Mister Rogers: It’s You I Like

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood A beautiful day for a neighbor Would you be mine Could you be mine It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood A neighborly day for a beauty Would you be mine Could you be mine I have always wanted to have a neighbor Just like you.

I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood With you So let's make the most of this beautiful day Since we're together we might as well say Would you be mine Could you be mine Won't you be my neighbor Won't you please Won't you please Please won't you be my neighbor (upbeat instrumental music) KEATON: Hi, I'm Michael Keaton.

When I started out in show business one of my first jobs was working at WQED, the public television station in Pittsburgh, often on the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Who can forget Fred coming through the front door, putting on a cardigan sweater, feeding the fish, or showing films on Picture-Picture.

Sometimes I was the young kid who flipped the switch to start the little red trolley that took you in and out of the Neighborhood of Make Believe.

That's where you saw a colorful world filled with puppets, Daniel Striped Tiger, King Friday, Henrietta Pussycat, X The Owl, and so many others.

The first national program in 1968 featured a small cast, simple sets, and live music, and over the years, nothing really changed, especially Fred Rogers.

ROGERS: Hi, neighbor.

We could make believe that Tony Bennett comes to Lady Elaine's Museum-Go-Round television studio.

Let's make believe about that now, alright?

(gentle instrumental music) It's you I like ELAINE: Uh huh.

It's not the things you wear It's not the way you do your hair But it's you I like The way you are right now The way down deep inside you Not the things that hide you LITHGOW: I remember seeing Tony Bennett on Fred Rogers when my first son was about three years old.

But it's you LITHGOW: Growing up, maturing is all a process of overcoming insecurity, and that's the essence of that song.

He's helping kids like themselves by singing, "It's you I like."

Now I hope that you'll remember Even when you're feeling blue That it's you I like It's you yourself It's you That's right It's you I like (laughing) LADY ELAINE: Oh, Tony Bennett, Tony Bennett right here with us.

LITHGOW: Fred Rogers did so much with music in a very gentle way on his show, introducing kids for the first time.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: I'd like to show you something.

It's some trumpet music that Wynton Marsalis played one day when he was practicing.

So what do you say?

Let's just go to Negri's music shop right now.

(upbeat instrumental music) GOLDBERG: To some people, Mister Rogers seemed like television's biggest nerd.

I mean, the sweater, and those tennis shoes, but to me he was one of the coolest men on the planet.

Mister Rogers welcomed so many musical guests to the neighborhood, and one of my favorite memories is when Mister Rogers met Wynton Marsalis.

Wynton was only in his twenties and so amazing, and it reminds me that Mister Rogers was one hip cat.

ROGERS: I'd like you to know my television neighbor, Wynton Marsalis.

MARSALIS: How you doing?

ROGERS: When did you start to play?

When you were a little boy?

MARSALIS: I got my first trumpet when I was six years old.

ROGERS: Six.

(upbeat instrumental music) I know there are a lot of children who might want to learn the trumpet.

MARSALIS: You have to have strong lungs.

(laughing) I guess five or six is a good age to start.

It's just a matter of practicing every day.

ROGERS: Every day?

MARSALIS: Every day.

NEGRI: Wynton Marsalis was just amazing.

He kicked it off, and we all started playing some blues.

About four choruses in, I could see the smile on his face.

He said, "Okay, I'm in the right place here," you know?

APATOW: The Wynton Marsalis piece was an amazing moment in TV history, but for me it meant a lot because my grandfather was this guy named Bobby Shad who produced jazz.

I didn't really know what jazz was.

I didn't understand the different types of music, so one of the few ways I could begin to understand how cool my grandfather was was how much Mister Rogers loved jazz.

(mumbling and clapping) ROGERS: Oh, what a treat.

That's a real way to talk with each other, isn't it?

NEGRI: Sure is.

ROGERS: And play.

NEGRI: I've heard so many people tell me, "I was real little when that kind of got me, "that introduced me to jazz, "and it became my favorite kind of music."

SPALDING: Fred Rogers assumed the responsibility to be a model and to be a mentor for all of us young kids.

RAWSTHORNE: Oh, hello, Fred.

ROGERS: Hey, Bob, how are you?

RAWSTHORNE: Fine.

ROGERS: Just brought my piano with me.

RAWSTHORNE: I notice that.

Hi, Joe.

NEGRI: His own piano.

RAWSTHORNE: He brought his own piano.

NEGRI: I was telling him about some of your instruments that look like toys, but they're not really toys.

RAWSTHORNE: Yes, here's a train whistle.

This is a big train.

(train whistling) (laughing) This is a siren whistle here.

