Нүктелі есік: Канадтық балалар телешоуы

Canadian children's television series

Polka Dot Door is a Canadian children's television series which was produced by the Ontario Education Communications Authority (later known as TVOntario) from 1971 to 1993. The series features two hosts who speak directly to the home viewing audience. The content of the shows was generally geared towards education and creativity. Each week of episodes focused on a single theme with each weekday assigned a different "motif" in which the theme was explored in different ways (For example, Tuesdays were "Dress Up Day" in which the hosts would use costumes to explore the theme). One of the most well known elements of the series was the "Polkaroo", a mythical character whose name combines the words "polka dot" and "kangaroo". Normally played by the male host in costume, the Polkaroo would appear to the female host to perform a mime; upon the second host's return, he would typically express disappointment when informed that he had once again missed the Polkaroo. In earlier years, the Polkaroo appeared just once per week on "Imagination Day", but due to the character's popularity, additional appearances were added later in the show's run. Another feature of the show was "looking through the polka dot door", usually on "Finding Out Day," when the camera would zoom in to a special dot on the door, which would open up to reveal a short educational film.

Polka Dot Door was created and developed by a team of employees from TVOntario, hired and led by original series producer and director Peggy Liptrott. Significant contributors to the creation and development of the series in 1971 included executive producer Vera Good, who laid the conceptual foundation of the show, educational supervisor Marnie Patrick Roberts, educational consultant L. Ted Coneybeare, script writers and composers Pat Patterson and Dodi Robb, animator Dick Derhodge (who designed the familiar opening/closing animation) and Dr. Ada Schermann, a professor at the prestigious Institute of Child Study in Toronto who was consulted in the early stages of Polka Dot Door's development and is responsible for giving the show its name. New episodes of Polka Dot Door originally aired on TVOntario Monday to Friday beginning in the fall of 1971 until the show's cancellation in 1993, with reruns running in constant rotation both on weekdays and weekends well into the 1990s. The show itself was an adaptation of the BBC children's show Play School. Initially many aspects and concepts of Play School were licensed by TVOntario for use on Polka Dot Door, including designs of some of the stuffed animals used in the show, which were similar to those used in Play School as well as educational film inserts/segments which were shown to viewers "Through the Arched Window" on Play School and "Through the Polka Dot Door" on Polka Dot Door. Dodi Robb helped distinguish Polka Dot Door with her creation and addition of the Polkaroo, combining the show's title with the word kangaroo. In the late 1970s, then producer Coneybeare led negotiations to dissolve TVOntario's licensing agreement with Play School, freeing Polka Dot Door to be distinctively Canadian and adapt to include more Canadian educational content. Robb would go on to be the first ever head of children's programming at CBC Television, and would have Muppet "Dodi" in Sesame Park, a Canadian adaptation of Sesame Street, named in her honour. The theme song was performed by Angela Antonelli, born December 29, 1933, in Guelph, Ontario. Left home at the age of 16 to Study voice under Dr. Ernesto Vinci at Royal Conservatory of Music, Joined the Canadian Opera Company and Starred in Gianni Schicchi opposite Jon Vickers, Gretel in Hansel & Gretel & Marriage of Figaro among others. She was a regular on the Juliet Show for 6 seasons as well as many other radio and television shows. Original cast member of Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival and went on to perform in many other theatrical shows.

The hosts would lead young children in songs and stories, and interact with stuffed animal characters Humpty, Dumpty, Marigold, and Bear. These characters did not speak or move; the hosts would let the audience know what they were saying; for example, one of the hosts would say "What's that Marigold? You would like " In the 1980s, a stuffed cat named Minou was added, which introduced viewers to simple words and phrases in French. On certain theme days the hosts would invite the audience to peer through the Polka Dot Door to witness an educational video of some sort, showing, for instance, how crayons are made.

In 2010, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television gave Polka Dot Door a Masterworks award, calling it a "groundbreaking children's educational series" that "changed the nature of children's television programming" and "impacted countless young Canadians and raised the international profile of the Canadian television industry."

Only two one hour specials have aired in the history of Polka Dot Door; these shows consist of five hosts (two male, three female) and the Polkaroo portrayed by unknown host. Polkaroo's Birthday Party: This was used to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Polka Dot Door, as well as cameos from other hosts in the past. Polkaroo Goes To Camp: This was used to commemorate the finale of the series; this is also the only show in the history of Polka Dot Door not to have storytime.

The 1980s Canadian sketch comedy show Smith & Smith, starring real life husband and wife team Steve and Morag Smith, used to parody the Polka Dot Door with a recurring sketch called "The Kids Show", with male and female hosts who loathed each other and bickered their way through the sketch. The sketches also featured the "Jerkaroo", played by Steve Smith with a paper bag over his head. The 1989 UK Canada co production EMU TV featured a recurring parody called "The Door with Spots All Over It". A Canadian sketch type educational television show called Bod TV, which focuses on nutrition education and is also produced by TVOntario, has a parody of Polka Dot Door called Polka Dot House as one of its sketches. The sketch plays as a combination of the television show with reality television series Big Brother. In it, one of the hosts gets tired of Bear repeatedly making honey sandwiches for everyone day in day out, and schemes with Marigold to get Bear out of the kitchen so she can prepare a meal that provides a more balanced diet. In 2018, a rally in Toronto's Trinity Bellwoods Park to celebrate the legalization of cannabis in Canada saw the appearance of "Tokaroo", a marijuana smoking parody of Polkaroo. Tokaroo was created by Mark Scott, an actor who had once been directly employed by TVOntario to play Polkaroo in live promotional appearances, and the network threatened him with legal action.