INSPIRATION: INSPIRATIONAL PEOPLE: MR ROGERS

After watching the documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? I fell in love with everything about Mr Rogers. It’s the only documentary that’s ever made me cry (I actually cried a couple of times while watching this) and as someone who lives in England and never had the privilege to see Mr Rogers on my TV it really made me feel like I missed out.

Mr Rogers comes across as a truly lovely man, a man without a negative agenda who really cares about kids. He doesn't just care about how kids are going to grow into adults but how they feel when they’re a kid - like being a kid is as an important time in life as any other. In a society that treats kids as adults in waiting I feel like his stance was very important.

I drew an illustration of Mr Rogers as part of my Famous Faces range in my etsy shop. There’s multiple options for you to choose from in this downloadable set including a full frame portrait as well as his portrait accompanied by his name and some of his most wonderful quotes, all complemented by his famous red cardigan.

Here’s some interesting facts about the legend you might not know:

Mr Rogers was colourblind. Heartbreakingly Mr Rogers could not see the colours of his brightly coloured sweaters as he couldn't distinguish at all green from red.

Mr Rogers was bullied as a child. As a larger child Mr Rogers was often bullied and it made him very upset and angry. He never forgot this feeling as he grew and wanted to help children who might feel the same to feel like there was someone out there who cared and understood.

Mr Rogers responded to all his fan mail. Although he received from 50 to 100 letters each day Mr Rogers replied to all of them personally. He had a very regimented routine which began at 5 in the morning and included writing to all of the fans that had taken the time to write to him

All the sweaters on the Neighborhood were knitted by Mr Roger’s mother. Fred’s mom, Nancy would knit all her loved ones a jumper every year for Christmas and her’s were the famous knitwear you see on the show.

Mr Rogers gave Michael Keaton his first job. He was a stage hand but also appeared as Purple Panda.

George Romero’s first job was working on short segments for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Mr Rogers gave Romero a chance to work on segments like “How Lightbulbs Are Made” and “Mr. Rogers Gets a Tonsillectomy,” learning his trade on the sets of these shorts.

Did you ever wonder why Mr Rogers always changed his shoes at the start of the program? He wore them so he wouldn't make so much noise moving around the set in shoes, the trainers (or sneakers if you’re american) he changed into were much quieter.

Who would have thought that a plea to the Senate could be so emotional. This was one part of the Mr Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? that made me tear up. Mr Rogers went before the senate to ask for a $20 million grant for public broadcasting, something that Nixon wanted to reduce. The plea was so passionate that as well as making everyone cry it increased funding from $9 million to $22 million.