(siren whistling) SILVERMAN: You could see how kids would love this.

It's a weird instrument, and it's-- ROGERS: What about this one?

RAWSTHORNE: Well, that's another whistle.

That's a songbird whistle.

SILVERMAN: Oh, I love this.

This is the one where if you blow really, really hard, it makes the-- RAWSTHORNE: A little bit harder, that's it, good.

(laughing) (songbird whistling) SILVERMAN: Look at the joy on his face.

ROGERS: Oh, I like that.

NEGRI: Right, you sound just like a bird.

(laughing) (lively instrumental music) SILVERMAN: He doesn't care how it looks, and that's why he always looks awesome 'cause he's willing to be vulnerable.

He's willing to be open and learn stuff.

It was inspiring.

(laughing) SPALDING: It matters to have grownups say that it's okay to do all these things, even to play the piano like a maniac.

(laughing) ROGERS: Some people play an instrument, and other people don't.

It's so important to find out what we feel good about doing, and then practice that.

(gentle instrumental music) KEATON: Music was one of Mister Rogers' doorways into children's lives.

He had a degree in Music Composition.

He wrote richly complex music and lyrics, and he brought wonderful guests to his neighborhood who would sometimes change a young person's life forever.

(gentle instrumental music) SPALDING: I must've started watching Mister Rogers when I was four or five.

I explicitly remember the episode where Yo-Yo Ma performed one of the Bach Cello Suites.

That is why I started playing music.

I remember being completely hypnotized by the sound of the instrument and running before the episode was over and asking my mom if I could play that.

(gentle instrumental music) MA: I first met Mister Rogers on television because my son, who was like probably two at that time, really, really liked the show, and so we would watch it together.

Mister Rogers was like a television parent to him, and Nicholas was always fascinated, so it was a bonding moment in the family to watch Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

ROGERS: Oh, thank you for that.

MA: Oh, look who's here.

Nicholas.

WOMAN: Thank you.

MA: Mister Rogers?

ROGERS: Hi, Nicholas.

NICHOLAS: Hi.

NICHOLAS: Very rarely does one get to meet one's heroes, but the opportunity to be in a room with two heroes, with my father and with Fred, was enormously special.

ROGERS: Would you and your dad play something together for me?

NICHOLAS: Yup.

ROGERS: What?

NICHOLAS: The Skaters' Waltz.

ROGERS: Oh, okay.

I'll just sit right here and watch both of you.

MA: Okay, Nicholas, now I haven't done this on the cello before so you just give me-- NICHOLAS: One, two, go.

MA: Okay.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: (clapping) Very, very nice.

NICHOLAS: I think those are the only two times I've ever performed with my father.

Once when I was 6, once when I was 16, and both on Mister Rogers.

I think only Mister Rogers could have convinced me to do that.

(laughing) (gentle instrumental music) You Are My Friend, You Are Special, I think it was my favorite song as a kid.

I think going to visit him when I was a child was a very special memory, and so in a way this was our way of also saying thank you.

There's only one in this wonderful world You are special ROGERS: One of the greatest things is to be able to play together and to grow together, all through life, families, friends, all of us.

(gentle instrumental music) KEATON: Mister Rogers created a unique way to take his young neighbors out of the studio and into the world.

He called it Picture-Picture.

Fred would pretend to put the film in, and often I was the guy behind there to catch it.

A visit to a famous artist or a musician often came with subtle messages, like the time Fred made sure his viewers saw world famous the violinist Itzhak Perlman walking with his crutches.

ROGERS: I'd like you to know my television neighbor.

PERLMAN: Hi, there.

ROGERS: Mr.

Itzhak Perlman.

PERLMAN: Being in the room with Fred Rogers was fun because I knew him, you know?

I mean, when you watch somebody on television all the time, you know them.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: Sure.

"Hello, Mr.

Perlman, how are you?"

And I said, oh my god, Mister Rogers is really Mister Rogers.

He doesn't change.

ROGERS: You can do it.

Mr.

Perlman uses crutches to walk, so of course he has very strong arms, and he uses those arms to play his violin in wonderful ways.

Sometimes do you ever use it to express your feelings?

PERLMAN: Well, of course.

I mean, whenever you play something, you always express what you feel about the music and the violin.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: Beautiful.

PERLMAN: Or maybe you could play something that makes you a little happier or bouncier like-- (upbeat instrumental music) ROGERS: It's as if it's dancing PERLMAN: That's right.

That's right.

He knew exactly how to make a connection and to simplify things.

He was always true to who he was talking to.

ROGERS: Now you've always used these crutches to walk, have you?

