''Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood'', also spelled ''Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood'' in

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, is an animated musical children's television series aimed at

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

children. It was created by Angela C. Santomero (who also created ''

Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American interactive educational television, educational children's television series created by Traci Paige Johnson, Todd Kessler, and Angela Santomero, Angela C. Santomero. It premiered on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block ...

'' and '' Super Why!'') and produced by

Fred Rogers Productions Fred Rogers Productions is an American non-profit organization specializing in children's programming for public television in the United States. Founded by Fred Rogers, it was initially renamed The Fred Rogers Company in his honor after his dea ...

, 9 Story Media Group, and 9 Story USA (formerly Out of the Blue Enterprises). The series debuted on September 3, 2012 on

PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...

, eleven years after ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001. It was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Its original incarnation, the se ...

'' ended and nine years after Fred Rogers' death. It is based on the Neighborhood of Make-Believe from ''Mister Rogers'', the family-oriented television series created and hosted by Rogers that aired from 1968 to 2001. In 2019, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on August 17, 2020 with '' Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Won't You Sing Along with Me?'', a musical special that dealt with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On August 20, 2021, the series was renewed for a sixth season, which premiered on September 5, 2022. A one-hour television movie, ''Daniel Visits a New Neighborhood'', aired on June 20, 2022.

Premise

The series centers around Daniel Tiger (son of Mom Tiger and Dad Tiger). It also features other children of the characters from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, such as Katerina Kittycat (daughter of Henrietta Pussycat), Miss Elaina (daughter of Lady Elaine Fairchilde and Music Man Stan), O the Owl (nephew of X the Owl) and Prince Wednesday (King Friday and Queen Sara Saturday's youngest son and Prince Tuesday's little brother). Two 11-minute segments are linked by a common socio-emotional theme, such as disappointment and sadness or anger and thankfulness. The theme also uses a musical motif phrase, which the show calls "strategy songs", to reinforce the theme and help children remember the life lessons. Many of the "strategy songs" are available in albums or as singles under the artist name "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood". The program is targeted at preschool-aged children; it teaches emotional intelligence, kindness, and human respect. Its content follows a curriculum based on Fred Rogers' teaching and new research into

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. It is—particularly from birth to five years— a foundation ...

Episodes

Characters

''Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood'' characters include Daniel, his little sister Margaret and their parents Mom and Dad Tiger. Teacher Harriet is his kindergarten teacher and his classmates are Miss Elaina, Jodi Platypus, O the Owl, Katerina Kittycat, and Prince Wednesday. They ride Trolley, a semi-sentient trolley like the one seen in the original ''Mister Rogers''.

Tiger family

* Daniel Tiger (voiced by Jake Beale in season 1, season 2 episodes 1-11, 13, 16-18 and season 3 episode 1, Devan Cohen in season 2 episodes 12, 14 and 15, 19 and 20 and season 3 episodes 2-25, Keegan Hedley in seasons 4 and 5, Asher Bolduc-Theron in "Daniel Visits a New Neighborhood" and season 6, Rain Janjua in season 7) and upcoming voice (Simon Webster in season 8) is a 5-year-old

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

cub who lives on Jungle Beach with his parents. In season 2, he became an older brother when his younger sister Margaret was introduced. His favorite toy is a blue stuffed tiger named Tigey, which he named after "Tigey the Adventure Tiger", his favorite storybook hero. Daniel often breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

by asking the viewers questions related to the content in the episodes. He differs in physical appearance from the Daniel Striped Tiger character in the ''Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood'' television show. In his house, the wardrobe and much of his home furnishings, are direct allusions to the ''Mr. Rogers'' studio house. He is allergic to peaches. His catchphrases are "Grr-ific!" "Tiger-tastic!" "Ugga Mugga" and "Wasn't that Grr-ific?" He has been the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

since 2018. * Margaret Tiger (voiced by Kira Gelineau in seasons 2 and 3, Bryn McAuley starting with season 4) is Daniel's 1-year-old sister who was introduced in season 2. Her favorite toy is Pandy, a stuffed panda. She is named after Daniel's favorite baby book, "Margaret's Music", and her great-grandmother with the same name. She calls Daniel "Dan-Dan" and had a birthday party in episode 11 of season 4, "Margaret's Birthday Buddy" / "Margaret's Birthday Party". * Mom Tiger (voiced by Heather Bambrick) is Daniel's mother, who works as a carpenter as of the first episode of season 4, "Daniel Finds Something to Do". In the first episode of season 2, she was pregnant and in the subsequent episode, she visited Dr. Anna and gave birth to Margaret. In ''

