Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings

{{Short description|British-Canadian children's TV series (1974–1976)}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings title card.png

| caption = Title card

| alt_name =

| genre = Children's television series

| creator = Edward McLachlan

| writer = Glyn Frewler

| director = Ivor Wood

| narrated = Bernard Cribbins

| theme_music_composer = Mike Batt

| composer = Mike Batt

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| num_series = 2

| num_episodes = 24

| editor = Helen Kelsey

| runtime = 5 minutes

| company = FilmFair London
Thames TelevisionCheck FilmFair

| channel = ITV

| first_aired = {{start date|df=y|1974|10|05}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1976}}

| related =

}}

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings is a British-Canadian children's animated series about the adventures of a young boy named Simon, who has a magic blackboard.{{cite book |last1=Sheridan |first1=Simon |title=The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee |date=2004 |publisher=Reynolds & Hearn Ltd |isbn=1903111277 |pages=230–232}} Things that Simon draws on the chalkboard become real in the Land of Chalk Drawings, a parallel world 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 ITV and was originally a five-minute programme, broadcast around tea time in Britain. Despite that, it was first screened in Canada during CBC's Children's Cinema program on 5 October 1974 while selected ITV regions didn't start showing the program until 27 March 1976.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date=1974-10&iid=2270&keyword=%22Simon+in+the+land+of+chalk+drawings%22|title="Simon in the land of chalk drawings" - Search - Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date=1976-03&iid=2270&keyword=%22Simon+in+the+land+of+chalk+drawings%22|title="Simon in the land of chalk drawings" - Search - Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}} It also became familiar to North 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 writer and performer of the theme song is Mike Batt, with his first wife Wendy on vocals. Mike Batt also wrote the theme for The Wombles, also produced by FilmFair and narrated by Bernard Cribbins.

Original episodes

= Series overview =

class="wikitable"

!Series

!Episodes

!First aired

!Last aired

1

|12

|5 October 1974

|1975

2

|12

|1975

|1976

=Series 1=

class="wikitable"

!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=

class="wikitable"

!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

{{Infobox television

| image =

| caption =

| alt_name =

| genre = Children's television

| creator =

| developer =

| writer =

| director =

| creative_director =

| starring =

| voices =

| narrated = Ernie Coombs (Canadian version)

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = Canada
China

| language = English

| num_series = 1

| num_episodes = 13 (65 shorts)

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer =

| producer =

| editor =

| location =

| cinematography =

| camera =

| runtime = 5 minutes

| company = CINAR Corporation
Shanghai Animation Film Studio

| channel = Teletoon
OTV (Shanghai Media Group)

| first_aired = {{Start date|df=yes|2002|09|02}}{{cite press release |date=28 August 2002 |title=Fall 2002 Highlights: Teletoon |url=http://www.channelcanada.com/canadian-channels/specialty-channels/teletoon/fall-2002-highlights-teletoon |url-status=live |location=Toronto |publisher=Teletoon |agency=Channel Canada |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021080011/http://www.channelcanada.com/canadian-channels/specialty-channels/teletoon/fall-2002-highlights-teletoon |archive-date=21 October 2013 }}

| last_aired = {{End date|df=yes|2002|09|18}}{{Cite FTP |url=ftp://support.crtc.gc.ca/logs/|server=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission|url-status=dead|title=Television Program Logs|date=2016-03-02}} [https://archive.org/details/support_crtc_gc_ca15052016 Alt URL]

}}

A new series premiered in 2002 on Teletoon in Canada with a new theme song, a new character in that of Lily, who was added to make the show appeal to girl viewers,{{Cite web|url=https://kidscreen.com/2002/04/01/classic-20020401/|title=Producers resurrect antiquated heroes to brave the new programming reality}} an updated and more casual outfit for Simon, a different colour scheme and narrated by Ernie Coombs.

Parody

The series was later parodied on NBC's Saturday Night Live by Mike Myers.{{cite book |last1=O'Connell |first1=Mark |title=Modern Brides & Modern Grooms: A Guide to Planning Straight, Gay, and Other Nontraditional Twenty-First-Century Weddings |date=2017 |publisher=Skyhorse |isbn=9781510711525 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJX1DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT53}} The sketches open with the same musical theme and similar lyrics, but take place in Simon's bathtub, where he shows and discusses his "drawerings" with viewers.

References

External links

{{IMDb title|0291665}}
{{IMDb title|0364874|Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings (2002)}}
[http://www.thechestnut.com/simon/simon.htm Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings] at TheChestnut.com. Retrieved 5 January 2014.

Category:1970s British children's television series

Category:2000s Canadian children's television series

Category:2000s Canadian animated television series

Category:1970s preschool education television series

Category:2000s preschool education television series

Category:Animated preschool education television series

Category:British preschool education television series

Category:Canadian preschool education television series

Category:1974 British television series debuts

Category:1974 animated television series debuts

Category:1976 British television series endings

Category:2002 Canadian television series debuts