PERLMAN: Yes, yes, no, actually, I used them since I was four years old.

Before I was four I could walk without them, and then I had polio, and that was a little bit after four, four and three months, and which meant that both my legs became weakened and they need help, so I wear braces on my legs, and then I use crutches.

(upbeat instrumental music) I always say to people that the important thing is to separate one's abilities from one's disabilities.

That's very important.

(clapping) ROGERS: Think how pleased Paganini would be to know that you were playing that after all these years.

PERLMAN: I would hope so.

If people get used to seeing somebody who is not particularly the same way as they are, either constricted to a wheelchair or walking with crutches, if they get used to it, then it becomes nothing.

(gentle instrumental music) ERLANGER: Mister Rogers?

ROGERS: Hey, Jeff, I'm glad to see you.

ERLANGER: Hi.

ROGERS: Thank you very much for coming by.

This is my friend Jeff Erlanger.

He's one of my neighbors here, and I asked him if he would come by today because I wanted you to meet him, and I wanted you to see his electric wheelchair.

(gentle instrumental music) Can you tell my friends what it is that made you need this wheelchair?

ERLANGER: Sure.

Well, when I was about seven months old, I had a tumor, and that broke the nerves to tell my hands and legs what to do.

ROGERS: I see.

ERLANGER: It just shows you have a lot of things happening to you when you're handicapped, most of the time, and sometimes it happens when you're not handicapped.

ROGERS: Of course, but you're able to talk about those things so well, and help other people who might have the same kinds of things.

APATOW: I'm sure as a little kid I watched that and became aware of another person's human struggle, and it hopefully made me want to reach out to people and think, oh, I should talk to them.

They're no different.

What I took from it was the look on Mister Roger's face of pure love, not just for him, but for everybody.

It was the bar of how I would like to behave.

NICHOLAS: It's tough to make bravery both ordinary and special at the same time, and I think that's what Fred did for Jeff.

KEATON: Giving Jeff that opportunity to talk openly and honestly about his disabilities on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is one of the memorable moments of children's television.

Fred called it his most treasured moment.

ROGERS: Do you know that song that I sometimes sing called It's You I Like?

ERLANGER: Uh huh.

ROGERS: I'd like to sing that to you and with you.

ERLANGER: Okay, sure.

It's you I like It's not the things you wear It's not the way you do your hair But it's you I like The way you are right now The way down deep inside you Not the things that hide you Not your fancy chair That's just beside you But it's you I like Every part of you Your skin Your eyes Your feelings Whether old or new I hope that you'll remember Even when you're feeling blue That it's you I like It's you yourself It's you It's you I like And it is you I like, Jeff.

ERLANGER: Thanks.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: It's really great to have a friend like that.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: Hi, Trolley.

Trolley, we're going to have some make believe.

This is what makes the trolley go fast and slowly, and this turns it on and off like that, yeah.

Neighborhood of Make Believe, Trolley.

(gentle instrumental music) There's Trolley, yes, Trolley.

KEATON: The trolley going into the tunnel signaled the beginning of the make believe part of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

It was a fairly low tech place, very do it yourself, a place that encouraged children to imagine and pretend.

WOMAN: Just look very carefully, your majesty, and you will see a different kind of entertainment.

KING PUPPET: Oh, how interesting.

(upbeat instrumental music) (yelling) NICHOLAS: The Land of Make Believe, I always thought, was just highlight.

It was enchanting.

It was just fun.

(yelling) KEATON: That was the fabulous Flying Zookeeni Brothers, featuring the two women known as Peaches and Cream.

I had a ball doing it.

Everyone in that group worked for either Fred or for the PBS station.

(yelling) The thing people don't know about Fred I think sometimes is what a great sense of humor he had.

He loved the Flying Zookeeni Brothers.

(yelling) (clapping) (upbeat instrumental music) You never really knew what might happen in Make Believe.

It was a place of celebration and wonder, but Fred Rogers used it to explore life's issues.

TIGER: Oh, hi, Handyman Negri.

Thank you for helping me with my-- NEGRI: Every one of those puppets had a distinct personality.

TIGER: Is it hard for you to ask someone to help you?

NEGRI: I think it's hard for everybody sometimes.

Daniel Tiger, he was like one of the children.

He was the sweetheart of the neighborhood.

I think it's very, very, very hard to wait Especially NEGRI: There was X, who was cute and funny and a good sense of humor.

ABERLINE: What's up?

X: I'm up, up in my tree.

(laughing) ABERLINE: Oh, X, you silly owl.

X: Yeah.

PUSSYCAT: Meow, meow feel like celebrating.