,'' there was a "Collette Tiger" who referred to her grandfather (as Daniel does to his) as "grandpere". * Dad Tiger is Daniel's father, who is a photographer and also works at the clock factory, where he maintains different clocks and is responsible for "chime time". He is loosely based upon the Daniel Striped Tiger puppet from ''

'', a very shy orphan who lived inside a non-functioning grandfather clock. He mentions that he has a paternal grandmother named Margaret in the season 2 premiere. He is voiced by Ted Dykstra. * Grandpere Tiger (voiced by François Klanfer) is Daniel's paternal French-accented grandfather ( being French for 'grandfather') who travels in his sailboat. In the season 2 premiere, he tells Daniel that his mother was named Margaret.

Owl family

* O the Owl (voiced by Zachary Bloch in early season 1, Stuart Ralston from mid-season 1-2, Parker Lauzon in Season 3, Benjamin Hum from season 4-early season 6, Ian Ho in mid-season 6 and Remy Smith starting with season 7) is an anthropomorphic little blue owl who lives with his uncle, X. His catchphrases are "Hoo hoo" and "Nifty galifty!" * X the Owl (voiced by Tony Daniels) is O's uncle whose feathers are still the same dark blue color as they were in ''

.'' He works at the neighborhood library. X's catchphrases are "How in the world are you?" and "Nifty galifty!"

Cat family

* Katerina Kittycat (voiced by Amariah Faulkner from season 1-3, Jenna Weir in seasons 4 & 5 and Maya Misaljevic starting with season 6) is a playful anthropomorphic

kitten A kitten is a Juvenile (organism), juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are fully dependent on their mothers for #Establishing immunity, survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. A ...

, she loves dance and music. She is O the Owl's next-door neighbor and one of Daniel's closest friends. Her catchphrase is "Meow-meow", and her favorite toy is Penelope Pig. * Henrietta Pussycat (voiced by Teresa Pavlinek) is Katerina's mother. She is a supporting character who shares her love of dancing with her daughter.

Royal family

* Prince Wednesday (voiced by Nicholas Kaegi in season 1, Jaxon Mercey from season 2-4, Callum Shoniker from season 5-6 and Luke Dietz starting with season 7) is the Royal Family's youngest son who lives in the Castle. He is one of Daniel's five classmates and his best friend, has a rock collection and often pretends to be different animals. He frequently uses the adjective "royal" to refer to objects in his possession and says "Boop-she-boop-she-boo" when he is happy. His stuffed animals are Mr. Lizard, Sir Jumpy Frog, Bananas Monkey, and Polly Wolly Parrot. * King Friday XIII (voiced by Jamie Watson) is the Ruler of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, married to Queen Sara, has two sons—Prince Tuesday and Prince Wednesday—and is Chrissie's uncle. His arrival is often preceded by trumpet fanfare, and he makes all the public announcements in the neighborhood. He enjoys bowling in his spare time, one of the rare instances he does not wear royal garb. He usually greets others with "Royal Greetings, royal greetings." He is a 2D animated model while his puppet model is voiced by Matt Vogel for '' Donkey Hodie''. * Queen Sara Saturday (voiced by Catherine Disher) is King Friday's wife, Prince Tuesday's and Prince Wednesday's mother and Chrissie's aunt. She is a supporting character, not seen as often as the other members of the royal family. * Prince Tuesday (voiced by Tommy Lioutas) is Prince Wednesday's older brother, King Friday's heir apparent and Daniel Tiger's babysitter. He also works at the neighborhood restaurant as a waiter, at the market as a grocery clerk, a crossing guard near the school, as a lifeguard at the neighborhood pool and cleans Trolley. He went to college in the episode 'Prince Tuesday Goes to College'. However, he's back for a visit in the episode 'Prince Tuesday Visits'. * Chrissie (voiced by Matilda Gilbert) is Prince Tuesday and Wednesday's cousin and King Friday and Queen Sara's niece. Her legs cannot work on their own, so she has to use braces on her legs and crutches on her arms. Occasionally, she needs some help, but mostly, she likes playing blocks with Jodi as Daniel loves to pretend that their toys are riding Trains with their train sounds with his engineer's hat and reading a book about trains and has books about everything in his room. His playing engineer that she said "Choo-choo!" with Amira, Doing things for herself. She has a horse named Peaches. She also attends the neighborhood school. As a part of the Royal family, she would be princess of the family. She was introduced in 'Daniel's New Friend'. Chrissie is based on Chrissy Thompson, a regular visitor on ''

