. . . featured a "Crofoot Elementary School." I remember wishing that my home had been in THAT district, so that I could have gone to this neat-sounding facility. Perhaps watching Mr. C. (aka "Mr. Piper") is the next best thing.
9 Reviews
Mr. Piper in the United States
deweesekeith22 July 2023
"Mr. Piper" entertained many children in the United States BUT a kid had to live near the Canadian-US border to tune into the CBC, which broadcast it early in the morning. Growing up in Detroit, Michigan, Alan Crofoot could be heard singing in our den regularly thanks to CBC Channel 9. Then there was "The Friendly Giant," "Chez Helene," and "Casey and Mister Dressup." Mr. Piper was the one I crushed on though. He was just so amiably and beaming with a beautiful voice. I was so sorry to read about how Crofoot passed away. He's at peace now; while we have platforms like YouTube to watch him and all the other live action and animated shows we sometimes think we dreamed :)
Touching Children's Show From 1963- Tragic Death Of Host
jake j30 September 2006
I just saw an episode of this 22 min CBC kiddie show dubbed from a mediocre 16mm print to DVD and the enterprise was bizarre, fascinating and strangely touching. The host, portly opera star Alan Crofoot, never appeared on television again after the one-year run of this series, but gained popularity in the UK via reruns of the show in the late 1960's. While preparing for an opera in Dayton Ohio in 1979, Crofoot committed suicide at the age of 49. His powerful tenor voice, badly dubbed on Mr. Piper, was impressive, as was the charming attempt to incorporate incongruous short documentary films of the world's children along with a creaky in=house series of pets with human voices forced to undergo various perils to their obvious disdain. Mr. Piper is an amazing relic that reeks with that chilling early 60's TV feel, replete with faded color. The theme song, when first heard, can never be shaken. As an American, I was delighted to see an episode of this forgotten series that never screened in the USA. RIP Mr. Piper.......
Just judging from the Teletunes, this may have been a good show.
nostalgicman200418 October 2005
Accoring to the IMDb summary of this show "Mr. Piper" had Teletunes which were narrated fantasy stories. Somehow at least 11 of these Teletunes have been available in the American public domain for years. These include: Ali Baba, The Kind Hearthed Girl, The Story of Brave Molly and The Tin Soldier. These Teletunes are drawn with very crude, limited animation. Yet somehow with Alan Crofoot's narration, fanciful stories and good voicing, they are enjoyable enough. Alan Crofoot makes a likable host, the Teletunes are enjoyable stories and one can only wonder what the rest of the program was like.
I have read some sources that say that while this program was syndicated mainly in Canada and Britain it did have some very limited release in America. WGN-TV archival site lists this show on it schedule in 1965.
10 of the 11 available "Mr. Piper" Teletunes are available on a dollar DVD called "Herman and Friends" and The Tin Soldier is usually included in some Christmas Cartoon collections.
I have read some sources that say that while this program was syndicated mainly in Canada and Britain it did have some very limited release in America. WGN-TV archival site lists this show on it schedule in 1965.
10 of the 11 available "Mr. Piper" Teletunes are available on a dollar DVD called "Herman and Friends" and The Tin Soldier is usually included in some Christmas Cartoon collections.
The Mr. Piper Show
kamsteele-755-1985653 June 2010
I stumbled upon a program called Cartoon Classic, on the Bridges TV Channel, and saw several episodes of Mr Piper. As a child of the 60's I found the show fascinating, and enjoy watching them. It's a shame that it never aired in the United States when it ran. I think it would have been a hit. Shame he ended his life early. Rest in peace Mr. Piper. The Cartoon Classic show can be seen Tuesday and Thursday at 10am, and again at 3pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 12pm. They show cartoons from the 30's to the 60's. They show cartoons such as some of the very first Popeye cartoons, Harvey Toons (The Talking Magpies, Little Audrey, Little Lu Lu, Baby Huey, etc), Betty Boop, the old MGM cartoons, that are absolutely hilarious. There were cartoon that I had not seen in over forty years. The show is a blast to watch.
Teletunes Availability
spirit1124 December 2006
I purchased a DVD collection from the company "DVD Megapacks" a few years ago entitled, "!00 Cartoon Classics." Disk 4 of that collection includes the following Teletunes: Ali Baba, The Magic Horn, Brave Molly, Hasty and the Princess, The Kindhearted Girl, The Three Sisters, and The Proud Princess.
As noted in other comments, the animation is crude but when accompanied by Mr. Crofoot's narration makes them interesting and introduced my children and me to several fairy tales I and they had never heard of. Tales such as "The Three Sisters" have character voicing with little or no narration and they do not fare as well.
If you have young children as I do, these are a decidedly different type of animation than the kids were used to, and generally enjoyable.
