Simon and the Measles"
21 9 "Simon and the Flags"
22 10 "Simon and the Chalk Drawing Sports Day"
23 11 "Simon and the Pop Singer"
24 12 "Simon and the Detective"

2002 revival

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
Genre Children's television
Country of origin Canada
China
Original language(s) English
Chinese
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 13 (65 shorts)
Production
Running time 5 minutes
Production company(s) CINAR Corporation
Shanghai Animation Film Studio
Distributor CINAR
Release
Original network Teletoon
OTV (Shanghai Media Group)
Original release 2 September (2002-09-02)[2] –
18 September 2002 (2002-09-18)[3]
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

A new series premiered in 2002 on Teletoon in Canada with a new theme song, an updated and more casual outfit for Simon, a different colour scheme and narrated by Ernie Coombs (in his final role; in a tragic subnote, he would suffer an ultimately-fatal stroke while recording his last sessions for the show[citation needed]). It was co-produced by Cinar Animation and Shanghai Animation Film Studio and directed by Francois Perreault. Simon's friend Henry is replaced with a girl named Lily. In this new version, Simon wears a striped T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers.

Parody

The series was later parodied on NBC's Saturday Night Live by Mike Myers.[4] The sketches open with the same musical theme and lyrics, but take place in Simon's bathtub, where he shows and discusses his "drawerings" with viewers.

See also

References

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  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link] Alt URL
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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