NEGRI: The pussycat who was kind of scared and frightened, and, you know, you always had to calm her down.

PUSSYCAT: Meow would want me anyway?

NEGRI: Who would want you?

Why, everybody wants you, Henrietta.

(upbeat instrumental music) And there was Lady Elaine who was a little bit tough, arrogant, and she knew it all.

ELAINE: Hi, sweets, this is your charming hostess, Lady Elaine Fairchild bringing you the best of MGR-TV.

(gentle instrumental music) NEGRI: It was a make believe land with all those puppets.

King Friday was, King was the ruler.

ROGERS: Many of the characters in the Neighborhood of Make Believe are puppets that I make talk.

How do you do, ladies and gentlemen?

How do you do?

APATOW: As a kid, there weren't many places where somebody who walked to the other side of the set and said, "Oh, by the way, I made this puppet show.

"I'm the voice of the king."

I think that was important as a kid to know, "Oh, you can make things.

"You could even make this show."

ROGERS: You can make up your own stories for your own Neighborhood of Make Believe.

I imagine you have lots of good ideas.

(gentle instrumental music) (bell chiming) (train whistle blowing) KEATON: Another groundbreaking children's television program was Sesame Street, and Fred invited Caroll Spinney, the man inside Big Bird, to visit the Neighborhood.

It's a beautiful day in your neighborhood NEGRI: Here he comes.

BIG BIRD: Oh, here I am.

NEGRI: Hello, Big Bird.

BIG BIRD: Hi, there.

NEGRI: Welcome, Big Bird.

BIG BIRD: Oh, hello, Mr.

Handyman Negri.

KEATON: Fred always wanted his viewers to know how things worked, but when the script called for Spinney to remove the costume, Big Bird had to say no to his friend, Mister Rogers.

SPINNEY: I said, "Gee, I'm sorry Fred.

"I cannot take off this bird suit, "particularly on television."

Jim Henson never wanted to let the children know that it's not a real bird.

Mister Rogers said, "Well, alright, "then I can't have you in my little house.

"Instead you'll have to be just in make believe land."

X: We welcome you on this fine day and hope that you will stay and stay because we call you the big bird.

We hope that you have also heard that you are really popular and nice and kind and all that.

SPINNEY: Mister Rogers and Big Bird had a lot in common.

They're both rather sweet and nice 'cause you can be sweet and nice and real too.

He was definitely one of a kind.

He never talked down to the children.

KEATON: Some of the things that entertain children can also frighten them, so he always tried to pull back the curtain to reveal the truth, like how Margaret Hamilton became the Wicked Witch of the West.

ROGERS: It was hard work probably making that movie.

HAMILTON: Yes, it was.

It was lots of hard work.

My hands were all green.

ROGERS: Because that was makeup, wasn't it?

HAMILTON: Yes, that was just all makeup, on the face, too, you see.

I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too.

(laughing) Sometimes, Mister Rogers, I'm a little unhappy because lots of children are quite scared, but when you realize it's just pretend, and that everybody can do it.

You can do it, and little boys, as you say, do it.

Little girls do it.

X: What will we say?

Witches aren't real Witches aren't real Even if they seem to be HAMILTON: That's my skirt.

(laughing) Witches aren't real Witches aren't real ROGERS: It's helping me just to see you get into these things.

PUSSYCAT: Meow, meow.

Witches aren't real Witches aren't real HAMILTON: Oh, there's the cape.

DIDONATO: Oh, she transforms already, see, oh, wow.

(gasping) For you and me WOMAN: Not for Henrietta.

(laughing) ROGERS: Oh, that would be fun to be able to talk like (laughing), like that.

DIDONATO: When I first see her, oh, she looks like a grandmother.

She looks so nice.

The second she puts on the skirt, I go back to my childhood, and I'm scared again, and then she does the laugh.

(laughing) And to hear her say, "It's just pretend," that's very powerful, and that gives permission then to say, it's okay, but let me try that.

What would it be like if I tried?

And your little dog, too.

You and me Witches aren't real Witches aren't real WOMAN: They aren't real.

NEGRI: They really aren't.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: When you see witches on television, they're always pretend.

When you're growing up, it's an important thing to be able to tell the difference between what's pretend and what's real.

SILVERMAN: And you know what I love about him?

He never lied to kids.

He leaned right into it, and he always told us the truth.

ROGERS: Come on over with me, okay, and we'll see a film about when you were born.

KEATON: Life can get serious, even when you're under five, and Fred Rogers knew it helped to talk about it.

He called it "Important Talk," and right here on public television, he was willing to talk with children about such things as death, divorce, and birth.