As noted in other comments, the animation is crude but when accompanied by Mr. Crofoot's narration makes them interesting and introduced my children and me to several fairy tales I and they had never heard of. Tales such as "The Three Sisters" have character voicing with little or no narration and they do not fare as well.
If you have young children as I do, these are a decidedly different type of animation than the kids were used to, and generally enjoyable.
Sweet clean nostalgia
garzillo1317 September 2019
Soft Sell Home Schooling
redryan6429 July 2014
WE DISCOVERED THIS unusual, low key and genteel series quite accidentally. My brothers, Jim & Bob Ryan had paper routes in our Chicago Southside Neighborhood of West Englewood and I, the older brother, would often help them to finish early. Then after a 7:00 or 8:00 AM Mass at St. Theodore Church, the rest of Sunday morning was free.
AS WAS OFTEN the case, there was not anything else to do. So, depending on the Midwest's ever-changing Meteorological conditions (that's Weather, Schultz), That meant that we had early sessions with our living room B & W TV.
BEING THAT Sunday mornings were a low viewer participation period with the local stations, it was an excellent time to unleash and unload a Lion's share of those Public Service Announcements and those community oriented programs of Brotherhood, be it Religious or secular in nature.
ODDLY ENOUGH, AT an hour when most faithful Churchgoers, regardless of faith or denomination, were not even at their chosen place of worship, here we were viewing a most unusual kiddie show. And although we did not realize it at the time, but this was really an "import";eing that it was produced in Toronto, Canada.
SO IT CAME to pass that the Ryan household discovered MR. PIPER. Being that there was nothing much else in the way of competition on, we often watched. If for no other reason that it was a curiosity piece, we were familiar with this series and hadn't thought about it for some time. Until just today, while surfing the web, we stumbled onto a video of it on Youtube.com.
WHAT IT WAS in essence was that sort of show that was aimed at young kids and was intended to subtly and ever so gently instruct their young minds in good judgment, good manners and a consideration for others. This is the same sort of role that people such as Miss Frances (DING DONG SCHOOL), Bob Keeshin (CAPTAIN KANGAROO) and Fred Rogers (MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD) had long advocated.
ONE THING THAT was impossible to ignore was the opening that was sung by Host/Mr.Piper (Alan Crofoot). It was obvious that his was a classically trained, operatic voice.
THIS WAS CLEARLY evident, even to some Southside Irish lads in Chicago.
AS WAS OFTEN the case, there was not anything else to do. So, depending on the Midwest's ever-changing Meteorological conditions (that's Weather, Schultz), That meant that we had early sessions with our living room B & W TV.
BEING THAT Sunday mornings were a low viewer participation period with the local stations, it was an excellent time to unleash and unload a Lion's share of those Public Service Announcements and those community oriented programs of Brotherhood, be it Religious or secular in nature.
ODDLY ENOUGH, AT an hour when most faithful Churchgoers, regardless of faith or denomination, were not even at their chosen place of worship, here we were viewing a most unusual kiddie show. And although we did not realize it at the time, but this was really an "import";eing that it was produced in Toronto, Canada.
SO IT CAME to pass that the Ryan household discovered MR. PIPER. Being that there was nothing much else in the way of competition on, we often watched. If for no other reason that it was a curiosity piece, we were familiar with this series and hadn't thought about it for some time. Until just today, while surfing the web, we stumbled onto a video of it on Youtube.com.
WHAT IT WAS in essence was that sort of show that was aimed at young kids and was intended to subtly and ever so gently instruct their young minds in good judgment, good manners and a consideration for others. This is the same sort of role that people such as Miss Frances (DING DONG SCHOOL), Bob Keeshin (CAPTAIN KANGAROO) and Fred Rogers (MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD) had long advocated.
ONE THING THAT was impossible to ignore was the opening that was sung by Host/Mr.Piper (Alan Crofoot). It was obvious that his was a classically trained, operatic voice.
THIS WAS CLEARLY evident, even to some Southside Irish lads in Chicago.
Crude, weird
jmngrdnr14 December 2023
This strange cartoon show from the 60s is very crudely animated and disturbingly weird. One episode is about a kid whose dad remarries a witch in disguise who sends the stepdaughter to her sister's house to be eaten. Yep, you heard that right. Nothing at all makes any sense when a little bird tells her to hold onto certain things she'll need on her journey. These items do end up saving her life, but in truly bizarre ways which will end up only making your kids scratch their heads and ask strange questions.
If my parents had sat me down in front of this shoestring budget animation back then, I think I would have had nightmares. Seriously! Don't let the high rating fool you. Avoid this drivel and instead take your kids out for a day at the playground.
If my parents had sat me down in front of this shoestring budget animation back then, I think I would have had nightmares. Seriously! Don't let the high rating fool you. Avoid this drivel and instead take your kids out for a day at the playground.
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