The first topic I discussed in my prediction post was the dynamics of the royal family. I was under the impression that Prince Tuesday would be Prince Wednesday's father because I assumed that this series would take place in present day and the time elapse would take place from the time the Mister Roger's Neighborhood series started, making Prince Tuesday roughly around age 50 by the time Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood started. However, assuming the time elapse started once the flagship series ended in 2001 and considering Prince Tuesday miraculously stopped aging around 1979 once he hit elementary school age, Prince Tuesday would be around 19 or so by the time the spin-off started in 2012. The latter and more apparent of the time elapse theories makes Prince Tuesday much closer to big brother age than father age. His character is a fantastic babysitter for Daniel Tiger. It's so fun to see him working a normal person job as a waiter in a restaurant and being a big brother to Prince Wednesday. It would be really fun if the series mentioned his schooling situation which the show might have and I just missed it. It makes me so curious though. Does he go to a commuter campus? Is he in an online program? Or has he chosen to not do college in favor of doing an apprenticeship with his dad in preparation for being the King of Make-Believe some day? Speaking of Prince Tuesday's father, I'm so glad to see King Friday in a somewhat prevalent role in the show. It's nice to see him and Queen Saturday as parents to two boys rather than retirees in a royal retirement home that is visited every once in a season as I previously predicted.
The second aspect of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood that I was highly anticipating was regarding the frequency of appearances of original Make-Believe residents. I am so super pleased with how this one turned out. I honestly feel like the audience gets a healthy dose of each character. Mr. McFeely is darling in his animated form and his interactions with Daniel Tiger and the other characters are adorable and very educational. The thing I like most about how the original characters and their children are introduced into modern day Make-Believe is the wealth of backstory the characters are given. It really seems like all of the families formed naturally in a real life scenario and weren't just slopped together for story. As an example, the Disney Channel Original Movie, Descendants is about the children of Disney heros and villains but other than being the offspring of a major Disney character, the audience isn't given any knowledge on who the other parent is or why they're not in the picture. However, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood paints each family's origin story in a believable and well thought out light.
Another well thought out citizen who has a very involved presence in the land of Make-Believe is none other than Trolley. I really enjoy all of the Trolley-centric storylines and it seems that Trolley is integral in solving a lot of transportational issues like going to friends' houses, school and other neighborhood hot spots. It's also a really cute touch that Trolley has human-like emotions that Trolley communicates through various "ding dings". I also appreciate Daniel Tiger's Trolley obsession. Daniel Tiger's Trolley pajamas and Trolley bed are everything! Could you imagine if there was a contest where your/your child's bedroom could be redone to resemble Daniel Tiger's room complete with the Trolley bed?! It would be similar to the Blue's Room contest where the winner got a near replica of Blue's Room in their bedroom.
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is such a well done series and the six years of development time definitely show. The overall animation quality is gorgeous and displays a Make-Believe that I'm sure lots of viewers would love to take a Trolley ride to. My favorite part of the series is the usage of the strategy songs. The strategy songs are songs that the characters sing as problem solving tools. My personal favorite is the one Daniel Tiger sings when he only has five minutes before bedtime and he can only choose one activity to do before the day is done. These strategy songs are great take aways for the audience that are easily applicable in real world scenarios. They work great in bridging the gap between Make-Believe and the audience's very own neighborhoods.
In addition to the strategy songs, I really enjoy how much Daniel Tiger exhibits the same traits and anxieties of regular kids. He portrays a normal everyday relatable child with meltdown moments without going overboard to the Caillou extreme of whining. In the same vein of being relatable, I also really appreciate how much Daniel Tiger covets his stuffed animal, Tigey. The strong bond between children and their stuffed animals is not modeled enough in children's television. However, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood does a fantastic job of doing just that especially in the high anxiety scenarios where Daniel Tiger can't find Tigey, which, correct me if I'm wrong, happens multiple times throughout the series. In addition to that situation, other situations that Daniel Tiger is put in like getting a new baby sister, going to the doctor's office and missing his parents act as great behavior models for the series' young audience. The series also does a stellar job at modeling safety like putting seatbelts in Trolley and having the characters wear helmets while riding bicycles and tricycles. All of these aspects of the series have proven to resonate with its audience and I'm sure this series will have a strong legacy for generations to come. Also, I'm glad to see PBS Kids is still showing past episodes of Mister Roger's Neighborhood and the two series are living in harmony.
