In the original program, Daniel represented the youngest age of all the puppets.
In the pre-79s at least, Prince Tuesday and Ana were clearly younger than Daniel. Tuesday and Ana weren't even born until 1970, while Daniel was old enough to speak English for the entire series.
The fact that he had no parents always made him particularly vulnerable & precious. I always thought of him as an orphan. Of the 3 school children at Someplace Else, only Daniel did not have 2 parents.
According to the University of Pittsburgh files, in Episode 101, Daniel mentions that his mother used to whistle him to sleep when he was younger. That implies that Daniel had at least a mother, who was never seen on camera.
Today saw the preview of DTN. Hated it. robotic drawings, a sameness to all the figures, flat and dull. Generic voices.
I'm sorry to hear you didn't like it. What I saw of it looked cute, but I have to agree with you that it is nowhere near as good as MRN. MRN dealt with many serious topics that are important to kids. I know you have said that many of the more serious topics (such as the assasination special, the death of a goldfish episode, Divorce week, Conflict week, the violence in the news special) were ideas that you had suggested to Fred. It's a shame that children's programs these days are shying way from topics like these. As you know, life isn't always fun and games.
Also, your wonderful acting and singing will be sorely missed on this new series. Lady Aberlin was one of the most beloved characters from a children's series. I realize that Fred created the character and wrote her lines and she wasn't very much like your real life personality. But your acting skills were what brought that character to life! Also, as I mentioned in another thread, you have one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard.
A father and mother for Daniel
Actually, the Daniel chracter from MRN is the father of the new Daniel in DTN. Daniel from MRN is married to Mom Tiger, and they have a son that is also named Daniel.
and a clock with hands on it (!) beside Daniel. A "think-positive" cliche that does not even take time to honor the disappointment of the smushed cake.
Yeah, Daniel seemed to get over the diapointment of the smashed cake a little too easily. If it was MRN with the old Daniel, he would have been very upset, and he would have had a heart to heart conversation with Lady Aberlin, who would have assured him that everything is ok, and they would have ugga mugaed at the end. That kind of interaction was one of the things that made MRN so special. I don't think a cartoon would ever be able to re-create the emotion that you showed with Daniel. Just having Daniel instantly get over the smashed cake doesn't seem as helpul to young kids as a convesation with the old Daniel and Lady Aberlin.
One of my pet peeves is when an adult tells a child (or another adult) to just "get over something" or that "life isn't fair" so they should just accept it and move on. I have a bad feeling that DTN might be headed in that direction, but it's hard to tell based on just that preview. I much prefer the heart to heart conversations that Lady Aberlin had with Daniel.
Daniel is somehow a bit older, while other animal neighbors are - what? - relatives of the original beings?
The puppets from MRN are now all adults, and the major characters in DTN are the children of those puppets. Daniel Tiger is the son of the original Daniel Striped Tiger (who married Mom Tiger). Katerina Kittycat is the daughter of Henrietta Pussycat (who aparently married a Mr. Kittycat). O the Owl is the son of X the Owl. Miss Elaina is the daughter of Lady Elaine, who married Stan the Music Man. Not sure if Prince Wednesday is supposed to be the younger brother or the son of Prince Tuesday. I know that on MRN, Daniel, Henrietta, X the Owl, Lady Elaine, and Prince Tuesday were all different ages, but on DTN, they seem to have become peers. But, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, kids from the target age group of DTN have never watched MRN, so continuity with MRN isn't that important.
A theme song ripped off the original without improving upon it. An animated cartoon, for Goodness' sake. drawn, unreal characters who turn to the watching child as though an interaction between a drawn character and a real watching child could be. After 40 years of distinguishing what is real from what is not - so children would not put on capes and fly off fire-escapes in imitation of the super-heroes in comic books and live animation & Hollywood films.
The old saying that a camel is a horse that was made by a committee. I'll bet this lifeless llittle endeavor was vetted by child psychologists until it was flat as a pancake. Flatter. no dimension whatsoever, no shadings in the so-called art work.
I definitely agree with you there. As I said before, it's a shame that children's television has declined so much and has become so dumbed down. To be honest, I have more respect for somebody like you who had real life experience that you wanted to share with kids, than I do for a child psychologist who has never experienced the real world. MRN, with topics such as conflict, divorce, and death (as well as the many lighter and more fun topics) muc better prepares kids for life than something like this would.
I hope the original songs will be there, however mechanized the visuals. when I can next bear to watch, I will try to follow the little message: find the good in it despite my bias, despite being marinated in Fredtruths for so many years.
Sounds like a good attitude.
uk. gag me with a spoon, as it is said. and didn't even use the voice of Aber or Stewart, Horton or Meledandri, to lend depth to the characters.
That is definitely disapointing. I'm especially surprised that Chuck Aber's voice wasn't used.
Made in Canada on the cheap, maybe even non-union is my guess.
To be honest (and I am not trying to offend anybody here), many unions in the US have very unreasonable demands, and that forces work to be done in other countries (such as Canada, in this case, but more commonly to less developed nations), where workers would have even fewer rights than in the US. If unions were willing to give in on some of the more ridiculous demands, then more work would be able to remain in the US.
Back to MRN: I know that Fred wrote many beautiful scenes with Lady Aberlin and Daniel (more so than with any other character), and you have also said many times that Daniel was your favorite puppet. Did Fred realize that you really liked Daniel, so he gave you more scenes with him? Or did you end up liking Daniel so much because you had those scenes with him? Something I was always curious about.
Again, I'm glad that you gave DTN a fair try, and sorry that you didn't like it.