ROGERS: Such a fine boy, yes.

Let's just look over Picture-Picture.

(gentle instrumental music) Now this is Jimmy's mother.

You see the mother has a special opening where her kittens will come out.

SILVERMAN: It's so great for kids to see this.

Oh wow.

ROGERS: Here's one being born now.

He looks wet, doesn't he?

But after his mother licks him, he'll get all dry and fluffy, and as soon as he's able, the kitten will look for one of his mother's nipples and be able to drink her milk, and there's the newborn kitten, little Jimmy.

My grandfather let me watch his cat give birth to her kittens.

I was thinking about my grandfather when I made up that song about wondering, you know, the one called Did You Know That It's Alright to Wonder.

SILVERMAN: I'm gonna cry.

Did you know?

Did you know?

Did you know that it's alright to wonder?

Did you know that it's alright to wonder?

There are all kinds of wonderful things.

Did you know?

Did you know?

Did you know that it's alright to marvel?

There are all kinds of marvelous things.

You can ask a lot of questions.

About the world and your place in it.

KRATT: He's even, I think, speaking to adults there.

Your kids, kids are gonna wonder about this stuff.

Sky's the limit Did you know?

Did you know?

His view was that anything that can be talked about is manageable, right, and he's trying to make the birth of a kitten mentionable.

Marvelously wonderful things (gentle instrumental music) SIVLERMAN: The first thing I remember learning from Mister Rogers is if I can only be brave enough to talk about it, then it's gonna be okay.

ROGERS: When I was very young, I had a dog that I loved very much.

Her name was Mitzi, and she got to be old, and she died, and when she died, I cried.

Sometimes people get sad And they really do feel bad But the very same people who are sad sometimes LITHGOW: That's just beautiful.

Are the very same people who are glad sometimes LITHGOW: He just says, "Don't feel bad when you have to cry."

It's the same, isn't it, for me Isn't it the same for you LITHGOW: You can't really say just how much that helps a child, whether they actually use that as a tool, but at least he's putting it out there.

(jarring instrumental music) ROGERS: Are there things that make you angry?

Do you have ways of showing you're angry, ways that don't hurt you or anybody else?

What do you do with the mad that you feel When you feel so mad you could bite When the whole wide world seems oh so wrong And nothing you do seems very right KEATON: Mister Rogers often talked about how you can express and deal with emotions in healthy ways through music.

That's why he had musicians in the studio every day, led by the great jazz pianist Johnny Costa, underscoring what was going on.

Most of Fred's songs were about feelings, and they came from the heart and the mind of a musical master.

LITHGOW: They're very gentle songs, but they're delightful songs.

Watching them, I imagine myself a little child, subject to temper tantrums, as all little children are.

It's great to be able to stop When you've planned a thing that's wrong And be able to do something else instead And think this song LITHGOW: And he sings them frequently.

Kids need to hear songs over and over again.

Know that there's something deep inside That helps us become what we can For a girl can be someday a woman And a boy can be someday a man And that's important.

You know it's important, don't you?

NICHOLAS: Mister Rogers was on at that time of day where families could come together and did come together.

My mother always said that he would bring up issues that I had been thinking of and not shared with my parents and that in watching it together, we would talk about those.

ROGERS: I know a little girl and a little boy whose mother and father got a divorce, and those children cried and cried.

Do you know why?

Well, one reason was that they thought it was all their fault, (gentle instrumental music) but of course it wasn't their fault.

LITHGOW: It's simply addressing the things that kids do think about.

TROW: And it didn't hurt at all.

(howling) ABERLIN: What didn't hurt?

TROW: Getting adopted.

ABERLIN: Oh, no, getting adopted doesn't hurt.

It's just another way people have of saying I love you.

LITHGOW: And just let them know there's somebody who acknowledges that.

It's really magic, and I can't think of any example of any other children's entertainer that does that.

It's so far beyond just entertainment.

(gentle instrumental music) (door knocking) ROGERS: Oh, there's somebody at the door.

Somebody we love, Mr.

McFeely, come in, Mr.

McFeely.

NEWELL: Speedy delivery, speedy delivery.

ROGERS: I don't think I-- KEATON: Mister Rogers had one neighbor who visited more than anyone else, Mr.

McFeely, a hard working, often out of breath postal delivery man, who brought the films that introduced children to many things around the world.

If there's anything you want If there's anything you need McFeely's delivery brings it to you here with speed Yes, our speedy NEWELL: I played Mr.

McFeely, the speedy delivery man, for 50 years.

