Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings is a British-Canadian children's animated series about the adventures of a young boy named Simon, who has a magic blackboard.[1] Things that Simon draws on the chalkboard become real in the Land of Chalk Drawings, a parallel world which Simon can enter by climbing over a fence near his home with a ladder. The stories often revolve around the unintended effects that Simon's drawings have on the Land of Chalk Drawings, such as when an upset Simon draws a picture of his angry self, which goes on a rampage.
The programme is based upon a series of four children's books by Edward McLachlan. It was produced in the mid-1970s by FilmFair Productions in London for ITV and was originally a five-minute programme, broadcast around tea time in Britain. Despite that, it was first screened in Canada during CBC's Children's Cinema program on 5 October 1974 while selected ITV regions didn't start showing the program until 27 March 1976.[2][3] It also became familiar to North American audiences in the mid-1970s when it was featured on Captain Kangaroo (where it was narrated by Bob Keeshan instead of Bernard Cribbins), later on Pinwheel, and after that, on Romper Room. In Canada, it aired on TVOntario. The writer and performer of the theme song is Mike Batt, with his first wife Wendy on vocals. Mike Batt also wrote the theme for The Wombles, also produced by FilmFair and narrated by Bernard Cribbins.
In 2002 the series was remade in Canada, with Ernie Coombs as the narrator.
2 September (2002-09-02)[4] – 18 September 2002 (2002-09-18)[5]
A new series premiered in 2002 on Teletoon in Canada with a new theme song, an updated and more casual outfit for Simon, a different colour scheme and narrated by Ernie Coombs.
Parody
The series was later parodied onNBC's Saturday Night Live by Mike Myers.[6] The sketches open with the same musical theme and similar lyrics, but take place in Simon's bathtub, where he shows and discusses his "drawerings" with viewers.
