Mr. Rogersknew children well . He know how they thought , what they liked , what they reverence , and what they shinny to understand — and he went to capital distance to ensure he never upset or confused his devoted viewers .
Maxwell King , author of the forthcoming bookThe Good Neighbor : The Life and Work of Fred Rogers , writes inThe Atlanticthat Mr. Rogers cautiously choose his words while filmingMr . Rogers ’ Neighborhood . He understood that children think in a literal way , and a phrase that might fathom absolutely fine to adult auricle could be misinterpreted by younger audiences .
During filming , a nursemaid shown inflate a blood - atmospheric pressure handlock primitively read , “ I ’m going to blow out this up . ” Mr. Rogers decided to edit the contrast in post - production , accord to Arthur Greenwald , a former producer of the show . “ Fred made us re - dub the agate line , say , ‘ I ’m going to heave this up with some airwave , ’ because ‘ bungle it up ’ might sound like there ’s an blowup , and he did n’t want the nipper to cover their ears and miss what would happen next , ” Greenwald tell King .
Rogers was “ inordinately proficient at imagining where children ’s mind might go , ” King state , adding that Mr. Rogers drop a line a call call in “ you’re able to Never Go Down the Drain ” because he knew this might be a fear shared by many kid .
In 1977 , Greenwald and writer Barry Head dub this careful mode of verbalise “ Freddish , ” and even created an illustrated manual outlining Rogers ’s computer code under the title “ Let ’s Talk About Freddish . ” The show ’s dialog go through nine rigorous dance step of editing before Rogers approved it for broadcast . Those step , take out from King ’s book , are as follows :
This aid to detail did n’t just unfold to linguistic process , either . Jim Judkis , who occasionally worked on the placed ofMister Rogers ' Neighborhoodas a photographer , recalled a prison term when Rogers had videographers reshoot a scene in which the tram ran from right to left field or else of the other manner around . Judkis was vex , so he asked the show ’s stave why this was necessary .
“ They said , he ’s very particular about body for a child , ” JudkistoldThe Washington Post . “ When you record , your eye track from left to right . He was endeavor to reward that . ”
More details about the life of Fred Rogers will be revealed in King ’s Word of God , which will be released September 4 . It is available forpre - orderon Amazon .
[ h / tThe Atlantic ]
