‘WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?’
PG-13 1:34 HHH ½
This year marks both the 50th anniversary of the debut of the seminal children’s television program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and the 15th anniversary of the death of its legendary creator, writer and star, Fred Rogers.
And if the dual anniversaries aren’t occasion enough to pay tribute to the beloved TV personality’s mission of teaching children to know their inherent worth, treat other people with compassion and work through their emotions, then perhaps these tumultuous times are adequate motivation to revisit Rogers’ philosophy of radical caring.
Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville’s (“Twenty Feet from Stardom”) “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is one of the best celebrations of Rogers’ legacy I’ve seen to date. Through archival clips, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Rogers and his family, friends and colleagues, the surprisingly tear-jerking and wistful biography depicts the cardigan-wearing TV icon as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get child advocate who also happened to be a singular revolutionary for kindness and optimism that we didn’t really recognize until he was gone.
Starting with the launch of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” Neville’s documentary shifts back and forth in time, sometimes getting a bit scattered along the way and giving some interesting aspects of Rogers’ life, especially his childhood and his Christian faith, short shrift.
But it’s hard to argue with the filmmaker’s choice to focus on the puppeteer, writer and ordained Presbyterian minister’s pioneering work with youngsters, on the Pittsburgh public TV show “Children’s Corner” and eventually on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Rogers’ desire to use the new medium of television to help children through some of the difficulties of life, rather than as a loud and violent conduit for mindless kiddie entertainment, often bumped against the irony, as one of his sons notes, that “for someone who was in television, he hated television.”
Through the recollections of cast members David Newell (who played Mr. McFeely), Joe Negri (Handyman Negri) and especially Francois Clemmons (Officer Clemmons), we are reminded of how Rogers used his seemingly mildmannered show to guide youngsters through the horrors of Robert Kennedy’s assassination and the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, to promote love and harmony among people of different races and abilities, and normalize emotions like anger, fear and insecurity.
Perhaps taking a cue from his subject, Neville takes his time, letting the accompanying clips from the TV show spool out and denizens of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe sing their songs and talk through their issues. Sure, there’s a definite nostalgia factor, but when the change-averse King Friday XIII surprises his citizens by building a wall around the kingdom, it’s clear that Mister Rogers took on some still-timely issues with his now-famous hand-puppets.
The show’s puppet characters were more than just handy storytelling tools; they were Rogers’ alter egos, especially the shy favorite Daniel Striped Tiger, who also appears in lively animated sequences. Although the documentary fervently pays homage to Rogers and his work, it doesn’t idolize the man, showing us that even the model Mr. Nice Guy had his prickly, self-doubting control freak side and struggled sometimes to do right by his friends.
It is a bit surprising that a documentary about everyone’s favorite child advocate isn’t more familyfriendly. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is actually rated PG-13 for language and adult themes. I took my 11-year-old son, Gabe, to see the film after he read a biography of Rogers for school and got the unwelcome experience of explaining the activities of the Westboro Baptist Church to him.
Still, it’s virtually impossible not to feel lifted up when Rogers’ heartfelt 1969 testimony prompts grumpy Sen. John O. Pastore, D .-R.I., to pledge $20 million in funding for the fledgling Corporation for Public Broadcasting; to hold back the tears when Rogers gets a surprise reunion with grown-up quadriplegic Jeff Erlanger, who made a memorable appearance as a boy on the show; or to get a warm smile on your face when the host swaps out his cardigan and shoes. But it’s hard not to be a little sad, too, that they don’t make shows like “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” anymore for our children to love and learn to be loved.
Starring: Fred Rogers (archival footage), Joanne Rogers, Francois Clemmons (some thematic elements and language).