.''

Museum-Go-Round family

* Miss Elaina (voiced by Addison Holley from season 1-4 and Markeda McKay starting with season 5) is a silly and playful girl with afro puffs who enjoys doing things backwards and lives with her parents, Lady Elaine and Music Man Stan, in the Museum-Go-Round. She is one of Daniel's five classmates and often imagines space travel and robots. Her favorite toy is "Astrid the Astronaut", and her catchphrase is "Hiya, toots!" * Music Man Stan (voiced by Jeremiah Sparks) is Miss Elaina's father who owns the Neighborhood Music Shop, one of Daniel's favorite places to visit. He is also a firefighter with Dr. Anna and is in the musical duo "Bread and Jam" with Baker Aker. Music Man Stan is based on the actor Stanley Bennett Clay and his character he played on ''Christmastime with Mr. Rogers'' called The Music Man. * Lady Elaine (voiced by Teresa Pavlinek) is Miss Elaina's mother who works at the crayon factory and is a curator of the Museum-Go-Round.

Platypus family

* Jodi Platypus (voiced by Laaibah Alvi) is a 5-year-old

platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypi ...

who is shy around new acquaintances but can be silly once she gets comfortable. She loves to play hide and seek and is resourceful, with a well-stocked pocket of supplies. Her catchphrase is "Yippee Skippy!" Her favorite toy is Benji, a stuffed hedgehog. Jodi has asthma. * Dr. Platypus (voiced by Miku Graham) is a mother to Jodi, Leo, and Teddy, and the daughter of Nana Platypus. Sometimes, she calls her daughter Jodi Jojo Bean. She works as the new neighborhood dentist. * Teddy Platypus (voiced by Bryn McAuley) is a 2-year-old twin to Leo and one of Jodi's younger brothers who is fast, rambunctious and loves to play hide and seek. * Leo Platypus (voiced by Milo Torriel-Gibbon) is a 2-year-old twin to Teddy and one of Jodi's younger brothers who is careful and shy, but loves to cheer on his family. * Nana Platypus (voiced by

Elizabeth Hanna Elizabeth Hanna is a Canadian film and television actress and speech language pathologist, most notable for her voice acting work in animated films. She is best known as the voice of Hen in '' Little Bear''. History Early history Elizabeth H ...

) is Jodi's grandmother who lives with her grandchildren Jodi, Teddy and Leo and works as a hairdresser.

Teacher Harriet's family

* Teacher Harriet (voiced by Shawne Jackson) is Daniel's kindergarten teacher. Her class consists of seven students: Daniel Tiger, Miss Elaina, Prince Wednesday, Princess Chrissie, O the Owl, Katerina Kittycat and Jodi Platypus. Teacher Harriet the human may be based on the ''Mister Rogers'' character Harriet Elizabeth Cow from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, who appears in '' Donkey Hodie'', another spin-off. * Max (voiced by Israel Thomas-Bruce) is Teacher Harriet's

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

nephew. He loves all things buses and bugs. * Amira (also known as Amia; voiced by Mikaela Blake) is the niece of Teacher Harriet and Max's big sister. * Jacob is the father of Max and Amira and the brother-in-law of Harriet. * Anne is Max and Amiras mother and Harriets sister.