Fred knew I couldn't sing, (laughing) but a lot of people don't realize the sense of humor he had.

We had a great time doing those scenes.

A speedy delivery to you Speedy delivery, there you go.

ROGERS: Thank you, Mr.

McFeely.

NEWELL: The films that I brought, I was, as Mr.

McFeely, supposedly out in the neighborhood watching all the factory processes.

ROGERS: We'll look at it on Picture-Picture.

How people make peanut butter.

How spoons are made.

Bagels.

NEWELL: That's right.

ROGERS: Guitars.

Bicycle helmets.

NEWELL: Alrighty.

He said, "Let's tell children "they aren't magically made by themselves.

"Those machines don't think up how to make them.

"It takes a person to make anything."

ROGERS: Here we watch it.

(gentle instrumental music) APATOW: As a tiny kid, you don't know how anything is made, so if you're four and Mister Rogers goes to the crayon factory, that's the first time you've ever realized that, "Oh, people make this."

There's a machine involved.

There's a man or a woman working on it.

ROGERS: Did you ever play with dolls when you were a little girl, Helen?

WOMAN: I did.

ROGERS: Did you?

DIDONATO: When a child sees how an instrument is made, it's golden.

KRATT: There was a trumpet one.

Yes, the radio flyer one, there was everything.

KEATON: Many of these small, family owned factories are gone, but they're saved forever in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

KRATT: My father had a harmonica factory.

Mr.

McFeely came in person, and my dad helped show how harmonicas are made.

There are all kinds of wonderful All kinds of marvelous Marvelously wonderful things ROGERS: Thanks very much.

MAN: Okay, bye, Fred.

ROGERS: See you soon, goodbye.

You find the best things to show us, Mr.

McFeely.

NEWELL: Well, I love my speedy delivery business.

(gentle instrumental music) KEATON: Out of 900 episodes, Mister Rogers' visit to Koko the Gorilla was one of his favorites.

Koko had learned sign language from a dedicated animal psychologist, Penny Patterson.

ROGERS: Where's Mister Rogers?

Peekaboo.

PATTERSON: There.

ROGERS: Where am I?

Peekaboo.

PATTERSON: Can you do the peekaboo?

ROGERS: Where's Koko?

PATTERSON: Where's Koko?

JOANNE: Koko was so fascinating to me.

PATTERSON: Where is she?

ROGERS: Peekaboo.

PATTERSON: Oh, there.

JOANNE: She really wanted to sit on his lap, but she understood that she was too heavy.

Her trainer told her that she should sit down by him, so she did.

She was interested in mostly in comparing them.

It just amazed me that he was able to keep his cool.

I didn't go, but Fred told me about it, and I wish I had been.

PATTERSON: "Love you," she said.

"Love you, visit, love."

Well, that was very nice.

ROGERS: Thank you, Koko.

(gentle instrumental music) That's Koko's way of saying, "Love you."

She really has feelings for people and things.

I remember near the end of our visit, we just sat and looked at each other.

ROGERS: Okay, we want to hear it.

NEGRI: We sure do.

(gentle instrumental music) KEATON: Mister Rogers felt it was important to introduce children who had a particular talent, to inspire his young viewers to work hard at something they liked to do.

ROGERS: What do you think about children who might be listening to you and have that idea, "Maybe I could do that?"

NICKY: Well, I guess they would be very proud of themselves.

I guess that would be their very best choice, and they would have fun playing.

DIDONATO: Mister Rogers, he's not even looking at the fingers.

He's just looking at his face.

He's reading what's going on inside Nick's head, doesn't look at the keyboard one time.

I love that because he's focused so completely on the experience for Nick, not the outcome, not the notes, not the right hand or the left hand, or the memorization.

It's the experience that that child is having and that music provides.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: Here you are a violinist and a teenager HAHN: Oh, yeah.

ROGERS: Bless your heart.

You started to play, though, when you were a very little girl.

HAHN: Actually, the first thing that I learned was how to bow.

ROGERS: How to bow?

HAHN: Yeah, when you go out on the stage when people are clapping, and you walk out on stage, (clapping) and then you bow to the audience like this.

(clapping) SPALDING: What a beautiful picture to show young people.

ROGERS: Thank you for that.

SPALDING: That was an affirmation that little girls can grow up and be musicians, instrumentalists.

(gentle instrumental music) When I saw that, it just drove home even deeper the gratitude that I have for that show, you know, showing what's possible.

We love you Yes, we do Yes, we do We love you KEATON: Mister Rogers liked to show his television neighbors the wonders of a world full of people who do interesting things.

