''Mr. Piper'' is a 1963 Canadian children's TV series. The series was created by
Martin Andrews and
Allan Wargon, who was also the producer. 39 episodes were produced.
Overview
The show's host was a large Canadian opera tenor
Alan Crofoot, dressed as a
Pied Piper
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
The legend dates back to ...
with a flower in his hat. He would introduce four segments in each half-hour programme:
*''Teletune'' - as a narrator of limited animation cartoons of fantasy stories
*''Port of Call'' - presenter of films about children and events in other lands;
*''Bag of Tricks'' - Crofoot performs magic tricks;
*''Animal Farm'' - many farmyard characters telling the story of the day in miniature barnyard sets, featuring Rupert the Rat, Bessie the Bunny, Kookie the Kitten, Harriet Hen, Freddie Frog, Calvin (Rac)Coon and Charlotte Cow.
Thirty-nine episodes were produced.
It was originally shown by
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
and also became well known in the United Kingdom,
Sterling Times
/ref> where it was repeated on ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
throughout the 1960s and 1970s, often as part of school summer holiday programming. In May/June 1972, some ''Mr. Piper'' episodes were transmitted, dubbed into Italian, by the RAI-TV network.
Episode list
*Oh My Baby
*Ali Baba
*Brave Molly
*It's A Triple
*Touch Me
*Hasty and the Princess
*The Kindhearted Girl
*The Magic Horn
*The Three Sisters
*The Proud Princess
*It Grew Two Sizes
*Ahmed the Merchant
*Hansel and Gretel
*The Wild Swans
*The Tin Soldier
*The Three Brothers
*Hassan the Simple
*The Three Soldiers
References
External links
*
Alan Crofoot on ''Canadian Encyclopedia''
1960s Canadian animated television series
Television series by ITC Entertainment
CBC Television original programming
1963 Canadian television series debuts
1964 Canadian television series endings
1960s Canadian children's television series
Black-and-white Canadian television shows
Canadian television series with live action and animation
English-language television shows
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