Juan Carlos's family

* Juan Carlos (voiced by Desmond Sivan) is Daniel's Latino pen pal, who lives in another neighborhood than Daniel. * Valentina is Mom Tiger's friend and Juan Carlos's mother. * Felipe (voiced by Keram Malicki Sanchez) is Juan Carlos's father.

Other neighbors

* Baker Aker (voiced by Jon Filici) owns and runs the neighborhood bakery. He is Cuban, as he says in a 2016 segment called "A Visit with Baker Aker". He has baked pastries for Daniel and his family on many occasions and plays with Music Man Stan in Bread & Jam. He is based on the ''Mister Rogers'' character Chef Brockett and his name is an homage to Neighbor Aber, Charles R. Aber, of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''. He marries Dr. Anna in the episode 'The Neighborhood Wedding'. * Mr. McFeely (voiced by Derek McGrath) is the neighborhood mailman who is often on his bicycle delivering parcels and arrives and departs by saying "Speedy delivery!" He is the only human character from ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' to be brought to ''Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood''. * Dr. Anna (voiced by Laara Sadiq) is the neighborhood physician; she is Indian. She assisted Mom Tiger give birth to Baby Margaret, got new eyeglasses for Prince Wednesday and has helped other characters with injuries or illnesses to recuperate. She is also a firefighter with Music Man Stan. She is allergic to peanuts. In the episode 'The Neighborhood Wedding', she marries Baker Aker. Though human, she shares several characteristics of the platypus family of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'': their patriarch, Bill Platypus, was the neighborhood physician and spoke with a foreign accent and his daughter was named Ana. * Dr. Lee (voiced by Samantha Wan) is the doctor who helps Daniel Tiger with his surgery in the season 5 episode "Daniel Goes to the Hospital". * Trolley is a red, autonomous, semi-sentient trolley that transports Daniel and his friends anywhere in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. It understands verbal commands clearly and replies by ringing its bell and blowing its whistle twice, which Daniel often imitates. It is the same trolley from ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''.

Production

The series is produced by

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

-based

(formerly The Fred Rogers Company and Family Communications),

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

-based Out of the Blue Enterprises (now 9 Story USA) and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-based 9 Story Media Group, and animated with Adobe Animate (formerly Adobe Flash Professional) with music created at Voodoo Highway Music & Post.

Release and availability

In 2006, three years after Fred Rogers' death and after the end of production of ''

,'' The Fred Rogers Company contacted Angela Santomero to ask what type of show she would create to promote Rogers' legacy. That conversation led to the creation of ''Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.'' PBS initially ordered 40 episodes, which were broadcast between September 3, 2012 and February 21, 2014. PBS Kids renewed the series for a second season of 20 episodes, which premiered on August 18, 2014. On July 7, 2015, the series was renewed for a third season of 25 episodes, which premiered on September 5, 2016. On October 11, 2017, the series was renewed for a fourth season of 20 episodes and a one-hour special ''Won't You Be Our Neighbor,'' which premiered on July 11, 2018. Cartoon Network UK's sister pre-school channel

Cartoonito Cartoonito is a brand name used by Warner Bros. Discovery for a collection of television networks and Block programming, programming blocks aimed at preschool children. The name combines the "cartoon" with the Spanish language, Spanish suffix " ...

premiered ''Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood'' on March 1, 2016. The series had previously been available for streaming on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

before July 1, 2016, when a multi-year agreement for the catalog of many of PBS' children's series with

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

went into effect. A smaller selection of current episodes is also available through the PBS Kids app on several digital media player and tablet/smartphone platforms. It also now airs on international

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

channels around the world. Indonesian kids TV Cable Channel's Next Hungama premiered the show on April 1, 2023.

Awards and nominations

''Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood'' has won and been nominated for several awards in children's broadcasting. It won Silver Parents' Choice Awards in 2013 and 2014, was nominated for the Television Critics' Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming in 2013 and 2014 and was a 2014 Prix Jeunesse International Selection. In 2019, it won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Animated Program.

References

External links

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