Dr. Anna and Teacher Harriet

[waingirl]

My 4 year old and I were watching an episode of DTN this morning and a thought occurred to me. I know that on the Mister Rogers Neighborhood Archive, it states that Dr. Anna was drawn after the likeness of a Dr. Sidhu that Angela Santomero once knew. Is the name Dr. Anna a possible shout out to Ana Platypus? In an episode of MRN, it showed that Ana became a Dr. in the future. Also, for Teacher Harriet, I wonder if this is also a possible shout out for Harriet Elizabeth Cow? Teacher Harriet's voice is even slightly gravely like Bob Trow's voice was for Harriet Elizabeth Cow. Now I realize that most children that watch DTN, did not grow up to know the MRN characters, BUT, the show's creator could still add a little bit of nostalgia to the show that parents may recognize. Thankfully, my daughter knows all the original MRN characters, we watch one episode each day during lunch on Youtube. She loves the original!