Everywhere he went, he was like a curious child who loved to learn new things, and as this visit with the Empire Brass Quintet shows, he could teach and learn at the same time.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: This first one is called a tuba.

(gentle instrumental music) This one is a french horn.

(gentle instrumental music) This one is a trumpet, (gentle instrumental music) and this one is a slide trombone, and these people are some men that I know who really have fun with their music.

Now you're gonna see all five of the quintet playing.

MAN: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.

ROGERS: Oh, good.

(upbeat instrumental music) Wish I knew how to do that.

MAN: Well, how would you like to try to do it?

ROGERS: I'd be glad to try.

MAN: Well, come on, sure.

Sit in the tuba chair, alright, but in order to get sound, you blow through buzzing lips.

(blowing) ROGERS: Oh, it makes your lips tickle.

(laughing) SPALDING: That willingness to show himself trying something like blowing the tuba and not succeeding right away and being totally okay with it, it's so alright.

It's so alright that it deserves to be on television.

(upbeat instrumental music) ROGERS: Oh, that's wonderful.

MAN: Thank you.

KEATON: You can't learn without making mistakes, and Fred wasn't afraid to show that mistakes are part of learning, like when folk singer Ella Jenkins tried to teach one of her playground rhymes.

She made it look too easy.

Head and shoulders, baby, one, two, three Head and shoulders, baby, one, two, three Head and shoulders Head and shoulders Head and shoulders, baby, one, two, three Knees and ankles.

Knees and ankles, baby, one, two, three Knees and ankles, baby, one, two, three Knees and ankles Knees and ankles Knees and ankles, baby, one, two, three Ankles and toes.

Ankles and toes, baby KEATON: Now, if that happened on a movie set, you might hear the director say, "Let's try that again, take two," but Fred, knowing it was important to show children that some things are hard to learn, said, "No, let's leave that in."

Baby, one, two, three Ankles and toes Ankles and toes Ankles and toes, baby, one, two, three JENKINS: And the way we used to end it was like this.

That's all, baby, one, two, three That's all, baby, one, two, three That's all That's all That's all, baby, one, two, three That's all That's all ROGERS: Head and shoulders, baby, one, two.

This one down here was real hard.

Knees and ankles, baby, one, two.

I like to learn things, don't you?

And there's so much in this world we can learn, no matter how young or how old we are.

(upbeat instrumental music) KEATON: The great Tony Bennett wasn't only a legendary singer.

He was also a painter, and he showed off his skills as an artist in Lady Elaine's television studio.

He serenaded her with a song that Mister Rogers wrote to help children know that it's natural that we sometimes want to do something and sometimes we don't.

Sometimes I don't feel like combing my hair (gentle instrumental music) I don't feel like washing my face Sometimes, sometimes I don't feel like saying okay But sometimes isn't always ELAINE: That's the truth.

Sometimes ELAINE: You like to draw, do you?

BENNETT: Oh, I love it, yes.

ELAINE: I've heard you many times in concert and all, and you surely sing well.

BENNETT: You have beautiful, blue eyes.

ELAINE: What is that you're drawing?

BENNETT: Oh, I'm drawing you.

Didn't you know that?

ELAINE: It'll be a Tony Bennett original of Lady Elaine Fairchild.

But sometimes isn't always Sometimes KEATON: Tony Bennett was the perfect straight man to the over the top flirting of Lady Elaine.

BENNETT: I love the way you're dancing.

ELAINE: Oh, thanks.

I don't feel like getting KEATON: But what I really like about the scene is to think that under that desk, crouched down into a small little cubby, it was Fred Rogers who voiced the puppet.

ELAINE: Hello, friends, my name's Lady Elaine Fairchild.

KEATON: And did those fabulous dance moves.

It isn't always Sometimes KEATON: Fred had a real playful side that all of us on the crew did our best to encourage.

But sometimes, wait a minute, isn't always Isn't always Isn't always BENNETT: One more time.

Isn't always Always Always Always ELAINE: Oh, Tony Bennett.

BENNETT: Very nice.

ELAINE: Tony Bennett right here with us at MGR-TV.

He likes us so well, he's singing 100 of his favorite tunes.

(laughing) ROGERS: Oh, there's Officer Clemmons.

Hi, Officer Clemmons, come in.

CLEMMONS: Hello, Mister Rogers, how are you?

ROGERS: Fine, why don't you sit down?

GOLDBERG: You probably don't think of Fred Rogers as a Civil Rights Activist, but he was one in a major but subtle way.

He heard Francois Clemmons sing at a church in Pittsburgh and in 1968 asked him to play a policeman on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Clemmons told him, "I grew up in the ghetto, "and I don't have a positive opinion of police officers," but Mister Rogers saw it as an opportunity to teach an important lesson of equality and respect.

One of the most unforgettable moments in the neighborhood was the day Mister Rogers asked Officer Clemmons to cool his tired feet in a wading pool in the front yard of his house.

CLEMMONS: That feels great.

ROGERS: Here.

GOLDBERG: They soaked their feet together, and Mister Rogers helped dry the policeman's feet when he was finished.

ROGERS: Can I help you here?

CLEMMONS: Thank you.

GOLDBERG: The meaning was unmistakable.

CLEMMONS: Alrighty.

(gentle instrumental music) KEATON: Francois played Officer Clemmons for over 25 years, one of the first African Americans to have a recurring role on a children's television series.

You are my friend KEATON: Francois was also a trained classical singer, and Mister Rogers often asked him to share his wonderful tenor voice with his television neighbors.

CLEMMONS: Singing is one of my ways of saying, I love you.

ROGERS: Oh, I know that.

Do you have time to give a song to my friend and me?

CLEMMONS: I sure do.

There are many ways to say I love you You'll find many ways to understand what love is Many ways Many ways Many ways to say I love you ROGERS: I was thinking last time we were together that every person in the whole world is different from everybody else, and yet we can still love each other because the most important things about us are inside of us, so even if we look different and sound different and smell different on the outside, we're all human beings and have our human thoughts and feelings inside.

I looked over Jordan, Lord, and what did I see Coming for to carry me home Oh, a band of angels were coming after me Coming for to carry me home ROGERS: Remember, it's what's inside of us that matters most?

Well, it's what's inside of him that helps him sing his songs so wonderfully.

A band of angels were coming after me Coming for to carry me home Oh, swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home Oh, swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home ROGERS: Oh, I love your singing.

(gentle instrumental music) MA: You know, Fred is still with us.

He's with us on film.

He's with us in our memories.

ROGERS: You know, things like friendship and love don't cost any money at all, and they're very, very important.

MA: I'm just so deeply grateful that he has been in our lives and continues to be in our lives.

KEATON: Fortunately Mister Rogers' Neighborhood continues on many public television stations and their websites, and, happily, the legacy of Mister Rogers' pioneering programs live on in Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood A beautiful day for KEATON: Where a new generation of kids can learn key social skills for school and for life.

JOANNE: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood follows right on with Fred's Neighborhood of Make Believe, and who Daniel was.

It's such a good feeling To play with family and friends It's such a happy feeling JOANNE: It's fun for children, good for children.

It pleases me so much to know what a success it's having.

TIGER: Because it's you I like.

(gentle instrumental music) ROGERS: You always make each day a special day for me, and you know how?

By just your being you.

There's only one person in this whole world like you, and people can like you exactly as you are.

I'll be back next time, bye.

LITHGOW: You see what I mean?

He looks right at you.

DIDONATO: The beauty of what he did so well, I feel like he's talking directly to me.

SPINNEY: My daughter, my oldest daughter, said, "That's Mister Rogers.

"I love him.

"He's my best friend."

SPALDING: In his eyes and in his voice and in the pace I feel that genuine love that this man had and shared with the world.

APATOW: It makes you feel good that there's a sweet guy, and he puts on his sweater, and he tells you how to be a good person.

Those were just pure pleasure moments as a little kid.

SILVERMAN: Mister Rogers, and some of my best therapists, you know, really shaped who I am as a person, and Mister Rogers continues to make me want to be the best person I can be.

KEATON: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood inspired all of us to be better, better parents, better children, better people.

We all gained self-confidence and self-esteem just by watching him.

He made us believe that each of us is special, and so is everyone else, so thank you, Mister Rogers, for every beautiful day in the neighborhood.

ROGERS: This is a song that I like to sing to people that I really care for.

Maybe you know it.

It's you I like It's not the things you wear It's not the way you do your hair But it's you I like The way you are right now The way down deep inside you Not the things that hide you Not your toys They're just beside you But it's you I like Every part of you Your skin Your eyes Your feelings Whether old or new I hope that you'll remember Even when you're feeling blue That it's you I like It's you yourself It's you It's you I like You yourself, just the way you are.

To know you're alive It's such a happy feeling You're growing inside And when you wake up ready to say I think I'll make a snappy new day Snap Snap It's such a good feeling A very good feeling The feeling you know that I'll be back When the day is new And I'll have more ideas for you And you'll have things you'll want to talk about I will too You always make it a special time for me by just your being yourself.

I like you just the way you are.

I'll be back next week, bye.

(gentle instrumental music)